10 Process Documentation Tools to Maximize Workplace Productivity | Scribe - The first knowledge sharing application in Vietnam

Did you know process documentation is critical to your organization’s success?

✅ It captures the information necessary to execute business processes efficiently.

✅ It enables managers and supervisors to analyze, provide feedback and suggest changes.

✅ It helps staff achieve consistency at work.

You get the gist.

As with most office activities, having the right tools makes everything easier — and process documentation is no different.

Gone are the days when businesses documented processes manually. Today, we have some of the best process documentation tools that standardize information, making them consistent and easily shareable.

But how do you pick the right tool to embrace this agile documentation? We’ve got you.

Mục lục bài viết

Streamlining your process documentation

Process documentation involves collecting all the relevant information to execute a specific business process — the exact steps, tools and procedures — to achieve the desired outcome. Many users also refer to it as a standard operating procedure (SOP).

“Okay, but how exactly will it benefit my business?”

The more tech-friendly and advanced your company becomes, the more likely is it to survive. Automating process documentation is just another step in this direction.

Here are some of the more notable benefits.

Improve business processes

People usually rely on memory or “guesswork“ to perform tasks. Unsurprisingly, this approach can lead to disastrous results.

You can’t make improvements to a process you don’t understand. Process documentation gives you a bird’s eye view of each task and sub-task, helping you brainstorm more effective strategies and tactics for an efficient workplace.

Minimize errors

Preventive measures are always better than corrective ones. They’re more effective and less expensive than spending time fixing problems after the fact.

Process documentation is a precautionary measure of sorts. It lets you set standards for repetitive tasks, providing the user with clear guidelines to perform better at work.

Saves time & money

When you document processes, you prevent simple tasks from becoming too complicated and expensive.

How? By setting task standards, you and your team can quickly set up new processes that maximize time, money and resources.

Creates workplace efficiencies

The digital age has brought efficiency to an all-time high. Process documentation is a classic example.

People have become more productive with tasks and deadlines, which, in turn, has maximized profit and workplace success. Think of it as identifying the right way to achieve the desired outcome and then repeating it to get the results you want, again and again.

Enhances employee onboarding

Effective onboarding is an essential but challenging task. Luckily, process documentation allows you to standardize and socialize how it’s done.

Standardized onboarding processes make it significantly easier for new hires to adapt, learn and get in tune with your company‘s culture. It’ll also make them more productive, engaged and invested in their work.

Ensures consistency & standardization

Consistent operations directly impact your organization’s survival and growth.

Different employee execution styles can lead to varied outputs, which can cause serious consequences. Do you have best practices? Globalize them for your team.

Improving workflows analytically

Not all new hires will share your vision. That makes it more difficult for you to achieve your business objectives.

Improving process documentation helps create a path to success, allowing staff members to meet customer needs more effectively and steer your company toward long-term survival and growth.

Top features to look for in process documentation tools

Not all process documentation tools are equal. When narrowing down options, look for tools that have the following features:

Ease of use: If your employees have trouble figuring out how to document a process with your tool, likely, they won’t be using it. Ensure the process documentation software you invest in has a shallow learning curve and is easy to get up to speed with — fast.
Versatility: The best process documentation tools offer robust functionality. Instead of doing just one thing (like creating a text document), they make it easier to represent visual data, create flowcharts or diagrams and share the documentation with your team. Look for options that let you include supportive links or attachments to add more depth to your documentation.
Mobile-friendly: As people increasingly use their smartphones for routine office work, a tool’s mobile-friendliness has become more crucial than ever. A mobile-friendly tool will give your team members easy access to critical information whenever and wherever they need it.
Integrations: Pick a documentation tool that lets you share data across tools. This way, your team won’t have to duplicate efforts by recreating the same information on different platforms. Your business will run more efficiently since team members can access relevant data across platforms.

Process documentation tools

Let’s explore some of the most amazing tools in the market that can help you document your processes and maximize productivity in no time.

G2 rating: 4.9 out of 5

Capterra Rating: N/A

Scribe strikes just the right balance between functionality and aesthetics.

Simply turn on the recorder, go through your process… and that’s it! The tool will automatically generate a step-by-step visual guide — complete with instructions and screenshots — in seconds.

Think of it as the virtual equivalent of an in-person walkthrough.

Add custom branding, text, blur and annotations to add more depth and detail to your documentation. Once your custom Scribe is ready, share instantly as a PDF document, embed in wikis and existing tools, or send directly with the URL link.

Scribe Pricing:

Scribe currently offers three plans:

Basic — Free.
Pro — $29 per user, per month.
Enterprise — Request a customized quote.

