How To Use Scribe To Automate Process Documentation (With Examples)

We’ve all had those days when we’d rather do anything but document processes. 

But the truth is: you need process documentation to keep your organization productive. It can, and often does, have a huge impact on your bottom line. 

Don’t worry. We’re not here to sell you the benefits of process documentation — you’re probably well aware of them. Instead, we want to show you automation can simplify how you create it. 

In this guide, we’ll help you understand why the traditional approach to documenting processes is flawed. We’ll also show you how Scribe can automate process documentation to benefit your growing business.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• The challenges of manual process documentation
• An introduction to automating process documentation
• The benefits of automating process documentation with Scribe
• Reasons to use Scribe to automate process documentation
• Examples of automated process documentation made using Scribe
• Final thoughts: How to use Scribe to automate process documentation

The challenges of manual process documentation

Businesses rely on process documentation to deliver consistent results. But it’s not always easy. Here are five challenges with manual documentation that can actually prevent you from achieving that goal.

1. Resource-intensive

One of the biggest challenges of manually documenting processes is that it’s resource-intensive. Process knowledge usually comes from stakeholders and subject matter experts (SMEs). Their time is expensive. 

And the problem only gets worse when you factor in the constant evolution of processes. Likely, by the time you complete an SOP, it’s already time to update it. And if you don’t manage to update those complex processes, you’ll run into incorrect implementation. 

All that hard work will fall to the wayside, and your documents will become forgotten (and useless) relics.

2. Lack of access

Access issues are another challenge for manual process documentation — especially in this post-pandemic world where more companies adopt remote team members. 

Upwork’s survey of 1,000 hiring managers in the U.S. reveals businesses expect 58 percent of their workforce to be fully remote by 2026.

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So if your business process documentation exists across Google Docs, Slack or ClickUp, chances are, your remote teams will struggle to access and use it. As a result, they might lose faith in the documentation’s effectiveness and importance.

3. Time-intensive revisions

When businesses grow in size, processes evolve to reflect that growth. But when you’re documenting processes manually, managing revisions can be a real pain. A simple change to one part of the process can take hours to update. 

For instance, suppose you use videos to document critical business processes. Any change in a documented process will require anywhere from a few hours of video editing to several hours of redoing it entirely.

4. Protecting intellectual property

Every successful business has its share of proprietary processes. Documenting and securely sharing them online can be challenging. That’s because compromised credentials were responsible for 20 percent of all cybersecurity breaches, according to IBM’s 2021 report.

And that’s not all. Accenture’s report revealed that the average attacks per company increased by 31 percent in 2021. So if your company relies on manual documentation, its proprietary processes are vulnerable to compromise.

It’s never a risk worth taking!

5. Difficult to scale

As technologies evolve, business process documentation must evolve with them. Whether it’s employee onboarding processes or standard operating procedures (SOPs), if your business relies on manual process documentation, you’ll likely struggle to scale it.

Creating manual documentation relies on consistent, error-free work. When documenting processes takes longer than the task itself, it can be impossible to scale. And if your process documentation can’t keep up with your business growth, it becomes a bottleneck.

An introduction to automating process documentation

Automated process documentation means automating the creation and management of business documentation using software like Scribe. It eliminates repetitive tasks and empowers you to spend more time on the ones that matter.

WorkMarket’s 2020 In(Sight) Report revealed that 70 percent of business leaders believe that they spend anywhere between 45 minutes to over three hours on mundane tasks. 

That’s where process documentation tools like Scribe help increase productivity. Scribe does the job for you by automating tasks like: 

• Writing instructions.
• Recording clicks and process inputs.
• Taking screenshots.

The goal of creating business process documentation is to improve efficiency. But if creating the documentation is tedious, then what’s the point? If you don’t streamline your process, you’ll wind up losing even more productivity.

Scribe overcomes that challenge by automating process documentation. Eliminating repetitive tasks reduces inaccuracies, increases efficiency and maximizes productivity.

The benefits of automating process documentation with Scribe

Automating business process documentation is an easy way to eliminate bottlenecks that impact business growth, productivity and revenue. 

Here are five benefits of using Scribe to automate process documentation.

1. Process standardization

Ever accidentally send v2 of a document when you made updates on v3?

Manual process documentation can lead to inconsistencies, especially when multiple people work on creating a process document. That’s because everyone will likely have their own style of doing things. When these biases make their way into a process document, the quality will suffer, and so will process adoption. 

Using Scribe to automate process documentation eliminates inefficiencies and optimizes the documentation process. You get consistent results and a seamless user experience every single time.

2. Increased productivity

Automated documentation improves productivity by eliminating repetitive tasks. You don’t need to click screenshots, describe processes or jump between multiple tools. Just turn on the Scribe recorder and walk through your process tasks. That’s how easy it is.

When Sidd Hora, sales operations and enablement manager at Crosscard, started using Scribe, he reduced the time he spent on documenting processes by 93 percent. 

He explains:

 “Before Scribe, one article would have taken me 10 to 15 minutes or even more. Scribe has literally reduced the time to one or two minutes.”

3. Error reduction

Eliminating manual tasks leads to fewer human errors across the documentation process. That leads to greater accuracy and improved process adoption. 

And that’s not all. 

