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How to Document Your Processes for Easy Delegation

Delegation Can be Simple One of the scary things about hiring someone is trying to figure out what you can delegate to them and how to delegate it. Delegation begins with creating processes for your business.   Now, you might be thinking, “Oh crap, now I have to start writing a huge manual with all…

Delegation Can be Simple

One of the scary things about hiring someone is trying to figure out what you can delegate to them and how to delegate it. Delegation begins with creating processes for your business.

How to document your processes for easy delegation
 

Now, you might be thinking, “Oh crap, now I have to start writing a huge manual with all of this step-by-step, tedious writing.”

There’s a much easier way, my friend. Record what you do, as you do it. And then organize it in a super simple file system. Are you excited yet?

Step One: Recording What You Do

Whether you’re answering a support email, tracking an expense, or performing one of the tasks that are core to the product or service you provide, you can record yourself doing it so that you can share that recording for someone else to follow. The beauty of this is, you’ll be getting work done while you do the recording. All you have to do is talk out loud and explain what you’re doing as you do it.

Fortunately, WikiHow has a great tutorial explaining how to record on your PC or Mac. These are free solutions and are pretty easy to set up and/or follow. Have a look here for the instructions.

You don’t have to start big, you can just record one simple task that you can then delegate. As processes change and evolve, you or your teammate can, for example, record a new video to replace the old one. Gradually over time, you’ll have more and more videos making up your systems and processes.

Step Two: Get Organized

The easiest way to organize your processes is to create a shared folder on one of those fancy cloud sharing applications like Google Drive or Dropbox (those are the two we have here at Smack Happy). I think Google Drive is an easy no-brainer, especially if you’re using Gmail or G Suite because it’s already built in your tools and ready for use.

Google Drive Pointers

Google Drive is in fact so user-friendly, there really isn’t a right or wrong way to use it. Just make sure to keep your files organized and secure. Know who you’re sharing your file with, and keep your files organized in a way that makes sense to you and your company’s culture.

Here’s a sample file structure I’d recommend using with Google Drive. Hint: it’s ours, and our whole team finds it effective.

  • SHD Processes
    • Attract (Marketing)
    • Collect (Accounting)
    • Convert (Sales)
    • Deliver (Operations)
    • Solve (Troubleshooting)

And there we keep general files outside of subfolders for quick reference.

Shd-processes

Step Three: Delegate That Task!

Now that you have at least one task documented and organized, you are ready to delegate it! Share the new processes folder with your teammate and explain how all the things you do in the company will be added to this file structure over time.

 

If you need some ideas on what you can delegate, don’t worry, we have you covered! Here are a few resources to help you get some more ideas flowing.

Time to Get the Ball Rolling!

Getting set up for delegation and adding or onboarding a teammate doesn’t have to be daunting. Take it one step, or rather, one task at a time and you’ll get that new teammate helping you out the best that they can in no time!

For further reading: How do you know when to hire?

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Nicole Hanusek

Nicole Hanusek

Nikki Stormborn of the House Smack Happy, First of her Name, the Custom Coded, Queen of the Designs and the First Website, Nichole of the Great List of Typos, Breaker of Rules, and Mother of Puppies.

I've been designing and coding websites since 1998. Yep, that's before the Internet was popular! I currently live in San Francisco, but I started out in Cleveland, OH. In college my major was illustration and one day I was working in the computer lab and my colleague was looking for jobs in our industry. I thought to myself, "I should probably do that too!" So I sent my resume to every place that offered graphic design positions in my area. I interviewed at a web consulting company, and the owner asked me why I wanted the job. I didn't even know what the job was! He hired me anyway, and on the first day, the Art Director handed me a thick book and said, "here, learn HTML." And so I did, and here we are. I'm hooked.

What I like most about building websites is that I get to be creative visually and solve problems. Growing up, I was a huge fan of math and science, so the coding part of the job scratches that logic and trouble-shooting itch. I get to partake in the artsy side and analytical side - the best of both worlds!

My goal is to help make everyone's life easier. By building easy-to-use websites, I can help my clients, as well as their clients.