In a recent conversation with one of our clients, they noted that while compliance standards were being met, there was an opportunity to strengthen process documentation to support higher-quality decision-making.
One of the major challenges organisations face with process documentation is staff bypassing it—jumping straight to decisions without adequately referring to it. As we worked through the issue, it became clear that staff already understood the importance of documentation in meeting best practice standards; that wasn’t the problem.
Nor was the challenge related to the complexity of the documentation itself. The real issue lay in how the documentation connected to the specific work context or area each staff member was dealing with. Being explicit about the ‘how’ at a practical level is just as important as ensuring users understand the ‘why’.