The Value of Process Documentation

I was struck the other day by a Dilbert cartoon, were Dilbert had to take over a job from someone else, there was on documentation of the process and the person had left with no one really familiar with how the job is to be performed. All he knew was that if he pressed a certain button it would cause him to blow up, as that was the fate of his predecessor.

Once again, Scott Adams has turned a real problem, the lack of documentation on how people perform critical tasks of their jobs and made us laugh. However when this occurs, it is no laughing matter and can put your business at risk.

Earlier this year, I encouraged you to create your HR Process and Systems inventory in order for you to understand what processes are supported by which applications. The next step in the process is to understand how those processes work, what processes impact each other and which are dependant on each other

As your organizations reduce its workforce, understanding who your process owners, stakeholders and users are will enable you to make informed workforce decisions. Going one step further and documenting the key steps in your processes will give your employees who have to assume the additional job responsibilities a better understanding and avoid being in the position that Dilbert was in.

Your organization gets information about how it works and your employees get information about how to do thier jobs. This is a win-win for everyone.