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Process documentation samples made with FlowShare.

Whatever the purpose of your process documentation, with FlowShare’s wide range of export formats you can find exactly what option fits your needs best.
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Determine the right process documentation type for your organization.

Process documentation provides a detailed overview of how to complete a procedure from beginning to end. By documenting their processes, businesses can ensure that critical workplace knowledge is not lost or forgotten, resulting in improved performance and compliance.

Not all companies are the same, so why would their process documentation be? Here’s how to figure out which type of process documentation is ideal for your organization.

When creating process documentation, it is always important to be clear and concise, and to include all relevant information. What is relevant differs depending on the purpose of your process documentation, what tools you have, and in turn affects which kind of process documentation suits you best:

Instruction manual showing FlowShare guide in for Word
  • Simple checklists may suffice for you if your main purpose is to ensure that individual steps in different processes are completed but you don’t want or need to describe every step of a business process.
  • A visual representation – for example in form of a flowchart may be a better option for you if you need to show how different steps in certain processes are interconnected.
  • Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are usually best for providing step-by-step guidance on how to complete process steps from start to finish.
  • If you’re attempting to document processes that anybody could follow, detailed step-by-step instructions are your thing – and the focus of this article.

Documenting all process tasks in detail can help ensure that critical business process knowledge and information is never lost or forgotten, leading to more efficient and accurate process execution in your entire organization.

Choosing the documentation format and process documentation template that works best for you

A step-by-step guide, how-to manual, or SOP isn’t simply one thing. It might take many forms (and formats) and, once again, there’s probably one that is more suited for your needs than the others.

What type of process documentation do you create, and how will it be used by your team?

  • Do you want to allow employees to take their own notes in Microsoft Word® documents so that they may add them at a later date?
  • Do you want to showcase your processes in a stylish Microsoft PowerPoint® presentation?
  • Perhaps an HTML export is best for you since you want to upload your process documents into your ticket system or internal knowledge base to share it with your team.

We’ve put together some FlowShare example documentation to assist you in your decision-making.

You’ll save yourself the time and effort of experimenting with different formats until you figure out which one works best for you. So utilize our best process documentation examples and best practices as a guide to create your own process documentation template.

Create an unlimited number of guides free for 7 days.

No restrictions, no obligations, no credit card needed. Only pay if you love it after your trial.  

Browse through our FlowShare examples of process documentation format types and discover your preferred documentation style.

With FlowShare, you can easily and automatically capture processes while you’re doing the task. And once they are captured, you get to choose from our variety of formats for your finished process documentation. You’re not limited to one or two options – we give you plenty of different formats to choose from, including PDFs, DOCXs, PPTXs, HTMLs, PNGs, and even customized web exports. If you need help deciding which format is best for you, take a look at our process documentation examples.

PDF: Simple know-how transfer with our PDF export

Sometimes, all it takes is a good old PDF to cover diligent process documentation and show all important information. This export format is a simple way to share your process documentation with anyone. You can send or store your PDF process documents in shared folders like Google Drive. A PDF is easy to navigate and requires neither a special programme nor an internet connection for the reader to view. Ideal for creating end-user manuals, standard operating procedures or software documentation.

DOCX: Microsoft Word® - the best export for retrospective changes

Microsoft Word gives your process documentation an open format, ideal for when annotations to the documentation are encouraged. Whether it is for employee onboarding or to encourage general feedback – anyone can add to this type of documentation format long after it has been created. New hires can get their handbooks and make their own notes.

PPTX: Showcase your processes with our Microsoft PowerPoint® export

Some step-by-step guides are simply too beautiful not to show off to all your colleagues. It is safe to say that Microsoft® PowerPoint® is the presentation software for most companies. Did you know that PowerPoint® is a potential format for step-by-step documentation, too? That’s why we developed a PowerPoint® export format for FlowShare, ideal for presenting your process documentation to a larger crowd easily. 

HTML export: Upload your SOPs to your ticket system or knowledge base

The HTML export is ideal if you want to be able to share your SOP or internal documentation on a company wiki or link it directly within an application, HTML export is the best option for you. This export format is ideal for creating help articles and keeping your central knowledge base up-to-date. You can fully customize the css file of our process template allowing you to create a look that perfectly integrates with your company's branding. Our team can also work with you on more significant changes- just contact us to discuss your needs!

PNG Export example: A visual building block for authoring tools and more

Admittedly, PNGs as a pure image format do not yet make up a finished process documentation. But they can be an important step towards it if you want to resize and reuse those images. If you have technical writers and authors in your organization who are adept at using authoring tools, then automatically captured PNGs of individual process steps are a valuable building block for process documentation. 

WEB: Web export - Integrate your how-to guides into solutions you are already using 

If you are already using a knowledge base or content-management-system, you may be looking for a way to easily create content for and upload it to your applications. You could be uploading PDFs or PNGs, but honestly? There is an easier way. FlowShare offers some direct integrations into other applications. They enable you to export your guides directly into other platforms, saving you unnecessary work on capturing your team's knowledge.

SCORM: Create SCORM-conformant documentation for your e-learning solution

If your main documentation purpose is to create content for e-learning solutions or learning content management tools then you will love to learn that FlowShare will soon have a SCORM export as well! Why go through the pain of trying to make your step-by-step instructions SCORM-conformant, perhaps even buying some expensive software along the way, if you could do it all with one simple click?

RPA - Robotic process automation with OpenRPA compatible export

If a process is so repeatable that the task can be done by a robot instead of a human - go for it. RPA export is the best choice if you want to automate part of the process or an entire process. You can speed up bot creation in OpenRPA with this export format. We are currently looking for pilot customers for this new use case. If you're an RPA expert and familiar with OpenRPA, you'll want to give our RPA export format a try. This export for process automation isn't appropriate for those who only wish to document procedures; however, you may use one of the other exports for process discovery purposes if you just want to document tasks without automating them.

With FlowShare you can create step-by-step documentation with minimal effort

FlowShare interface with text about creating simple step-by-step instructions

FlowShare is a simple yet effective tool for making beautiful step-by-step instructions and process documentation without any design expertise or technical skills. You may quickly capture all essential actions of your business processes while executing the processes themselves.

FlowShare automatically take screenshots of every click you make, adding short text descriptions where you clicked. The editing features allow you to fine-tune and create visually appealing documents that are easy to follow. You may export your final document in all of the aforementioned formats, making it a versatile resource for your own documentation needs.

If you want an easy way to make beautiful step-by-step guides and process documentations, look no further than FlowShare. It’s simple to use, even if you have never created process documents before and have no design experience!

Unlimited number of guides

There is no limit to the number of guides your users can create.
 

Unlimited distribution

Distribute and share your guides with as many people as you want, your team, customers, the world - it’s included!

Unlimited views

Only pay for the users who create guides with FlowShare not the ones who view and read the guides.

Create an unlimited number of guides free for 7 days.

No restrictions, no obligations, no credit card needed. Only pay if you love it after your trial.  

FlowShare by miraminds has a 5,00 of 5 star rating 19 reviews on Google | Software & Process Documentation Tool