Sometimes in business, we move so fast we don’t have time to document. I remember a conversation with one of the Vice Presidents to which I reported. She asked, “but how do we move faster?” I responded with, “We go fast by going slow at the right times.”
There is an analogy I’ve used in the past to describe this kind of business operation. It is like a racecar team. The fastest car is never making the most noise, sliding sideways with tires smoking, or the one braking late or too early in corners. No, the fastest car chooses the best line, is smooth on the throttle, knows when to brake and when to feed the pistons everything they’ll eat. On top of that, the entire racing team is trained, knowledgeable on their role and how each other contributes to the whole. All of these individuals working in unison make the team greater than the sum of the individuals. Healthy organizations are like this.
Now imagine each one of those people on that team had no defined role or responsibility. It would be chaos in the pits, and that car likely won’t be going anywhere or only a few laps until the tires or fuel run out. It would be a guaranteed no finish of the race.
What do racing cars have to do with documentation? Communication.
Communication is the key to a successful racing team. Every member of the team knows their role, what they should be doing, and when. Good documentation allows new members to fill a gap quickly by understanding the piece they are responsible for on the team or the organization.
How does that look for your organization? Do you have the mission, vision, values defined, and how does that relate to each role within the organization? For a racecar team, that might look like this:
Vision:
To lead the most laps of the race with the least mechanical failure.
Mission:
Execute our roles precisely to ensure the car is on the track and in optimal racing condition.
Values:
Precision - Accurately and timely execution of the work necessary to ensure success
Teamwork - Trusting each other to complete their respective tasks
Communication - Clearly communicate in advance what needs to be done next
Responsive - Knowing the roles and responsibilities so we can react to problems with the right team member at the right time
Notice that I didn’t mention winning races. Winning races is an outcome of doing the mission and following the vision, and it is the equivalent of making money in a business. In other words, revenue is a by-product of doing business well.
Mission, Vision, Values are at the top of the documentation list, but they are essential as they set each team member's direction. Everyone is working toward the same goal. Other documentation can include roles and responsibilities, process documentation, instructions on how to perform a task, and key performance indicators. Taking the time to define and record each saves time in the long run, minimizing employee training. It’s easier to replace team members who have left, and it’s easier to explain your organization and how everyone contributes to the end goal.
For the business referenced earlier, we go faster through precise documentation and communication. We had some budget, and we could have used that money to hire someone to help us document and implement procedures and structures that would have helped the company long term.
Modern Quill can help with part-time documentation needs for your small business on a contractual basis. It may be a proposal or an instruction manual. Whatever it is, we can help you capture your ideas and put them in a structure that easily communicates.
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