Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
WORK INSTRUCTIONS
WELCOME
Are you growing frustrated using Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to create and
manage your companys work instructions and product documentation?
Being tasked with ensuring that operators properly follow work instructions,
stay on top of updates, and adhere to quality standards is easier said than
done. The days just arent long enough to monitor everyone and everything.
Creating initial versions takes forever, and its nearly impossible to standardize
templates to reduce errors down the line.
Tracking production data is nearly impossible with paper instructions, as they arent
connected to popular ERP systems.
Now, lets dive into how you can improve your work instructions in 16 easy steps.
TA B LE O F CO N T EN TS
CR E AT ING
K E E P I T S IMPLE , AVOID WALLS OF TEXT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
K N OW YOUR AUDIE N CE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
BE SP ECIFIC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
I N CLU DE CLEAR PHOTOS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
M A K E I T EAS Y TO N AV IGATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
M A K E I T MODULAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
U SE LI STS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
STA R T WIT H A V E R B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
U SE V I DEOS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
T E ST I T OUT WITH A BEGIN N ER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
D O N T US E WE AS E L WOR DS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
U P DATING
I N CO R P OR AT E FEEDBACK LOOPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
ST I C K TO A PR OCE S S. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
D ISTR IBUT I N G
I M P LE M E N T A S TAN DAR DIZE D V ER S ION CO NTRO L SY STEM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
D I TC H THE PAPE R BIN DER S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
TR ACK ING
I N CO R P OR AT E WITH E R P S YS T E MS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
CREATING
Producing initial versions takes forever, and its nearly impossible to
standardize templates to reduce errors down the line.
Front-load the useful details. When you start with the important stuff,
your readers take the essential point with themeven if they dont read
everything.
Assume your readers are not going to slog through entire paragraphs.
Readers are scannershunting and pecking for words and phrases that
they find pertinent.
The average person spends just seconds reading a web page, absorbing
only about 20% of the text. The more concise you are, the more
information readers actually comprehend.
It means you know how many steps itll take to explain something. It
means you know how long your manual is going to be and what sort of
language to useyou shouldnt be writing over your audiences head.
Rather than assuming a user can fill in the gaps in written information, be
sure to include specific actions and steps for the user to be successful.
Dont just tell readers how to do somethingshow them. Instructions filled with
blocks of technical jargon are time consuming, and difficult to understand. To ensure
a successful end-user experience, its crucial to use photos in your documentation.
Most people are visual thinkers. They sketch out a process or mentally visualize steps
before tackling a project. By including photos, youll not only save them time and
energyyoull also foster their confidence.
Work instruction tools like Dozuki also have built-in markup tools to quickly add
notations on an image. They allow you to highlight key detailslike individual screws
or special componentsand they guarantee that your instructions are precise.
Breaking tasks down into repurposable segments can make instructions easier
to comprehend. Think of it this way: processes have to be done in a certain order.
You cant make a hamburger without first cooking your beef. So, grilling your burger
patty is a prerequisitea dependent task. Prepping the toppingstoasting the buns,
slicing tomatoes, washing the lettuceis also a prerequisite.
Not sure what sections would be best for your instructions? Design
your own structure.
Not using a verb to begin your instructions gives them a passive voice.
Procedures arent suggestions, they are meant to be followed.
In fact, video instructions are so popular that YouTube is now the internets default
authority for everything from computer repair to home improvement to physics.
Sometimes it can be hard to tell when your work instructions are unclear. Want to
make sure? Give your writing to someone who knows nothing about the procedure.
Try a hallway usability test: hand the instructions to five random people in the
building. Every time someone says, I dont know what this means, its time for
some revisions.
Some words can weasel into your sentence and steal your oomph.
Words like "mostly," "slightly," "seems," and "somewhat" are built-in sentence
loopholes. They signal to the user that you mean what you say just not entirely.
Is the screw "pretty hard to tighten" or is it just hard to tighten? Is running into your ex
"fairly uncomfortable" or is it just downright uncomfortable?
Say what you mean without wishy-washy words, it will give your instructions more
credibility and authority.
Were here to boost your confidence and help you stick it out! The
upside on updating is well worth it, lets dig in.
Giving your employees tablets is a great way to bring them into the loop. This allows
you to empower employees to comment on and suggest improvementsdirectly
from the floor.
Workers know which instructions are confusing. Deputize them as adjunct members
of your team. Once they know youre listening, theyll feel empowered to help you
revise and improve your documentation.
Let employees know that youre not shoving a new procedure down their throatyou
want to optimize procedures to make everyones job easier. Giving them a voice in
the process and integrating their feedback is the best way to get everyone on board.
Its easy to spend as much time distributing new versions with teams
as you did authoring them, but that doesnt have to be the norm.
Ensuring everyone is working from the correct information is a never ending task.
When a new version is released, it can take an entire team to track down and replace
the old versions, and can be even harder to confirm delivery.
Digital work instructions allow users to instantly receive updates of new versions,
archive old ones, and restrict access based on user permissionsmaking sure teams
are working from the right document, every time.
In 2012, Toyota had to recall thousands of cars because they botched a couple
sentences in the manual.
Having disconnected documentation and data collection just creates one more
hurdle to capturing accurate information from floor operators. Work instructions
provide you with a great opportunity to collect data directly from the floor.
Look for a digital work instructions platform that integrates directly with your
existing ERP system, giving you valuable insight into cycle times, employee
efficiency, and more.
The basics weve outlined here are just the beginning. This guide
contains many helpful tips for your instructions, but these tactics are
only the tip of the iceberg. Continue to improve and collaborate each
work instruction in an effort to improve your communication efforts and
increase output.
For years, companies have relied on outdated programs like Word or Powerpoint to
produce instructions. The result: messy, insecure, and hard to update documentation.
Dozuki offers the perfect alternativea powerful interactive tool, designed with robust
features for your companys needs.
For more information on Dozuki, including a full list of features, product videos, live
demos, along with additional resources such as customer stories, on-demand webinars,
and ROI calculators, visit our website at www.dozuki.com