9 min read
Digital work instructions provide step-by-step guidance to workers on how to perform a task or job. These instructions are accessible on various digital devices such as desktop computers, tablets, or a mobile device.
Communication channels have evolved, yet many organizations are still using formats for their work instructions that were invented back in the 1950s – documents that were designed for 8.5 x 11 paper. Digital work instructions offer many benefits over paper delivery including interactive features, easy access to related content, and ease of maintenance and distribution.
Today's workers are looking for innovative companies utilizing new technologies to enhance employee experience and productivity. Digital work instructions solutions offer a valuable resource that improves the overall organizational experience, which can boost productivity and employee retention. This results in better operational outcomes for your organization. Keep reading to learn more about the need for digital formats of your company’s policies, procedures, and work instructions.
NOTE: Keep in mind, there may still be a place for paper-based work instructions. Some employees may not have access to a computer or mobile device. Your goal should be to deliver work instructions in the way the users need. A solution that enables multi-channel publishing from one source – paper and online – is optimal.
Difference Between Policy, Process, Work Instructions
Understanding the difference between policy and process, procedures, and work instructions is critical for organizational performance.
Policies are broad guidelines that set organizational direction.
Processes describe high-level tasks, providing an overview of how something is done.
Work instructions are detailed steps for completing specific tasks. Understanding these distinctions helps avoid confusion and improves efficiency by providing clear, role-specific documentation.
Most organizations need all levels: policies linked to high-level processes, procedures, and work instructions.
For the sake of this blog post, we will focus on work instructions, but the same digital presentation principles apply to all these document types. If you’re interested in learning more about the distinction between process, policy, procedure, and work instructions, click here for a more detailed blog post.
Understanding Digital Work Instructions
Digital work instructions are much more than text documents that employees can access online; they include a variety of elements that work together to provide a comprehensive guide to completing tasks. This approach caters to different learning styles and helps ensure that users not only understand the step-by-step instructions but can also understand how to complete tasks in practical applications.
Key Components of Digital Work Instructions
There are a few key components of digital work instructions that are essential for creating effective, user-friendly, and reliable guidance for employees.
- Text: The screen real estate for digital work instructions is limited. When your readers access content online, it is even more important to write work instructions that are clear, concise, and easy to follow. Keep line lengths short and use appropriate text sizes for optimal readability.
- Images and Diagrams: Incorporate images and diagrams that visually represent the steps, machinery, or software involved in the procedure. These visual aids should be high-quality responsive. Visuals can improve comprehension, especially for complex tasks that are difficult to explain through text alone. They can also help a multilingual workforce. For example, our client Morey’s Piers (an amusement park) includes images for international students to better understand how to operate the attractions.
- Videos and Audio: Include videos that demonstrate a specific task or step. Videos provide a dynamic way for users to see the work in action, offering a clearer understanding of timing and technique. They can be particularly useful for showing complex processes, troubleshooting, or safety protocols. Consider adding subtitles or voiceovers to guide users through the video, ensuring they understand even if they watch without sound.
- Interactive Elements: Incorporate interactive elements like clickable links, in document navigation, bookmarks, and expandable sections to create a more engaging and user-friendly experience. These features allow users to explore the content at their own pace, making the instructions more accessible and tailored to individual learning styles.
- Checklists: Checklists ensure that all necessary steps are completed. A well-structured checklist can serve as a quick reference, allowing users to tick off and complete tasks each step as they go, confirming that no part of the work instruction is missed. Checklists are especially valuable for complex procedures, where skipping a step could lead to errors or safety issues.
- Attestation and Testing: Unlike paper, it's easy to require that employees read critical work instructions and ensure comprehension with tests and quizzes. You can require that workers sign paper copies, but that manual method is error-prone and doesn’t provide any management reporting or integration with other systems.
CAUTION: Keep in mind that simply putting MS Word or PDF documents online “as is” is a big mistake, frustrates users and slows them down. Documents created by word-processors are designed for print. They provide no internal navigation. Even when a user finds the right document, they are forced to scroll and read the entire document to get to what they really want. Worse yet, if forced to deal with hundreds of pages in a manual, many users will leave said manual on the shelf to continue gathering dust.
