A process documentation is a static or dynamic document that lists the tasks to be carried out in a business process. It can take many forms (paper, digitized or automated) and must, above all, be used for operational purposes and to coordinate the work of teams.
So it’s important to test each of the 3 shapes to see which one will work best for your teams.
And there’s one way to take your business into a whole new dimension. This is via software dedicated to process documentations, known as task and process management software. The latter effortlessly frees employees from non-value-added or tedious tasks.
If there’s only one thing you need to know
A few years ago, you might have been afraid of the words digitized and automated. Indeed, they often rhymed with complexity, financial investment and training.
Now it’s all over! A new generation of software, called no-code software, makes it easy to use these tools, and in less than 30 minutes you’ll have an idea of how well they match your needs and context.
What’s a process documentation?
A procedure sheet is an operational tool or roadmap that guides employees through a list of tasks. It is used to achieve a recurring or one-off company objective or process. Also known as an operating procedure, its purpose is to standardize practices, improve quality, avoid operational errors (searches for information, reminders, re-explanations of instructions), facilitate the arrival of new staff and monitor, control or steer activity.
All company activities are processes (a sequence of consecutive or simultaneous, individual or collaborative, linear or conditional tasks). For example: processing a request for quotation from a customer, completing a purchase requisition, recruiting, launching an order or a service, carrying out an intervention… depending on the context of your company, almost all of these can be the subject of the creation of a process documentation.
The revolution of “living” process documentation
“Traditional” process documentation
By traditional, we mean a process documentation in a static, physical document format. A printed sheet of paper or a pdf, word or excel document in a storage space.
They are nonetheless effective in terms of communication, helping to bring about change. Nevertheless, these “document” process documentation have a number of limitations, such as the tendency to neglect them unintentionally over time (due to overconfidence), difficulties in updating them, loss, risk of errors, etc.
“Live” process documentation
These new generations of process documentation sweep aside the limitations of static sheets. Thanks to dedicated software, without having to write a single line of code or have any technical skills, you can create a personalized, guided experience for your teams.
These solutions, like Lapala software, also include easy-to-use automations that facilitate task assignment, eliminate multiple data entry and instantly display data from your other software!
The different types of process documentation
In this section, we won’t dwell on the process documentation in document format.
The recent democratization of no-code software means that VSEs and SMEs now have access to powerful, affordable tools. In addition to providing a guided and comfortable experience for employees, they offer simple automation functions that will free your teams from tedious tasks and improve business efficiency.
Digitalized process documentation
- Dynamic forms to avoid multiple entries
- Managing roles and responsibilities
- Customized approval and validation circuits
- Very limited training needs thanks to guided experience
- Data is created to automatically feed managers’ activity monitoring and steering processes
Partially automated process documentation
- Display data from other software directly in the guided experience, avoiding the need to search for information
- Automated reminders, storage, actions in other software applications
- Automated calculations
- Automated synchronization and updating of existing tools (CRM, ERP, HRIS)
How do you create a lively, digitalized process documentation in less than 30 minutes?
Introduction
We’ll show you how to create an operational process documentation in less than 30 minutes.
If you can’t manage it on your own, make an appointment with us – we’ll be happy to help.
Prerequisites :
- Sign up for Lapala software: free version for life, no credit card required, unlimited users limited to a certain number of tasks per month.
- Once registered, click on the “Create a process” button.
- And have 30 minutes to spare 🙂
We’ll look at the following example “Responding to a request”. This process is described with the following tasks:
- Task Assistant – Collect customer request
- Responsible task – Qualification of request
- Assistant task – Confirmation of acceptance or refusal of acceptance => Step can be automated
- Responsible task – Assign the request to an employee
- Task Collaborator – Investigate and find solutions => Automatic display of customer history
- If required, Collaborator task – Arrange meeting with customer
- Then Collaborator Task – Making the appointment
- Assistant task – Close request
- Task Assistant – Send satisfaction questionnaire => Step can be automated
Step 1 – 5 minutes: Create steps in Lapala
Step 1.1 – Once you’ve clicked on the “Create a process” button, you’ll land in the Lapala process documentation designer. Its principle is simple: build your procedure brick by brick as if it were a LEGO.
A first step is already present, so start by renaming it to : “Then click on the “+” button and finally “Create a step on Default path”.
Step 1.2 – A new brick has appeared, rename it “Application Qualification”.
Next, create a new brick for the “Support confirmation” automation.
We’re now going to create a conditional branch. To do this, click on “+” then “Create branch” to create the paths “Request accepted” and“Request refused“.
Step 1.3 – And so on until the end of the process sheet perimeter.
For each step in the procedure sheet, we now need to associate each actor. To do this, open any task by clicking on it, then click on the actor’s button, which is normally colored blue. Finally, click on Manage actors.
