The EOS 3-Step Process Documenter

Welcome back to the Business Builder newsletter. We're continuing the EOS series, and in today's issue, I'll share my experience with implementing the 3-Step Process Documenter tool, in my business.

Estimated read time: 3 minutes.

What is the EOS 3-Step Process Documenter?

You need to ensure your entire team is executing your organization’s Core Processes consistently so your customers receive reliable, trustworthy service every time, right?

Everyone doing things their own way leads to chaos. To create a well-oiled machine that functions with consistency, efficiency, and greater profitability, you must systemize your business.

The Three-Step Process Documenter provides a simple approach to achieve this.

As the name implies, this tool has three steps:

1. Identify

2. Document and Simplify

3. Package

1. Identify your handful of processes

Identify the processes at the core of your business, the 20% that create 80% of the results. This first step seems simple but isn't easy. Getting a leadership team to agree on what is and isn't a “core process” requires discussion, debate, and decisions.

Start by helping your team understand the difference between a “core process” and everything else. Core processes are the most important things your company does regularly.

Typically, your list will look something like this:

• HR

• Marketing

• Sales

• Accounting

• Customer Service

• Operations

2. Document and simplify

Once the team identifies and prioritizes its core processes, the logical owner (based on Accountability Chart roles) documents and simplifies their core process.

This involves observing the current way the process is being done, evaluating what's working and not working, and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and automation.

Simplifying each core process involves eliminating redundancies and unnecessary steps and automating tasks where possible. The simplified process is then presented to the leadership team for review and approval.

3. Package

The last step is packaging the core processes in a format that is easy to find and use.

This involves selecting the appropriate format such as a typical document, workflow diagrams, photos, or videos — and making sure the processes are easily accessible to those who need to use them.

How I’ve applied this:

Documentation is centralized in the ClickUp Docs portal, serving as a key reference point for all team members.

Each person accountable for a relevant process leads the documentation of the processes at all relevant levels.

We prioritize documentation based on the process's frequency, time consumption, and overall impact, focusing first on the most critical and time-consuming tasks.

The final output for documented processes is checklists in ClickUp, which serve as templates for future use. We also look for automation opportunities to boost efficiency where relevant.

I’ll keep sharing the EOS method as we continue the series. Next week’s focus will be on “Everyone Has a Number.”