Documenting your processes can offer a host of benefits for your business, but it can be a difficult task without the proper tools. Find out how Microsoft 365 can provide you with the solutions to make process documentation much easier.
Process documentation is vital for any business. It can help you set operational standards that can boost your team's productivity, performance, consistency, and engagement.
Documenting your processes can also help you refine them. That improvement can result in even more benefits. You can decrease operational costs and increase efficiency. In addition, you can also help ensure your team complies with industry regulations if any.
With all these benefits, you have to wonder why there are still so many large and small businesses that don't document their processes?
The answer is simple; it's a massive, time-consuming project that will involve your entire team. And, without the right tools, it can be even more challenging.
Imagine yourself in this scenario: You and a bunch of people from your organization are all working on a single document. Your files get overwritten. Different departments can't collaborate. It takes forever to find the file you need. Those are just some of the problems you are likely to face, and they can turn the process into a nightmare.
That's where we can help. ITS has been serving hundreds of businesses as a Managed IT Service Provider (MSP) for over a decade. And as an MSP, process documentation is a key factor in our success. For that, we've relied on one tool throughout the years; Microsoft 365.
In this article, we'll discuss how Microsoft 365 can help you document business processes much smoother by answering the following questions:
- Why Choose Microsoft 365 to Document Processes?
- How Does Microsoft 365 Improve Process Documentation?
Why Choose Microsoft 365 to Document Processes?
There are a lot of document management tools out there, but Microsoft 365 is still one of the best in the business. It offers a wide variety of solutions like SharePoint, Microsoft Dynamics, and OneDrive, all fully integrated into Microsoft's existing products. What's more, Microsoft 365 is compatible with most other third-party tools you might use to manage documents.
If your organization is already working in a Microsoft environment, you'll find it much easier to adopt Microsoft 365's process documentation tools.
How Microsoft 365 Improves Process Documentation?
The following are just some of the ways Microsoft 365 can make documenting your processes easier.
File Version Control
If you've ever worked on a document with another person, then you already know how difficult it can be to keep track of the different versions and revisions. It's also very easy to lose sight of who made what changes and when.
That's a challenge solved by Microsoft 365's Sharepoint. It can keep track of who made changes on your document and when they made it. It also allows you to revert your document to earlier versions should things go wrong.
This feature allows you full control over file versions, and you wouldn't need to make multiple copies of the document to do it, reducing confusion.
Centralized Collaboration
As we've said earlier, process documentation can involve several people from different departments working on a single document. Having that master document move across the desks of several members of your team can cause a lot of issues down the line. Files may get overwritten; someone might send out an outdated version, or worse -- delete it entirely.
All in all, it can cause unnecessary confusion for an already difficult task. Fortunately, Microsoft 365 enables you to have that master document in one place while still allowing everyone involved to collaborate seamlessly.
Here are some of the useful collaboration functions offered by Microsoft 365:
- Tag colleagues - This feature allows you to tag relevant teammates to view specific parts of your document.
- Assign tasks - You can also assign a task for specific team members within the document. This will notify them via email that they have a task to resolve. Also, you will also get notified once the task is completed.
- Share to the entire team - This feature allows you to share your document with entire departments or your entire organization in just a few clicks. You can also just copy the link of the document, share it on Microsoft Teams or send it via email.
- Manage access and permissions - You can also choose who to share your document with and set permissions on what they can access. That allows you to choose who can view or edit the document.
- Search and filter - Once those process documents pile up on your Sharepoint Library, it can get a little difficult to find the files you need. Thankfully, you can search and filter documents in your library, allowing you to pull up necessary files quickly.
File Accessibility
One of the best features of Office 365 is that it's all in the cloud. That allows you to access your files safely, anywhere, and anytime you want. A big plus, especially as more businesses embrace remote teams/workspaces.
Secure Cloud Storage
Another benefit of being on the cloud is that you reduce the need for physical devices for file storage. You can also reduce your inbox's storage use. Simply share a single link to your documents instead of sending different versions of the same file over and over again.
Microsoft 365 also takes advantage of Microsoft's robust security measures, which help ensure your files are safe in the cloud.
Ready to improve your process documentation?
Documenting processes is a vital task to help improve your operations, but it can become daunting when you don't have the right tools. Thankfully useful solutions like Microsoft 365 exist to help make it run much smoother.
Whatever tool or app you choose to use for document management, it's important to make sure it suits your workflow and is compatible with your environment. Ensure that you do your research before purchasing a specific tool, and give it a try before committing.
Based on our experience at ITS, Microsoft 365 has been instrumental in helping us manage and document our various processes, checklists, and even service tickets. While what works for us doesn't necessarily mean it will work as well for your business, it's a good tool to check out when getting started.
Want to improve your business processes further? Check out our article on what we can do to help.