Scribe Features:

User-friendly drag-and-drop interface.
Create and share engaging step-by-step guides with one click.
Tons of useful editing and customization functionalities.
15x faster process documentation.
Combine Scribes to create different types of detailed documentation.
Pre-built page templates.
Compatible with Windows, Mac and any browser.

‍

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5

Capterra Rating: 5 out of 5

Bit.ai is a more advanced process documentation and knowledge management tool that simplifies knowledge collaboration, sharing, tracking and management.

Bit.ai documents are interactive, meaning you can easily add all kinds of rich media, ranging from audio and videos to Google Docs and Slideshare links. What’s more, multiple people can simultaneously collaborate on a Bit smart document in real-time, enabling employees to handle the different aspects of a specific process together.

A sleek and distraction-free editor further keeps your documentation on point.

Bit.ai Pricing:

Bit.ai currently offers three plans:

Free Plan.
Pro Plan — $8 per user, per month.
Business Plan — $15 per user, per month.

Bit.ai Features:

Unlimited customizable workspaces for personal and official use.
Smart interactive Bit documents.
Workplace insights for better activity monitoring.
Centralized digital content management.
Smart Bit document editor.
Extensive pre-made document templates and document themes.
End-to-end document sharing with user management.

‍

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5

If your organization prioritizes visual learning, trying out Lucidchart is a no-brainer.

It’s a collaborative diagramming solution designed with an integrated user interface and cloud service. Use it to create diagrams and mock-ups of every step in your process. A drag-and-drop builder lets you create simple flowcharts, technical diagrams and everything in between—even if you have no prior design experience.

The fact that you can collaborate with your peers or any device across platforms you already use is another benefit.

Lucidchart Pricing:

Lucidchart currently offers four plans:

Free.
Individual — Starting at $7.95 a month.
Team — Starting at $9 per user per month.
Enterprise — Request for a customized quote.

Lucidchart Features:

Real-time collaboration.
Automated diagramming functionality.
Create clean diagrams and style shapes.
Flexible sharing and collaboration options.
Containers and swimlanes to organize diagrams.
Enhanced security for premium accounts.

‍

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5

Capterra Rating: 4.8 out of 5

Whatfix aims to change how software documentation is displayed and consumed.

Use it to embed new content directly within your software apps. Create step-by-step walk-throughs, self-help FAQs, popup notifications, and more that act as real-time software documentation to guide your employees through various processes.

If you already have a knowledge base, display your documentation in a self-help widget. You can also measure your documentation’s effectiveness and usage with user analytics.

Whatfix Pricing:

Whatfix hasn’t published any pricing information on its website. You’ll have to contact its sales team for a custom quote.

Whatfix Features:

Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) to analyze and automate processes.
Flows to tailor experiences to specific user segments.
Roadmaps for tracking progress and monitoring efficiency in real-time.
Interactive surveys, reminders and pop-ups.
Beacons to communicate feature updates and process changes faster.

‍

G2 Rating: 4.1 out of 5

Capterra Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Confluence is another excellent process documentation tool to create, edit, collaborate and store all data from one dashboard.

Produce internal pages to leverage your team’s combined knowledge and provide a definitive resource for new hires. Get started right away with best-practice templates that make it easier than ever to document processes for building your documentation.

Assign and distribute tasks, track each project with full visibility, and get real-time reports for deep insights. Seamless integration with popular platforms like Jira, Slack, Trello and Dropbox facilitates easy collaboration between departments and systems.

Confluence Pricing:

Confluence currently offers four plans:

Free.
Standard — $5.50 per user (average) per month.
Premium — $10.50 per user (average) per month.
Enterprise — Request for a customized quote for annual payment.

Confluence Features:

Unlimited spaces and pages.
Seamless third-party app integration.
Best practice templates, ranging from product requirement documents to marketing plans.
Engagement analytics on page views, user views and comments.
Anonymous access and IP allow listing for premium plans.
Page versioning to track and view change history.

‍

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5

SmartDraw is essentially a flowcharting tool that lets you visualize your processes.

With automated formatting and over 70 different types of diagram templates, get started with process documentation even if you don’t have any experience with design tools. Build organizational trees, mind maps and several other types of charts with ease.

Integrate SmartDraw with other popular productivity tools like Microsoft Office and Google Workspace to easily export and share diagrams.

SmartDraw Pricing:

SmartDraw currently offers two plans:

Single User — $9.95 per month, billed annually.
Multiple Users (5+ Users) — Starting from $5.95 per month, billed annually.

SmartDraw Features:

Intelligent formatting engine that lets you easily build and edit diagrams.
Automatic spacing, alignment, sizing and color schemes.
MS Office, Google Apps, Jira, AWS and Teams integration.
CAD-like drawing capabilities with standard engineering skills.
Vizio import and export.
Development platform with built-in extensions.
Anytime, anywhere collaboration and sharing.

‍

G2 Rating: N/A