Benefits of Digital Work Instructions
Electronic versions of work instructions offer numerous benefits to organizations, including:
Increased Efficiency
Digital work instructions that include navigation, hyperlinking, and search engines help users find information fast without the need for manual searching or sorting through paper documents. With instant access to all relevant information, workers can move through tasks more rapidly and with greater confidence, leading to faster completion times and more consistent output.
Greater Accuracy
One of the most significant advantages of digital work instructions is the reduction in human error problems due to inaccurate information. Unlike paper instructions, which can easily become outdated, digital instructions provide precise, up-to-date, and accurate information, ensuring that employees are always following the correct procedures.
Real-Time Updates
Digital work instructions offer the flexibility of real time updates, allowing organizations to quickly update work instructions to reflect changes in standards or best practices. This means that all employees are working with the latest information, minimizing the risk of outdated practices being followed. By centralizing updates and pushing them out instantly across the workforce, organizations can maintain compliance with industry regulations and rapidly adapt to new requirements or innovations.
Improved Accessibility
With digital work instructions, employees can access vital information from a variety of devices, including desktops, tablets, and smartphones. This level of accessibility allows employees to retrieve instructions whenever and wherever they need them, whether they are on the production floor, in the field, or working remotely. For example, a trend we’re seeing, especially in manufacturing, is the use of QR codes. A QR code is placed on a piece of equipment that an employee can scan and immediately have the work instruction or checklist pop up on their mobile device.
Easy Translations
Digital platforms make it simple to provide instructions in different languages, ensuring that all employees, regardless of their native language, have access to the same high-quality guidance and detailed instructions. This not only fosters inclusivity and equal opportunity but also enhances overall efficiency and accuracy by reducing language barriers that could otherwise lead to misunderstandings or errors.
Maintained Compliance
Digital work instructions ensure that all tasks are consistently followed according to the latest regulations and standards. With digital work instructions, updates can be instantly implemented across the organization. This helps in avoiding regulatory penalties and confirms that employees are always equipped with the most current guidelines, promoting a culture of safety, quality, and accountability. By centralizing updates and pushing them out instantly across the workforce, organizations can maintain compliance with industry regulations and avoid costly fines or citations.
8 Key Features of Effective Digital Work Instructions
Want to make sure digital work instructions get used and drive your organization’s desired outcomes? Below is a list of the most important requirements. These features are designed to enhance clarity, facilitate easy access, and support continuous improvement, making it easier for employees to follow procedures accurately and efficiently.
1. User-Friendly Interface
The last thing you want to do is give your users information that scares them or gives them cognitive overload. An intuitive and easy-to-navigate design allows users to quickly locate the information they need without frustration or confusion. Features like search functions, clear menus, and logical organization ensure that employees can follow procedures, increasing overall productivity, and minimizing errors. A well-designed interface enhances user experience and allows workers to remain focused on their tasks.
2. Responsive Design
Related to the above requirement, your work instructions need to be adaptable to various work environments. They need to display optimally at a range of screen sizes, no matter what device or screen resolution the user is using – without manual formatting or adjustments.
3. Content Linking
Often, a user will need to access related information. When they do, make sure they can get there quickly. Perhaps they need to review a related policy? Or an FAQs list? With digital work instructions, it’s easy to link related content together; simply insert links to a section within a document, a related work instruction, or resource.
4. Multimedia Integration
Integrating multimedia elements such as pictures, videos, diagrams, and other visual aids into digital work instructions greatly enhances user comprehension. Visual aids can break down complex concepts into easily digestible segments, allowing users to see exactly how tasks should be performed.
5. Compliance and Reporting
It should be easy to track usage and attestation, essential for meeting industry standards and regulations. Automated tracking systems can monitor whether employees are following the correct procedures, while integrated reporting tools can compile data on task completion, adherence to protocols, and areas for improvement.
6. Real-Time Collaboration
Features such as feedback forms and document ratings give users – no matter where they are located --an opportunity to provide usability feedback and communicate ideas for improvements. Collaboration tools make it easy for teams to share insights, suggest improvements, and ensure that everyone is on the same page. In fact, a survey completed by the Harvard Business Review found that 85% of employees cited collaboration tools as one of the critical areas of focus. This collaborative environment fosters innovation, improves problem-solving, and enhances the overall quality of work.