Using business process documentation tools like Scribe empowers you to create error-free process documents at scale.

Scribe records your process flow and generates documents to describe them using text and images in real-time. You can browse through the auto-generated document and quickly add, edit or reorganize.

And with Scribe, even human errors can be corrected quickly. Each step of a Scribe can be updated or deleted in seconds.

4. Service quality improvements

Unclear processes and distributed documentation can affect employee productivity. When Asana surveyed over 13,000 global workers, 27 percent reported unclear processes as one of the top barriers to productivity.

When Crexi’s CSM team started using Scribe for process documentation, they lowered the time they needed to answer client questions by 70 percent.

Customer Success Manager Rachael shares:

“Scribe has not only helped me tremendously but our clients as well. Scribe allows our team to create walkthroughs for clients automatically and has been a huge time saver.”

5. Increased profitability

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A 2020 survey by the World Economic Forum revealed that 84 percent of businesses plan to accelerate the digitalization of work processes. On top of that, 50 percent of companies reported they’ll be using automation to accelerate repetitive tasks.

You can increase your operational efficiency by automating time-consuming process documentation with Scribe. Combining it with other benefits of document automation, such as more productivity and fewer errors, will increase your business’s profitability.

Reasons to use Scribe to automate process documentation

Now that you understand the benefits of automating process documents, here are three reasons why you should use Scribe for it.

1. Save time with automation

Scribe helps you save time by automating the documentation process. You don’t need to spend hours capturing, editing and annotating screenshots. You can do all that and more in minutes inside Scribe’s user-friendly dashboard.

Seth, head of global sales development at Talon.One, reduced documentation time by 90 percent by using Scribe to create process documents. 

He shares:

 “Scribe allows me to build my SDR team’s processes in 1/10th of the time it took before.”

2. Keep your business information secure

Creating and sharing business process documentation using automation software means sharing your proprietary data with a third party. 

The good news?

Your data is safe with Scribe.

Scribe uses comprehensive security measures to ensure your data is always protected. Scribe is one of the few Series A companies to undergo SOC 2 Type II audits. 

What does that mean for you? 

It means that keeping your business data secure is a top priority for Scribe, so you can be confident your data is safe.

3. Easily collaborate on process documentation

Creating effective process documentation is rarely an isolated task. You’ll likely need to brainstorm current processes, seek SME insights or get process owner approvals to avoid debates over process improvements.

Scribe makes it easy to share and collaborate on process steps. Share it as a link, embed it in an email or export it as HTML or PDF — Scribe can fit into your existing workflows effortlessly.

Examples of automated process documentation made using Scribe

Business process documents exist in several different formats, such as:

• Quick reference guides.
• Onboarding documents.
• Training manuals.
• Customer support guides.
• Product walkthroughs.

Here’s a quick overview of the various process documentation types you can create using Scribe.

Quick reference guides

Quick reference guides are documents that provide a condensed set of instructions for a product or process. They’re a convenient way to help users find information without scanning a ton of content.

Scribe empowers you to automate process documentation and create helpful, quick reference guides to consolidate information using Scribe Pages. You can create different processes with multiple steps, add checklists and even share a collection of Scribes with your employees and customers.

Here’s a quick overview of everything you can do with Scribe Pages.

Onboarding documents

Onboarding documents are crucial for onboarding new hires and helping them understand your company policies and processes. They help employees see how your business and its operations work so they can start on the right foot.

Scribe helps you onboard new employees in less time by turning business processes into easy-to-follow guides. For example, here’s a Scribe that demonstrates the exact steps to create an invoice in Xero.

Training manuals

A 2020 report by Blissfully found that companies in the U.S. use an average of 137 unique apps per organization and churn through more than 30 percent of those apps each year. One of the main reasons is that companies adopting new processes and tools often struggle to employ them effectively. 

Training manuals are essential for companies to teach employees how to use new tools and troubleshoot common issues. Scribe simplifies creating and sharing training manuals by helping you create automated process documents and comprehensive tutorials in minutes.

For example, here’s a Scribe that shows how to create an email template in Salesforce.

Customer support guides

Customer support guides are essential for a smooth post-purchase experience. They empower customers to troubleshoot issues by answering common questions and demonstrating how to use products correctly.

Scribe makes it easy to create comprehensive how-to guides that help your customers troubleshoot issues independently. 

For example, here’s a customer support guide that Tiffany from our team made in less than 30 seconds to demonstrate the steps to edit a Scribe.

Product walkthroughs

Product walkthroughs help customers understand a product’s purpose and functionality. They’re not only essential to adopting the product — they can also drive how users adopt new features. 

Scribe simplifies creating product walkthroughs with easy annotations and customizations. For example, here’s a Scribe that shows the steps to add a custom field in Salesforce.

Final thoughts: How to use Scribe to automate process documentation

Automation is here to stay. Let it do the job for you! Automating process documentation provides several benefits, including:

• Standardizing business processes.
• Increasing productivity.
• Reducing documentation errors.
• Improving service quality.
• Increasing profitability.

Even better, when you use a process automation tool like Scribe, you can collaborate quickly, store your business data securely and ensure your process documentation is updated at all times easily.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up for a free account with Scribe and start automating process documentation today.