Work Aids, Work Instructions, SOPs are all names for documents that tell people how to complete a task. The goal of work aids is always to share or transfer knowledge.  Work instructions are particularly helpful when the text caters to people who might be starting a new job, taking over new duties, or moving to a new department.

Below, I have detailed different ways to create work aids, what they can contain and some ideas for templates. The key to the whole process is that the creation and maintenance of work aids needs to be part of EVERYONE’S job description. Everyone means from the CEO to the janitor and the summer intern. Nobody can be exempt. It needs to be part of the company culture. Start small, lead by example and grow the expectation.

Each Work Aid document can contain relevant information pertaining to the department, organization or function and there can be multiple Work Aids on the same topic, especially if the point-of-view is important. In this article, I have provided some general guidelines to help those writing work aids.

Work Aids can include different elements. There should be enough flexibility in your process so that people do not feel constrained when they create or update their work aid. Depending on the task, Work Aids can include steps in a process, sample emails or database entries. As mentioned, multiple work aids can support one process. Multiple smaller documents are helpful when a task involves multiple technologies, multiple people or a complicated work process.

The most important aspect of this process is to get something on paper (on the screen!). Videos and podcasts can be a great way to communicate information, too. Getting started is key. Good intentions are worthless if they are only talk. Images definitely help communicate effectively, mostly because the information is communicated faster, making the instructions easier to skim. We all know the saying that a picture is worth 1, 000 words. It is true.

It doesn’t matter if your first draft is perfect. There will always be updates. As you remember forgotten steps or have an updated email example, update your document.

Create a Work Aids folder accessible by everyone in a location everyone can find, such as team drive or cloud location. Use the same location to store all department Work Aids. Advertise this location and its purpose at every opportunity.

Your department leadership must take an active interest in Work Aids by supporting their creation and maintenance. The consistency they create in work and their part in helping people learn processes faster is a boon to the department. By supporting a culture of Work Aid creation, department leadership can help spread the practice to other departments.

Colleagues will have an easier time getting started on work aids specific to their job when a department template exists. Templates help people start writing. Knowing the basic information your team needs makes the work aid immediately relevant. A template also helps users of the work aids know what to expect.

Templates can include

• KM Work Aid: <Enter name of Process>
• Background:
• Steps:
• Notes and Other Information:
• Update Date(s)

KM Work Aid: <Enter name of Process>

Naming the process helps people find your Work Aid. We use the name of the process as the name of the document to improve retrieval. Use common terminology and omit abbreviations.

Background:

First decide if the background is important. If it is then answer some questions such as

• What is the story of this process?
• What is the background?
• Who started it?
• Why was the process started?

Sometimes knowing the background helps people understand why the steps are listed the way they are or why the specific procedures are important. This might seem obvious today, but a year from now, the knowledge might be forgotten. Also, background will help you know when the Work Aid is out of date and no longer needed.

Enumerate the Steps:

This section is simply the steps in a process. Remember the more information the better while keeping in mind that a wall of text isn’t always helpful. Add bullet points, images and links, where relevant, to break up the text describing the process.

Update:

It is important to update Work Aids, and all KM documents. Create a schedule where this task is done once a year at the very least.

Work Aids are tangentially part of onboarding, though they may not be used until a task comes up where someone needs help. Thus, Work Aids may more rightly be considered part of succession planning.

One part of the offboarding process should be for people, especially if the person leaving, to update Work Aids. If there are no Work Aids to update, the person should create them.

Work Aids help transfer knowledge, which improves continuity of work and keeps departments running smoothly. The consistency they create in work and their part in helping people learn processes faster is a boon to the department and the entire organization.

You have to figure out what works for your organization. You can implement a Work Aids program in your department even if there is no company-wide program.

Knowledge Management doesn’t work without the commitment of management.

-a version of this article was published at Roche/Genentech in October 2023-

At a conference I attended, knowledge management team members discussed a vibrant KM community as a way of breaking down silos. Sharing information person to person across departments and divisions is a great way to share information. This type of sharing can also be time consuming and rely on serendipity. Often, Communities of Practice can solve cross departmental and divisional problems.

Recently, APQC* talked about breaking down silos as well. Silos can protect information, but silos also “prevent groups across an enterprise from collaborating toward common goals like process improvement or innovation.”

Silos can be a product of competition. Departments will sometimes hoard information so members get better bonuses or credit for finishing a project ahead of schedule. Silos can also be the result of the way information storage systems were developed.

There are many ways to break down silos in addition to person to person.

1. Publicize your projects
2. Publicize your tools
3. Read newsletters, articles and project reports (the other side of numbers 1 & 2).
4. Attend cross functional meetings about a variety of topics. You never know what you will learn
5. Assign cross departmental liaisons
6. Respond to requests for information within your company, or externally according to company guidelines.

Publicizing your projects not only helps others understand what you are doing, but allows you to share how you got the work done. This is a great way to talk about the innovative spreadsheet you created to make work easier or the slide deck template you created to ensure all team members were using something that identified them as part of the department.

Do you use special tools? Do you use standard tools in an innovative way? One of the best ways to break down silos is to use standard tools and share how you use them. Don’t share a standard IT tutorial, but share how you took the tutorial and made the tool your own.

Read newsletters, articles and project reports to find out what innovative tools or processes were created to accomplish team goals. Many organizations publish a newsletter. In large organizations, many newsletters are published. Skimming a variety of these information sources regularly gives you insights into what is going on in other parts of the organization. I have seen a KM Specialist translate IT’s missives into tutorials that helped her team work smarter. She, then, shared the information on the department website and with other KM professionals via a newsletter. The readers could then take the same information, reuse it and morph it into something else that was new.

Attend cross functional meetings about a variety of topics. You never know what you will learn. While we are all busy, you find some of your best ideas by attending events and meetings where you are a little out of your comfort zone. You also make connections that you otherwise would not have made. You have to pay better attention, thus you hear things you may not have heard before. Sometimes these ideas turn into something that can help you in your work or provide a connection that you wouldn’t have otherwise found.

Assign cross departmental liaisons. Since KM people often work alone, they tend to seek out other KM people and, naturally, act as liaisons. When you do not yet have a dedicated KM person on your team, it is important to assign someone to reach out to other departments until you can budget for a dedicated KM person.

Breaking down silos is a great way to be able to reuse information others have developed.

References:

• APQC, Breaking Down Silos For Better Collaboration article

*Nota bene: APQC is a membership institution and you may need access through your organization.

For the past three years I have worked at large pharmaceutical company in knowledge management (KM). I worked with great people, passed on KM techniques and strategies to help improve efficiencies and I learned A LOT.

During that time I also studied for a was awarded Knowledge Management certification from APQC. The APQC program is an amazing experience. It is one I would highly recommend to anyone interested in knowledge management certification.

In the next days and weeks, I will share some of what I learned at both the pharma company and from APQC.

I hope you will engage with me. I am interested in the KM problems you find at your company and what you are doing to resolve them.