Problem · Undocumented processes
Sabine always does that. Until Sabine is on vacation.
Processes in your head work as long as the same person is there. Writing them down doesn't have to be a manual project: one process, five steps, one page.
SOP starter template
A process. Five lines.
Choose a process that comes up regularly. The example shows a new customer inquiry; replace it with your own process.
Your plan
5 of 5 rows complete.
Die Beispielzeilen sind nur ein Anfang. Überschreibe sie mit deinen eigenen Einträgen.
Assumptions and limits
- The template helps with the first draft. Whether the process is right only shows once someone else follows it afterward.
- A starter template isn't enough for processes with legal or safety requirements.
Your entries stay in this browser. Nothing is saved or sent.
How you'll notice
The knowledge is there. Just not written down.
- New colleagues learn by watching and asking, for weeks.
- The same process is done by three people in three ways, with three results.
- When one person is out sick, a whole process stalls.
Understand the causes
Why nobody writes processes down.
- 01
Documenting feels like a huge project
- How you'll notice
- The handbook has been planned for a year.
- Why it happens
- Everything is supposed to be described at once, so nobody starts.
- What helps
- Start with a single process that comes up often or often goes wrong.
- Limit
- A process doesn't solve everything, but it shows how it's done.
- 02
The people who know have no time
- How you'll notice
- Whoever knows the process is exactly the person who is always at capacity.
- Why it happens
- Writing down comes after the daily business.
- What helps
- Someone else takes notes while the experienced person carries out the process once.
- Limit
- The experienced person still has to review the draft once.
- 03
Documents sit where nobody looks
- How you'll notice
- Guides exist, but nobody finds or uses them.
- Why it happens
- Documentation sits apart from the work, in folders without structure.
- What helps
- Collect guides in one place the team already uses, and point to it in the process.
- Limit
- Even good documentation goes stale if nobody is responsible for maintaining it.
Ways to solve it
Capture processes. As easy as possible.
| Way | Enough if | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| Template above as a document | A few processes that rarely change. | Quickly forgotten in daily work if it isn't linked in the process. |
| Screen recording with a short note | Processes on the computer that are better shown than described. | Hard to search and tedious to update. |
| Wiki or documentation tool | Many processes that need to be found and maintained together. | Describes the process but doesn't carry it out. |
| Peak One | You want to find guides again as a team and automate recurring processes step by step. | You have to describe the process yourself first; an automation only runs after you have reviewed and approved it. |
Peak One in action
From your head to a process everyone knows.
- TriggerHow do we actually do this?
- 01 · DocumentSignalThe Document Library in Peak Docs shows which documents and guides already exist.
- 02 · GuideUnderstandingThe process is written up as a guide in Peak Docs and shared with the team.
- 03 · ProcessDecisionAutomation Opportunities shows what you could automate next.
- 04 · WorkflowActionIn Peak Automations, the recurring part becomes a flow with tasks and approvals that you review, test, and release.
The apps for it
Write it down, then offload.
Views
What already exists.
Three steps
Write down the first process.
- 01 / 03
Pick a process
Take the process that comes up most often or went wrong most recently, not the most important one.
- 02 / 03
Take notes while carrying it out
Have the experienced person run the process once and write down every step.
- 03 / 03
Have someone else test it
Give the description to someone who doesn't know the process. Wherever they ask questions, something is missing.
Frequently asked questions
Briefly answered.
What is an SOP?
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a short description of how a recurring process is carried out step by step, who does it, and how you recognize the result.
How detailed does a process description need to be?
Detailed enough that a new person can run the process without asking. No more. Nobody reads long manuals in daily work.
Can Peak One run processes automatically?
With Peak Automations you describe a process in plain words. It can consist of several steps with tasks, approvals and waiting times, and runs only once you've reviewed, tested and approved it.
Keep exploring
What's included.
- FunctionIntegrationsConnect 3,270 tools without a second copy of your data.View
- Use caseOnboard new team membersAn onboarding plan made of a course, a handbook, and set first tasks, so nobody starts from zero.View
- Software categoryWorkflow automationRecurring workflows that run even when nobody remembers them.View
- ProblemEverything depends on the managing directorEvery question lands with you, and without you a lot stands still.View
- ProblemChaotic customer onboardingThe order is in, but the start with the new customer is bumpy in a different way every time.View
- ProblemKnowledge only in headsWhen one person is absent, their knowledge is absent too.View
✦ A Peak principle
Good systems are quiet. They carry without pushing.
A clear framework
More problems
Typical bottlenecks in growing companies, each with a tool you can try right away, the causes, and the path Peak One provides for it.
Solve it once. The rest follows.
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