“Business process documentation is the most effective way to build companywide accountability and performance. A business process document details the steps in the process, the stakeholders involved, the inputs required for each step, and the expected outcome of the process. Read on to understand how to document business processes, the need for business process documentation, and the best tools to document business processes.” – CFlowApps.com

Creating business process documents can be a lucrative way to supplement your writing income. However, you have to know what you’re doing, and there are steps to follow.

In a nutshell, you want to write the process for the business, and make it plain. This way, those who read and follow it can work successfully. You are trying to make people as efficient as possible. If you have received a rare opportunity to contract procedure manuals for a corporation, there are some tips you may want to keep in mind.

Understanding the process, avoiding internal jargon, and keeping instructions simple can help you score more contracts in the future.

Prior to putting pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard), take the time to understand the process and learn the steps so you can easily explain them through your writing. Corporations typically have lots of turnover (a high rate of churn). This means the procedure document you will write must be easily understood by management and employees alike. They are your audience and the people who will do the work. Stick with efficient terms and try to limit confusion.

Early on in my procedure document writing career, I attempted to fumble my way through an “Employee Career Growth Presentation.” I failed to ask those who knew and understood the process, like HR, and tried to rely on my partner to do the research. That was a mistake. I found myself using elaborate adjectives and big words, attempting to fool my colleagues.

It took a few years before I was given a second opportunity to “wow” my employers. I was contracted for an internal business transfer between states. My job was to learn the process, compose the training manuals, compose the procedure documents, and teach the new employees to ensure a swift, seamless hand-off of the process with no interruptions.

Maintaining a seamless hand-off is key; words and acronyms like LIFO (Last in First Out), FIFO (First in First Out), BAU (Business as Usual), and churn (turnover) are mainly industry-specific and should be avoided or thoroughly explained. If the procedure were to say, “Next step is to capture the churn of the KRI’s and track their descent to zero,” most people would understand that the goal is to track something to zero. But without the knowledge that KRI’s are “Key Risk Indicators,” and that “churn” means the change of employees, or “turnover,” it would be hard for someone new to the process to understand these things without knowing the terminology.

Most procedure manuals written for migrations (the process of transferring data, systems, or applications from one environment to another) will be used to train people who are completely new to the process. Focusing on your audience in this task will be beneficial. Just remember to KYP, or “Know Your Personnel. This would have assisted me in my career growth presentation. Corporations like to focus on the approach of “the last successful time a task was completed.” If you are to land this rare opportunity, being able to convey complex processes into layman’s terms may land you a very first process manual job.

My very first process manual included the in-depth intricacies of the process. My employer at the time taught me that, in creating these documents, it is always best to keep one word in mind: KISS – as in, Keep It Simple, Stupid. Was I being called stupid? To this day, I still question that. What I do know is that, through removing the business-specific jargon and focusing on simple explanations, I was able to train and help maintain seamless transitions. Writing in business style means getting straight to the point. Avoiding flowery words or genius literary artistry is a plain and simple map for the operating units. You are not creating a submission for a Pulitzer Prize.

As always, remember to be concise with your word choice, be brief in description when possible, and articulate in common language. This is because you are more than likely writing for the masses, and everybody, from management to new employees, needs to be able to understand your process manual.

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Wesley is the author of the self-published book ‘Poetry from the Heart’, released in 2001. He is the father of five children and has been working in the Banking Industry for the past 18 years. His wife and writer John Riddle inspired him to complete his many unfinished manuscripts and venture into freelance writing.

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