Process Documentation Using Notion

In this video and article, we are going to discuss process documentation. We will show you how to do process documentation using a tool called Notion, but the techniques showing here can be easily used in other tools like OneNote or Process St.

I’m going to suggest three ways that you can do process documentation:

1. Checklists
2. Screenshots, Images, and Text
3. Videos

Process Documentation using Checklists

In case you haven’t watched any of my videos before or read my articles, I LOVE checklists! I use checklists every day in my work. When I am starting to work out a new process, I usually start with a checklist. To me, checklists are one of the simplest and most powerful forms of creating process documentation.

Checklists are fast, because they are simply bullet points of each step with a checkbox. Here is a sample checklist for orienting a new hire that I put together in just a few seconds in Notion. Watch the video to see how easy it was to create.

The next method is to use screenshots, images and text to explain a process. If the process is on a computer, just take screenshots of each step on the computer. The [Print Screen] command on your computer can do this, or you can use enhanced tools such as the open source screenshot tool, Greenshot which I use.

You can add a screenshot, then write text explaining the step. If your process isn’t computer related, such as taking apart an engine or showing how to set up an event, you can use pictures from a camera or smartphone instead. Here is a screenshot showing how this type of process documentation would look in Notion. For the example, I use a simple task of how to set up a Google Alert.

I saved my favorite method of process documentation for the last. It is really easy to document your processes using video. If the process is computer-related, you can easily use a video screen capture tool to capture the screen and then do a voiceover explaining each step. A great tool for capturing video on your computer is Loom. Loom has a button you can add to your browser to let you easily capture your screen, screen and web cam or just your web cam. Once you have captured your video, Loom creates a link you can share and even lets you know when the video has been viewed. It is really easy to create an internal video training library using Loom.

Here is the screen capture screenshot of Loom.

And here is how the video looks in Loom, along with the sharing link you can provide to your team.

Loom also lets you organize your process documentation videos into folders, to make it easy for people to find what they need. So you have a video training library all nicely organized. You can also embed Loom videos right into Notion, alongside your other process documentation.

What if the process isn’t on your computer? Video works great for that as well. If you are recording a process such as tearing down an engine, you can set up your video camera or smartphone so it is recording and just talk to the camera while you work. If you want to record the process for setting up an event, run your video camera and do a voiceover while you walk through the event.

Here is the link to the time management templates shown in the video so you can copy them for your own use.

I hope you have enjoyed this video and article about process documentation and have a greater appreciation for the power of process documentation and how easy it can be to create good process documentation. If you need assistance with your process documentation planning, contact me.

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