The U.S. creative industry sector is growing.
This sector can be described by the aggregation of sub-sectors such as advertising, design, publishing, software, and so on. For instance, revenue generated from advertising is estimated to increase by 0.9% in 2020 alone.
Photography, web, and graphic design play an incredibly important role in the creative industry sector and will experience a continuous increase in demand if trends follow predictions.
This begs the question, how can your business, or line of work, not only respond to but thrive in this expanding industry?
To thrive, you need to increase your efficiency and productivity, all while minimizing error, tracking change, and saving time. This can be achieved by documenting your processes.
In this article, you will learn what process documentation is. You will also discover the benefits process documentation gives, and how these benefits are vital in response to growing demand in the creative industry sector.
With that said, let’s get straight to it.
What is process documentation?
Process documentation details how to complete a process or standard operating procedure by outlining the necessary steps.
For example, consider the process of producing good landscape photography. With landscape photography, you want to transport the viewer to the great outdoors and nature.
How do you do this?
Regardless of whether you are starting out or you are experienced in the field, essential steps must not be left out. For instance:
– Planning when and where to go
– Learning how to use and best apply graduated filters
– Getting familiar with and then making sure you are using a wide lens
– Applying the Rule of Thirds
– Playing around with different viewpoints
The list goes on.
As you can see, there is a lot to think about. For top results, you need to apply best practices consistently.
With a documented process, you can follow necessary steps and ensure best practices are always followed. What’s more is that, by using documented procedures repeatedly, best practices can then be followed and executed again and again!
Why you need to document your processes
Companies that implement process documentation have a 280% higher success rate in their projects (95%), versus those that don’t (25%).
Why?
This is because documented business processes:
– Increase efficiency
– Increase productivity
– Minimize human error
– Build a foundation for process improvements
– Instill consistency
– Keep track of change and new procedures
– Preserve knowledge
– Save time
An impressive list of benefits. From this list, you can see how process documentation primes your business or line of work for increased demand and growth.
If you are not already doing so, you may be wondering how to get started with documenting your processes.
Well, you have come to the right place. Below I’ve broken down how to document your business processes into five easy-to-follow steps.
5 steps for the rapid documentation of your business processes
At first, the idea of documenting your business processes may seem overwhelming. But by breaking it down into simple, achievable steps the process of process documentation becomes a breeze.
Step #1: Start with one process
Begin documenting your processes by:
1) Choosing a process of the highest importance to your business goals
2) Make sure your chosen process is carried out regularly
3) Choose a process that is done by others in your team (if applicable), so the benefits are multiplied
The more your process fits these requirements, the better a choice it is for immediate documentation.
Step #2: Outline your process
Once you have selected a process to document, the next step is to write out the first draft. At this stage, your documented process will not be perfect.
You want to avoid imprecision and vagueness, but how?
1) Define the process to be mapped: Identify the key repetitive tasks in the process in the process like receipt tracking. Also, think about the process scope – where does your process start, and where does it end?
2) Record the steps of your process: You can do this on paper. Or, utilize technology such as Process Street’s nifty workflow software for business processes
3) Break down the process into achievable goals: To document your process, break the process down to improve focus and decrease distractions
Step #3: Test your process
Your goal is to create documented processes that are easily understood and actionable by everyone, regardless of their experience. So, once your process is written, it is time to start testing.
Use someone from an unrelated department, a new hire, or even a friend, and have them run through your process with no outside intervention. Communicate to them your process goals. This is a great way to make sure your processes are bulletproof.
During the testing phase, key areas for improvement will be highlighted. Once the testing phase is complete, ask yourself the following questions:
1) Is the quality of the resulting work up to scratch?
2) How long did it take? Were there any bottlenecks? Is the time-taken acceptable and close to your estimates?
3) With multiple people involved, were standards abided by? Was information handed over smoothly and efficiently?
4) Was progress tracked and documented?
5) Is the process logical?
6) Can the process be more efficient?
7) Is the process relevant and up-to-date?
8) Is the process and each step of it necessary?
Remember, at this point, your process is a rough draft, and won’t stay like this forever.
The main points to keep in mind are:
– Brevity is key
– Start each step of the process with a command
Using business process management software, such as Process Street, to document your workflows gives you easily editable templates that can then be deployed as checklists across a team.
Step #4: Review your improvements
It is time to use the test results to improve your process. Take the feedback from your test runs and go over this to make the necessary adjustments.
You don’t have to spend a lot of time improving your process. Let the process gradually evolve with each iteration.
Step #5: Automate what you can
Automation saves time and creates more efficient processes. Automate as much of your process as you can.
This is easy with Zapier, which can help you automate mundane, time-consuming, and repetitive tasks.
For instance, let’s say you have a client inquiry from your website. This could trigger a zap in Zapier, which automatically pulls information from this inquiry, and pushes the query details into a Process Street checklist. You are automatically notified of this query from Process Street. All you need to do is is hop into the relevant checklist and complete the process.
Hopefully you can see how the world of automated processes is an incredible time-saver.
Play around with the different automation possibilities in Zapier to see what works best for you!
Thrive in a growing industry by documenting your processes
By following the steps given in this article, you can rapidly document your business processes and reap the benefits process documentation gives.
These benefits are vital for your business or line of work to adapt to growing demands in the creative industry sector. By saving time, being more productive, and being more efficient, you will not only keep your head above water, but you will thrive and take full advantage of these positive industry changes.
With that said, what are you waiting for? Start documenting your processes today!
