Work Instruction Creation Tips

Creating work instructions can be a difficult process, especially when people complete processes differently. Use these tips to create efficient, effective, and worker-friendly work instructions.

Although it might seem counterintuitive, the best way to create work instructions is by breaking a process into multiple smaller steps.

• Use Prerequisites
  • Break any section of a process that is often repeated into its own guide.
    • By breaking up a common process into its own guide, you can link it as a prerequisite guide to any of the many processes that you create.
    • This way you will only have to write this section of the process out one time, and it can be applied easily to many larger processes.

Steps are the foundational building blocks for each process. It is important to make sure that these steps are easy for everyone to understand.

• Provide clear titles for each step so people know what each step demonstrates.
  • For example, "Secure Upper Cables with 1/2mmm Screws."
• Use all of the bullet point types.
  • Using bullet types like Warning, Note, and Reminder make salient points stand out. Readers will more likely take note of them.

Attach parts and tools to your documents so your employees know what they need for the procedure.

Visual instructions are more effective, and no visual instructions would be complete without pictures.

• Take a photo for every step of the process.
  • Even if it seems unnecessary to you, photographs make a step easier to understand. Employee performance increases with greater understanding of tasks and their processes.
• Photographs should show:
  • Where the process is happening
  • How to perform the process
    • You may occasionally ask an employee, who is going through the process, to pause for a photograph.

• Attach pictures in each step to maintain a strong visual representation of the process.
• For more complex steps, include a "zoomed out" picture. This provides an overview of the process. Likewise, include a "zoomed in" picture to present a more in-depth view of the process.
• Use markers to provide clarification and draw attention to aspects of the image that connect to the step instructions.
  • Be sure to match the bullet points on the steps to the markers. This enables employees to see the corresponding relationship between the bullets and the markers.

Want to make your work instructions more eye-catching and easier to understand? Great videos help you do both.

The video that you shoot will primarily be used to show instructions to your users, but videos are also helpful tools for writing work instructions.

Ask your highest performing employee to complete the task while you record the video. This ensures that the video portrays the most effective and efficient method(s) for the work instruction.

• As they are completing the task, have your employee explain the process.
  • This will help you later when you are writing the instructions.
• Focus on the process, not the person.
  • Unless they are actors, people do not typically enjoy being videotaped. Put the focus of the video on the process that the employee is performing, not on her or him. This encourages people to feel more comfortable in front of the camera, and it focuses on what really matters— the process.
• Ask the employee additional questions about the process.
  • Processes tend to have complexities beyond the steps themselves. Seek additional "insider" information, like a tip or trick that the employee knows. Specialized information from an experienced employee often benefits your readers.

• Review the video while you write the instructions. A review of the content is an effective practice that strengthens your documentation of the process.
  • Document each step as the employee narrates the process.