Process documentation software is the system that allows you to create process documentation that is obviously better, cheaper and faster than creating it from scratch. But where do you start if you are trying to find the best process documentation software for your team?
Process documentation software is the technology that provides support in creating, editing and storing operations procedures. Without process documentation, a process method can be changed or lost. Many of processes are important to businesses and increase speed, productivity, and product quality. However, this software may be difficult to determine if you are looking for one as it may vary on resources to use (people or machines), purposes, benefits and popularity.
While most people think of software as a convenience that helps with various part of their businesses, it can actually prove to be a great way to maximize organizational productivity. Among the software programs used in computerized process documentation are software packages meant specifically for business processes. Process documentation software is usually used to plan and organize the workflow of an organization or department. However, some companies use these tools to simplify the whole documentation process, which involves collecting and storing information on general business processes.
Process documentation software is one of the best ways to track and control your processes. Some companies use process templates because they are easier to understand than written documentation so companies can easily transform them into a software-based system. Process templates give you the ability to streamline your processes in a few easy steps and in an organized manner.
Top 6 Process Documentation Tools:
Now that you are familiar with the advantages of documenting your business processes, let us explore some awesome tools out there which can help you document your processes in no time.
1. Bit.ai
Next-Gen Document Collaboration for Teams & Clients
Bit.ai is new-age process documentation and knowledge management tool that helps teams to collaborate, share, track, and manage all company knowledge in one place.
Bit documents, unlike your standard Word Docs, are interactive. This means users can easily add rich media like audio, videos, PDFs, SlideShare, Google Docs, etc. to a document with a single click!
Whether your team is creating process documentation, technical specs sheet, sales prospecting material, training manuals, best practices, client support material, etc, they can easily add any rich media content to a document. It’s a smart way to add context to the documentation you are sharing.
Multiple people can simultaneously collaborate on a Bit smart document in real-time. It’s a great way for employees to handle different aspects of a process together under a single roof. Bit’s sleek, minimal, and distraction-free editor makes a great tool for documentation.
Bit allows users to manage permissions and information access that suits your organizational needs. It supports features like document tracking, password protection, etc.
2. Pellio
Pellio: Processes Made Easy – Build Your Own Online Business Operation Manual
Pellio is a process documentation tool that makes it easy for anyone to document a process in 3 easy steps. Users can make use of Pellio’s rich text editor to add images, videos, file attachments, and even HTML to any step in your business processes.
Pellio’s easy to use dashboard provides a clear picture to each employee by giving them their own personalized dashboards. Employees get all their preset tasks in the personalized dashboard and complete these tasks step-by-step, using forms. This allows team members to work seamlessly and know what to do, how to do it, and in what order.
Pellio allows managers to create departments, add/remove users, and set permissions, giving them a central view of all the employee tasks and real-time progress. Pellio even generates detailed reports to see which processes can be improved so that users can refine these processes to improve the company’s efficiency.
3. Confluence
Create, Collaborate, And Keep All Your Work In One Place
Atlassian Confluence is a collaboration and process documentation management software that allows your team to create, share, edit, and store process documentation from one dashboard.
Apart from creating process roadmaps, team members can content such as PDFs, docs, images, track every version and changes made to a page, and connect to Jira to provide insight into their development work with automatic linking, quick issue creation, and reports. Team members can also leave feedback on documentations with inline, file, and page comments, without getting lost in your email threads or chat messages.
Confluence users even evaluate your process timelines and progress by generating automatic reports. Users can assign and distribute tasks, track each project with full visibility, and get real-time reports to improve your process efficiency. Users can even enhance Confluence, by integrating it with thousands of add-ons including Hipchat, Zephyr, Bitbucket, and many others.
4. Lucidchart
Online Diagram Software & Visual Solution
If your team loves visual representation of processes rather than written text, Lucidchart might just be the tool for you. Lucidchart is a collaborative diagramming solution for your entire organization. It provides an intuitive user interface and easy to use cloud service for anyone in the organization to create diagrams and mockups of every step of a process.
Lucidcharts’ easy drag and drop builder allows anyone in the organization, with no prior design experience, to create simple flowcharts, complex technical diagrams, and everything in between to communicate with clarity. Users can even connect live data to your diagrams or import data to automatically build org charts, ERDs, and other visuals.
Lucidchart works best with teams as it allows users to collaborate with their peers on any device across the platforms you already use, chat with teammates, or leave a comment or feedback directly inside a document.
5. Heflo
Organize Your Business, Improve Your Productivity And Achieve Superior Results!
Heflo is another visual process management tool that offers a complete BPM(Business process management) experience to its users. Since its a completely cloud-based solution, users can access their documentation from anywhere, at any time. From documentation, publication, approval, and feedback, Heflo provides a 360-degree documentation experience.
