The Key To Prepare For Company Changes: Documentation

Last month we had an employee that had worked for us for almost three years leave our company. Normally when someone leaves, it can feel like crunch time to try to get as much of the processes out of their heads into documentation for their replacement. This time it was different. We were prepared.

We had a realization a few days after she had put in her notice… She could leave tomorrow and it wouldn’t make a difference because we already had 95% of her job documented. Her new replacement would have all the processes and how-tos they would need to successfully do the position from day one. That was a pretty amazing feeling and made for a very happy new employee that was taking her place. They had everything they needed to hit the ground running!

The biggest difference that we have implemented is to not wait until there is a problem to document a process. It isn’t always about team members leaving us, you just never know what tomorrow will bring and we want to be ready for anything. Alane, our co-founder, was in New York with Goldman Sachs in December and needed to create a gif for a presentation she was doing the next day. Not knowing how, she went into our Arvo account and found a how-to on making a gif.

Weaving Documentation into our Company Culture

Changes at the company can be positive too, sometimes team members grow into new positions as the company grows.

Having documentation be a part of our culture has given empowerment to our team members and it puts everyone in a position where they can continue to grow with us instead of being stifled because we can’t afford to lose them in that position. -Micah Johnson

What happened with the presentation Alane did at Goldman Sachs that she put the gifs into? Well, the gifs were showing examples of playbooks. Following the presentation, two attendees followed up about investment into the company. So, if we’ve learned anything, learn to create gifs and always use Arvo 🙂

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