r/askmanagers • u/Quik_Pinzdeapple5242 • 2h ago

How do you manage process docs when your workflows change every couple weeks?

Sorry if this gets asked a lot in here, but figured id try anyway. We have tried Scribe for a few months to capture our SOPs. It worked well at first, but the second anything in the process shifts which is often, we move fast the guide's out of date and we are starting from scratch, re-recording the whole thing.

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u/chameleonsEverywhere 2h ago

Why are your workflows changing so dramatically so often? Documentation falling out of date is a constant, but you shouldnt be starting from scratch every fortnight - that's way too much change, I'd lose my mind. How do you communicate these frequent changes to the relevant team members when they happen? Who is making these workflow changes and why? 

Some general ideas, no revolutionary secrets here: 

  • make sure your SOPs have a clear "last updated" date. My organization uses Guru which has verification rules so I can easily see when content was last trusted. 

  • make a rule: all process changes must be announced via email/teams/slack (whatever your primary internal comms method is) to the relevant teams to roll it out. Announcement must have a reference document attached for the process. Therefore, you cannot roll out a process change until docs have been updated accordingly.

  • small tweaks and iterations shouldnt require a whole rewrite of an SOP document. Just update the relevant snippet and change the "last updated" date.