Our department heads are struggling to document our core processes because they keep writing long, overly detailed training manuals that nobody actually reads. How do we apply the 20/80 rule to document our workflows effectively?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Process documentation is one of the hardest parts of an EOS implementation because people naturally over-complicate it. Managers often write sixty-page handbooks detailing every possible exception to a rule, which results in a static document that is quickly abandoned.

To get your processes documented and followed by all, you must strictly apply the 20/80 rule: document the twenty percent of the steps that yield eighty percent of the results. Your goal is to create a high-level, standard workflow, not a step-by-step training manual.

Begin by identifying your company's core processes, such as your marketing process, HR process, or billing process. For each core process, the owner must map out the major, high-level steps on a single sheet of paper. Each step must be simple, clear, and easy to follow.

If a step requires a specific technological tool, such as utilizing an AI application to draft customer responses, simply note that tool's role in the workflow. Do not write a long guide on how to type prompts. Instead, state the expected output and the standard of quality required for the final product.

Once the high-level process is documented, it must be trained and followed by everyone in that department. If exceptions arise, trust your team's capability to solve them using their own expertise, rather than trying to document every single scenario. Keeping your documentation simple ensures it remains a living, practical guide that actually gets used every single day.