7. Centralized Document Management
When work instructions are digital, managing the full document lifecycle becomes much easier compared to traditional paper-based methods. Digital systems enable seamless collaboration, where multiple stakeholders can review, edit, and approve documents in real-time with version control and revision management, all within a centralized system. When all aspects of management are handled in a single, online system, there’s a lower chance of errors. The biggest impact is in the distribution phase. Approved updates go out to the entire organization in minutes instead of days or weeks.
8. Content Relevancy and Control
With a digital system, an administrator can control who has access to what content and deliver content that is relevant to your intended audience. You can organize content by role, location, state, etc. as well as apply appropriate access permissions. If your system provides a way for users to have their own personalized dashboard, they can easily see work instructions they rely on most often, need to take tests on, or need to sign with an electronic signature. Keep in mind that different people in your organization have different needs. Some need the big picture, while others only need the detail. A well-designed digital system can meet the needs of multiple audiences.
Choosing the Right Digital Work Instruction Solution
Selecting the right digital work instruction solution is a critical decision that can greatly impact the efficiency and effectiveness of your operations.
When selecting a platform, consider factors such as ease of use, integration capabilities, scalability, and the specific needs of your industry. Below are a few other factors to consider:
User Friendliness
MS Word-based systems require a great deal of conversion to deliver the benefits of user-friendly digital content. Simply putting word documents or PDFs online isn’t a viable digital strategy. You want your work instructions to get used and followed, so prioritize your audiences’ needs.
Even though digital work instructions provide many advantages, some users may need paper. They may not have access to a computer or your internal portal. But, in our work with clients, we’re seeing an increase in organizations equipping even their field workers with mobile devices.
Responsive Output
The best solution should support a variety of outputs: paper, digital work instructions, and the traditional manual. And generate any of these formats on demand, without requiring any formatting. The solution you implement should have online usability best practices built in. No organization wants to add more burden to IT or require that authors be webmasters.
Ongoing Maintenance
Most people fail to consider change – ongoing maintenance – when they select a solution. There are decisions you make at the beginning that will have a huge impact on maintenance down the road. Think about the effect your solution decision will have across all life cycle phases. Difficulty keeping everything updated is a main reason so many initiatives die on the vine.
Consider Related Content
Work instructions are designed to help users perform detailed tasks, but those tasks aren’t always performed in a vacuum. Even if your immediate need is work instructions, make sure the solution you select isn’t too limiting. Think of your work instructions as just part of the overall operational system designed to optimize performance and compliance. A comprehensive policy and procedure management system, like Zavanta, may be an ideal solution.
A policy and procedure management system streamlines the process of managing policies, procedures, and work instructions. Zavanta is designed to handle the full lifecycle of documents, from creation and collaboration to review, approval, and distribution, all within a centralized platform.
Look for Structured Content Solutions
If you want to capitalize on the benefits of going digital, and do it efficiently, look for structured content solutions. These solutions are intentionally designed for modern, online communication and have user experience best practices are built in.
Unlike traditional document methods, with structured content, content is separate from the format. Authors create content and then the system optimizes the output for how the user needs it: print, computer screen, tablet, mobile, and instant manual generation. This strategy is more user-friendly, efficient, and ensures that all work instructions are consistent no matter who the author is.
Zavanta is an example of a structured content system specially designed to handle the complexities of work instructions, content reuse, and multi-channel publishing (print and online from a single source) at scale.
Zavanta is a Complete Solution for Digital Work Instructions
As early as the 1990s, Comprose were pioneers in online knowledge transfer. With Zavanta, our goal was to enable even novices to create usable work instructions suitable for any medium while eliminating time consuming clerical formatting.
Zavanta is an end-to-end system for managing all your policies, procedures, and work instructions. With robust features such as automated notifications, version control, and secure access permissions, our solution helps organizations maintain consistency and accuracy across all their documentation.
Zavanta can help you save time, reduce errors, improve compliance, reduce risk, and enhance overall organizational efficiency, making it an invaluable asset for any business looking to optimize policy and procedure management.
Contact our team to learn more.
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