Create the three roles: assistant, manager and collaborator (initially, for this test, choose yourself as the profile for each actor. You can add your colleagues later).
Then assign each role to each stage.
First stage completed! Congratulations! And what’s more, we’ve created some time-saving automations for the assistant (automated e-mail dispatch).
Step 2 – 20 minutes: Build input fields in each step to collect information and make them live automatically throughout the process.
This is where you create the content for the guided experience! It’s 100% customizable, so it’s up to you to choose the most relevant content.
Step 2.1 – Customizing the first task
- Click on the first step
- Then click on“Champ +“. The first input field appears.
- Choose the type of input field. The default is “Text”, but there are other possibilities: Number, File, Yes No, multiple choice…
- For each field, you can personalize it with an introduction or input help notes.
- In place of“New field“, enter the name of the first piece of information you want the wizard to enter. For example, “First name”.
- Then create as many fields as you need.
Great feature from Lapala : If the client already exists in one of your software programs or spreadsheets, what’s the point of rewriting by hand or copying and pasting??? With Lapala, connect your existing tools directly and display them directly in the guided experience!
No more multiple entries, no more data entry errors, no more endless copying and pasting, no more complex information searches… It’s going to change your teams’ lives!
In the example below, we display customer data from our CRM. The employee can then select the desired customer and retrieve all his data with a single click.
Step 2.2 – Personalize the experience on the next steps of the digitalized process sheet
Great Lapala feature: You can import answers to input fields from the previous step into subsequent steps! Data and information travel effortlessly from one task to another, from one actor to another.
Re-display of data in the “introduction” area
Above you can see information highlighted in blue, representing what we call “Variables” (because they vary from one request to another). To insert them, simply click directly on the variable you wish to display.
Or redisplay in an input field
Customize your experience as much as you like: drop-down list, Yes/No, file import… You are the master of your tool.
If you get stuck, don’t hesitate to contact us, we’ll be happy to help. Contact us via chat or the contact form.
Last step – 5 minutes: Set branch conditions
In our example, we have created a condition linked to request validation.
To set the condition, we’ll reuse a “Yes/No” field (see screenshots below).
For the “Request accepted” path, simply configure the “Enter your formula here” field. At the end, to create the condition: “Field Accepted request = Yes”, simply select the “Accept request” variable! If you wanted to create the condition “Field Accepted request = No”, simply select the “Accept request” variable and write “= false”.
And that’s it! Customization is complete. Now you can test it.
Now that your new-generation process documentation is complete, click on “Publish this version”.
You can test it by clicking on “Start” to see the power of Lapala!
If you need help, contact us! 🙂
Advantages of using Lapala software to manage your Process documentation
More methodological oversights
For certain recurring, but not daily, processes, employees often think they have mastered the process documentation, but inadvertently forget certain steps. This leads to oversights, errors, re-reading, corrections and meetings that could have been avoided with software like Lapala.
Better quality thanks to process documentation
The time saved by the manager no longer having to check compliance with instructions can be used to concentrate on production quality and conformity. For the same budget, this will bring additional satisfaction for your customers, which could even lead to price increases and new customer acquisitions.
Simplified onboarding for new arrivals
Software such as Lapala creates a guided experience for new employees. This drastically reduces training time on methods, operating modes and procedures. They’re up and running faster. And training time can be focused on transmitting the company’s know-how.
Error reduction
Thanks to a digitalized process documentation, employees are guided through their entries. No more repetitive errors due to a lack of documentation, training, communication of an operational omission, or tedious copying and pasting, thanks to guided experiments and various automations.
Task and process automation
No more multiple entries, no more tedious, time-consuming tasks, no more complex information searches, no more manual software updates . With process management software, you can free your teams from non-value-added tasks and increase process productivity.
Improved comfort and communication
Employee satisfaction is bound to increase with a lively, operational process documentation. Tasks become less daunting. There is less pressure to make mistakes. There’s less friction in asking other people for information, since it’s directly accessible in Lapala.
Analysis of existing processes
Process management software enables you to measure and analyze your operations in real time. This becomes a new optimization and continuous improvement capability for your company. These optimizations can be easily automated thanks to Lapala’s dedicated functions.
Up-to-dated Process documentation
With Lapala, a process documentation comes alive. The operational tool becomes one with the documentation. Employees always have access to the latest version. Once changes have been validated and communicated, they are deployed in real time. There are no more paper versions or sheets lying around alongside the official process documentation.
Easy to build without technical skills or IT development
Lapala is a no-code tool, meaning that it enables any business collaborator to build impactful tools in a very short time. This means that business departments can go digital, even if their IT department or CIO legitimately has very little time to devote to them. And tools like Lapala enable IT to manage these digital projects in a new way, in direct collaboration with the business.
Now you know all about the process documentation ! Now it’s your turn!
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