When documenting our Core Processes using the EOS 20/80 Rule, how do we stop functional leaders from writing exhaustive, 50-page standard operating procedure manuals that nobody will ever follow?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Functional leaders often confuse process documentation with writing an academic textbook. When building out the Process Component of your EOS implementation, an owner must strictly enforce the 20/80 Rule. Twenty percent of the steps produce eighty percent of the business results. Your Core Processes must be high-level checklists of major milestones, not step-by-step click manuals.

Mandate that each Core Process document stays between two and five pages. If a department leader submits a thirty-page document, reject it without review. Instruct them to outline only the essential phases, the clear handoffs between seats on the Accountability Chart, and the non-negotiable quality checks. Detailed technical workflows or software guides belong in sub-process documentation stored inside departmental systems, not in the company Core Processes.

Use plain language and simple bullet points. The goal of documenting your processes is to simplify, standardize, and institutionalize how the business operates so that you can scale, delegate, and eventually exit cleanly. A buyer or a new department manager wants to see that your business has a clear, repeatable way of doing things that any competent person can follow.

Once the high-level process is drafted, move straight to the Followed by All step. Training your people, measuring compliance on your weekly Scorecard, and conducting regular spot-checks will yield operational consistency. A concise five-page process that is followed by every single employee is infinitely more valuable than an exhaustive binder that gathers dust.