The 3 Basics of Process Writing

Process writing is both an art and a science. It’s an art because writing is an art that requires its own level of craftsmanship. But, it’s also a science because you are dealing with simple and finite facts, arranging them in a specific, repeatable order. 

Most administrative assistants, office managers, or operations managers can write these themselves. Most business owners can too. It’s simple instructional writing. But, as we all know, “simple” is a variable term and what is simple for, say a freelance writer, may not be so simple for the office manager who already has their plate full. 

As a freelance writer and virtual assistant, I know both sides of the coin. Writing takes time and effort, even with the magic of AI. Written processes still require an element of humanity. Humans are the ones who will be using them, after all. 

Also, if you are writing a process that involves any kind of software, your AI bot may not make allowances for cell usage or the difference between how one app appears on an Android and how it appears on an Apple. Those are things you have to include in the prompts. And if you don’t think you have the time to write a process, then you almost definitely don’t have the time to remember all the different things to include in your AI prompt! 

So, let’s for a moment assume you’re going to write your processes the old-fashioned way. What do you need? You need very little. 

A clear, specific, measurable action is the goal. 

The ultimate purpose of any process is a specific action. At the end of the process, your goal is a pass/fail. Did you do what you set out to do? Yes or no? This narrows your writing parameters down drastically and limits the number of caveats for any end goal.

For instance, say you are writing a process for a print-on-demand business. Specifically, you are writing what needs to happen when a customer places an order on your site. 

What is the end goal? The end goal is that you place your customer’s order with your print provider correctly with all the information. 

Simple, right? 

But wait, you say, what about something like customer service? That’s not a pass/fail situation, is it? 

Having worked both retail AND a call center before, I can tell you it really is a pass/fail. It seems like there is nuance, but you really only have one main question to answer: did you solve the customer’s issue with your product/service? 

Notice the question doesn’t ask how you solved that issue. It doesn’t ask whether the customer was happy at the end of it or even if the customer left satisfied with your business. The goal is to solve the customer’s primary issue with the product/service.

Your customer’s happiness falls within the limits of the choices available to you to resolve the issue. Now, you can convince them they’re going to be happy with how you present those choices to them, and whether you show the amount of empathy when they have the complaint. 

But you don’t ultimately control their happiness. They control their happiness. You make things right on your end with your business. If that makes them happy and satisfied, then you have a win. If it doesn’t, there’s not much you can do. 

Sounds harsh, but that is the bare bones of customer service. You have a few choices open to you to resolve their issue. All you can do is present the choices in the best way possible for that customer and work with whatever they give you. 

So, you see, even customer service procedures have a pass/fail as a goal. 

Concise and unambiguous language is a MUST for process writing. 

This is where most written processes will fail and sometimes fail miserably. If you use a lot of business jargon, technical jargon, subjunctive clauses, prepositional clauses, or ambiguous sentence structures, then you are begging for your process to fail. 

Likewise, if you don’t use proper headings, subheadings, break up large blocks of text, or even connect the ideas and processes together where it makes sense, then you are setting yourself and your employees up for failure. 

As one of my current clients likes to reiterate, “clear is kind.” It couldn’t be more true in today’s world. We’ve turned ambiguous language into a fine art for fear of being “cancelled.” But, it will not work for written procedures. 

Ambiguous language or sentence structures that involve too many clauses frustrate everyone, but especially the people who have to do the work of using the process. Keep in mind that a growing number of people in today’s workforce do not have English as their native language. Those who do are at an eighth-grade reading level at most, and fifth grade at least. 

The only time when ambiguous language works is if you are in a heavily regulated industry and have government auditors come in a nitpick everything you do. I have been in that situation, and had to learn the hard way why ambiguity was your friend in those situations. 

If you aren’t in an industry that requires such an absurd game play, however, be kind. Be clear, be concise, and for heaven’s sake, keep the sentences short and sweet. 

This is where the art of writing comes into play and why having a freelance writer on speed dial is such a great option if you don’t have the time or energy for the task at hand. 

Tracking your process through edits and implementation. 

The final thing you need for your processes to work is a way of tracking any edits you have to make, and how it’s implemented. This is as simple as creating a spreadsheet and breaking down your process into numbered steps or sentences. 

Ideally, what you are doing is detailing the specific edits you have made to the process and why.

If you were in a humanities related field when you received your degree, then you may be more familiar with the why behind this. Quality Assurance Managers dealing with trades and manufacturing know the why behind this too. 

Most academics and writers alike will keep their drafts long after they have published the project because it shows the entirety of their idea from its inception to completion. This helps with laying claim to an idea or hypothesis before anyone else can. If these same academics use freewriting, then it makes the development from one idea to another all the more clear to a future scholar.

If you’re in Quality Assurance, showing your edits shows you are not only regularly evaluating your process, but you are actively making adjustments based on feedback, changing industry standards or regulations, and on the growth of the company. 

What does this mean for the average business owner? It means that you have control. You control what goes into your process; you control when and how it’s edited. And you have the documentation to show not only yourself, but to anyone else who may come along in the company what you have tried before and whether it has failed or succeeded. 

When you are planning the continuity of your business after you retire, or if you decide to step away and hire someone else to run it, this can be crucial for setting your successors up to continue or exceed what you built. 

Who executes tracking and implementing everything, that is up to which department oversees which processes. 

Usually, if it’s an office-related process, then your office manager or operations manager will be the ones to implement and ensure compliance. Quality assurance processes are government by QA managers, and so forth. If you’re a small business, then hiring a Virtual Assistant who specializes in processes and documentation is ideal because you are contracting with them for set services and, depending on the provider, set hours. 

Part of what I do as a freelancer is virtual assistant services and, having dealt with some of the monthly bills for one particular client, I can testify that it’s less of a burden on the payroll if you hire freelancers and the freelancer in question has more freedom to work in ways that benefit you. 

AI and Process Writing

Let’s address the elephant in the room for a second here, shall we? Where does AI fit into all this? 

The common misconception among business owners, particularly small business owners, is they can pull up ChatGPT, or use ClickUp AI, or Jasper AI, or any other AI program out there and get what they need, when they need it, and be done. 

I get it. I’ve done it myself for my online shop. It makes things much easier. 

But it’s also risky. Using AI for general policies is helpful because most policies go off specific laws in place. So, if that’s what you’re using it for, that’s good. You’ve saved yourself a bit of hassle there. Now, how are you going to keep track of all those policies? 

Ah! Still need a human to keep pace with everything. 

Procedures only work if you put in all your parameters correctly, and then have the time to go in and customize where needed. So, the cost comes down to paying for your own time (which is costly) and paying for someone else’s time. 

Honestly? Do what you think will work best for you, but I can tell you as someone actively in the field and dealing with AI, you want to have the human. In the end, you still have to evaluate effectiveness, track edits, and oversee implementation. 

Which means you still need a human. So, if you can take one of those things off your plate, which one is it going to be? Are you going to write and leave implementation to someone else? Or are you going to let someone else write and implement the process yourself? 

That’s ultimately up to you. 

Have more questions about what processes can do for you? 

If you want to know more about the ins and outs of process writing, or what a process writer can help you do in your small business, make sure you follow my blog or schedule a discovery call with me!