Nobody really LIKES writing procedures manuals. You know you should, you know it would be helpful if you did, and when it comes time to train a new employee, you're always sorry that you didn't do a better job of it. But what if everyone could collaborate on a procedures manual, writing down specifics as they do them, or even as they learn them. It sounds like a job for a wiki!
If you're having a hard time getting you and/or your staff started on such a process, take this tip from Anne Welsh's article "Internal Wikis for Procedures and Training", in Online Nov./Dec. 2007. "one colleague...asked me to set up wiki pages for each of the topics I would like to know about, with prompt questions. Having read these, they worked through the procedures "live," stopping every 10 minutes or so to document what they'd done. Then we used their notes as the basis for a walk-through of each task. I added any additional notes I thought I'd need.." What a brilliant way to encourage staff members to detail procedures in a wiki!
Procedures can change on a daily basis. A wiki is ideal for creating a "living" procedures manual that can be easily edited by whomever you choose. Just think, start a procedures wiki and next time you get a new employee, you'll be ready!
Wiki's for business procedures manuals is a great way to automate your knowledge management and retention. You have to integrate procedures into the job and using an online wiki helps to integrate your procedure into the job as well as provide an easy mechanism to update your proceduers and collect immediate feedback on procedure usage.