By Julius DeSilva
In interacting with many organizations over the past two decades, I’ve seen countless organizations fall into the same trap: assuming that documenting a system means writing a long, detailed Word document that sits on a shared drive, rarely accessed and rarely understood.
Let’s be honest—traditional documentation doesn’t always work.
It may tick the compliance box, but if people aren’t reading it, can’t understand it, or don’t know where to find it when they need it, the system isn’t working as it should. In today’s fast-paced, digital-first workplace, it’s time we rethink how we document our systems.
The Problem with Traditional Documentation
Lengthy text-based documents can obscure the very clarity they’re meant to provide. Overly technical language, inconsistent formatting, and a lack of visual support make it difficult for users to digest and apply the information.
Even worse, it leads to poor adoption. Teams revert to “the way we’ve always done it,” and process improvements stall before they start.
Why Simplicity Matters
Documentation isn’t just for auditors. It’s for the people who need to use your system. That includes frontline staff, new starters, managers, and even external partners. If they can’t understand it quickly, they can’t apply it effectively. In a recent interaction with a client they showed me a quality manual that no one apart from the quality manager and the auditor (perhaps) were aware of.
Using the four steps below organization can develop documentation, where needed, that will be useful and used:
1. Structure Before Detail Start with a clear structure:
- What’s the purpose? What are you looking to achieve through this document?
- Who does what?
- When and how often?
- What tools or records are involved?
- Who are the stakeholders and what are their needs?
Let the reader navigate before they have to read deeply.
2. Use Plain Language Trade the technical jargon for plain, actionable language. Instead of “commence the procurement requisition process,” say “start a purchase request.” You’re not dumbing it down—you’re smartening it up.
3. Visuals Over Verbiage Flowcharts, diagrams, tables—these can often explain in seconds what takes paragraphs to describe. Use them generously. A process map can reduce a 3-page SOP into a single-page overview.
4. Write for the End-User, Not the Auditor While compliance is important, your priority should be usability. If staff understand the system, they’ll follow it—and that’s what leads to compliance.
Think Beyond the ‘Document’
To truly make complex ideas understandable—and usable—we need to communicate systems in formats that resonate with how people actually consume and retain information. Here are several practical approaches:
1. Visual Process Maps
A well-designed process flowchart can tell the story of a procedure in a single glance. Swimlane diagrams provide context, clarify roles, and make it easy to identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies. Personnel are immediately able to see how their work impacts others. When interlinked with lower level documentation it can make documentation easily accessible.
Use tools like Visio to bring your processes to life visually.
2. Short How-To Videos or Screen Recordings
Sometimes a 2-minute video tutorial can do what five pages of instructions can’t. Video walkthroughs, screen recordings, or animated explainers make training more engaging and can be easily embedded into intranet sites or LMS platforms.
They’re particularly useful for onboarding, software processes, or hands-on tasks. Many of us have referred to short YouTube videos for DIY tasks.
3. Infographics and Quick Reference Guides
Not everyone has time (or patience) for a full procedure. Quick reference guides (QRGs) and one-page infographics simplify key actions and decision points—ideal for frontline teams and shift-based operations.
They’re fast to read, easy to update, and even easier to post on noticeboards or digital screens. Posters are a great way to communicate information, perhaps on how to correctly complete a task. This also helps break through language barriers.
4. Collaborative Knowledge Platforms
Move your system into tools SharePoint where people can interactwith the content, search and easily find what they are looking for helps. Embed visuals, videos, hyperlinks, and feedback loops. Turn your documentation into a living, breathing resource—not a static PDF.
SharePoint allows for easy document control as well with access limitations.
Final Thoughts
Documenting your system shouldn’t be an exercise in box-ticking. It should be a strategic tool that enables clarity, consistency, and continuous improvement. Just as documentation increases with time it can also reduce based on the changing competence of personnel, structure of the organization and complexity of the processes.
Often organizations do not find the time to do a comprehensive review of the entire system documentation. Other operational aspects take priority. So process documentation is reviewed by individual process owners, at times without the involvement of the team.
When you go beyond the written Word document, you unlock new ways to engage your teams and drive better performance—without sacrificing compliance.
Let’s start designing the documentation for users. It is there as a control to enable them and not to burden them.
About the author
Julius DeSilva is the CEO of Quality Management International Inc. A former merchant marine officer, he has assisted organizations of varied sizes across a wide spectrum of industries implement process-based management systems conforming to ISO and other standards. He is well versed in the following standards: maritime safety/security, aerospace, environmental, supply chain security, and quality. He teaches, consults, and audits in these disciplines, including process improvement and leadership-related topics. DeSilva received his MBA from the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. He is an Exemplar Global certified lead auditor to various ISO Standard including ISO 9001 and is an Associate Fellow of the Nautical Institute.
This article first appeared on Julius DeSilva’s LinkedIn page and is published here with permission.