Startups – value of process documentation

(READ TIME – 2 MINS)

I am going to suggest something that will seem completely off the wall. Startups should document their processes (properly) — even though they know that they will change — because the act of documenting them will clarify and reveal some insights. We are too busy will be the cry. But you don’t have time to work inefficiently because no one has an agreed view of the process (even when there are only 5 of you in the team). The good news if you don’t have to document everything.

Areas to focus on:

product development & release — you are nothing without customer confidence in new releases

staff onboarding — you will be doing this multiple times, and don’t underestimate the motivation impact on new staff of a well-run process

lead qualification — you have so little time you need to be hyper focused on supporting the right customers, but without clearly agreed process how do you know who they are.

running online & offline events — these are high cost, so make sure you learn from every event and continuously improve, but how can you do that if you don’t have a baseline

So in the spirit of giving more than you get… . Here is a link to an article on how to map processes https://elements.cloud/2020/06/08/the-evolution-of-process-diagramming-i-e-why-flowcharts-are-so-1980s/  (done properly.. not some random disparate flowcharts) and a link to create an account for our business analysis app that has basic free process mapping and example maps you can copy  https://app.q9elements.com/signup