Heflo’s clean and intuitive user interface allows users to easily define processes, clarify responsibilities on your team, set up forms and deadlines, and standardize business operations. Once your processes have been mapped out and task assigned, you can quickly view the progress and make informed decisions using visual reports and data.
There are two subscription plans- “Academic” is the free plan for anyone who wants to learn how to diagram processes with BPMN notation; and “Business” plan for companies that want to automate, control, and scale business processes. Heflo’s smart platform and the ability to automate tasks is the reason why its the perfect solution for those who are looking to be more productive and cost-efficient in running their business.
6. Stepshot
Create a Process Documentation Guide in a Breeze
Stepshot wants to be the easiest way to get your process documentation done fast while making it look professional. With custom templates, free training, and dedicated support, writing a user manual or creating process documentation is no longer a pain.
Stepshot is a full-fledged documentation tool that can be used to train employees, share knowledge, delegate tasks, create knowledgebase articles, deliver documentation for clients, and much more.
A great feature of Stepshot that separates it’s from its competitors is the ability to recognize a text from an image and insert it wherever you want in your document! On top of that, documentation created using Stepshot can easily be converted into a Word document, PDF, HTML, images, and even video!
Upcoming features include the ability to store all of your content on the cloud, giving you the ability to share your guides online and embed your content directly into your support knowledge base. All in all, Stepshot is a well-rounded process documentation tool if you want to repurpose your documentation as images, videos, and more and share it with anyone online.
7. ProProfs Knowledge Base
ProProfs provides one of the simplest documentation software. It takes care of all your documentation needs right from creation and customization to editing and finally publishing it. You get insightful reports with stats such as popular articles, poorly rated articles, failed searches and more. Its powerful features are instrumental in building documentation of all kinds – technical, training, IT, and the like.
ProProfs is being used by some of the leading global brands, including Adobe, Acer, Nissan, HighQ, and many others. It addresses various concerns such as reducing external and internal tickets, increasing team collaboration, streamlining business processes, and much more.
It helps you at three major fronts:
- Streamlining knowledge management for businesses of all shapes
- Reducing tickets and bridging knowledge gaps among employees
- Ensuring smooth employee onboarding and support operations
Features:
Professionally Designed Templates Pick your favorite template and build any documentation you want in no time.
Anytime, Anywhere Access Provide employees or customers anytime, anywhere access to your help sites.
Customization Options Choose from over 600 fonts, colors, and themes to design your document. Customize with your brand name and logo.
90+ Languages Supported Cater to your global audience by creating documentation in multiple languages.
Insightful Reports Get valuable insights into documentation performance. Know total searches made, failed searches, broken links, and much more.
Roles & Permissions Assign roles such as administrator, editor, contributor, and viewer to different users and groups. Take full control of who can do what in your documentation.
Contextual Help Add tooltips, lightboxes, and popups to provide a guided tour to readers. Explain concepts, include pricing disclaimers, provide additional information, and much more wherever necessary.
Conditional Content Set conditions to control content visibility. Hide or display specific content in your documentation based on the conditions.
100+ Settings & Integrations Integrates seamlessly with third-party tools such as Zendesk, Salesforce Desk, Wufoo, and Google Analytics along with its sibling tools such as ProProfs Chat and Help Desk. 100+ settings to configure the tool the way you want.
Pricing starts at: $0
You’ve documented your product, what next?
As you can tell, the vast range of solutions offered for streamlining your product documentation experience can be overwhelming.
The best way to make sure that you’ve chosen correctly is to simply make a list of must-have features for your particular problem set, and then take advantage of a sales consultation or a free trial period to make sure you’re fully aware of how your problems can be solved with the new system.
After that, since most of the underlying functionality of different knowledge base systems is relatively similar, it’ll be a cinch to get accustomed to the individual quirks of each one. Rest assured that no matter which one you choose, your documentation will be supercharged and more attractive than ever to every user in your audience.
The journey doesn’t end after you’ve finalized your product documentation. You also need to document how internal operations work and run to get the most out of your investment in a product documentation software. These internal operations, sometimes referred to as workflows, are a series of tasks you need to complete in order to reach some repeatable business goal.
Take a client onboarding scenario for example. The process is pretty straightforward: assess your client’s current needs. Then, outline the client’s desired outcomes and goals. Be sure your team is briefed on your client. Have a kickoff call and after finalizing all the logistics, remember to check-in after 30 days. However, your employees may still carry out the process with some variation.
Conclusion
Process documentation helps preserve process knowledge and makes sure that knowledge is not lost when a key employee leaves. Documentation also aids new employees in understanding their role and place in the value chain and reduces the ambiguity of operations. At last, it provides a roadmap to the project team to make changes to a process, locate faults and shortcomings, and determine ways to do things better.
Due to the fact that documents symbolize data and knowledge in a very visual and tangible manner, they are represented by numerous people who can perceive them as significant. Improving your method and procedure documentation is an ideal approach to enhance a positive result.