My January Strategy for Building Your Business Playbook in 90 Days or Less

I’m a firm believer that the changing of the seasons, and the transition into a new calendar year, renews something in our minds that can propel us forward like nothing else can.

So I’m going to firmly advocate the following strategy to use this month, the first of the new year, as the ultimate launch pad for the business playbook you’ve been wanting to build for...how long now?

But first, let’s get clear on the goal here because it's not to finish your business playbook once and for all. It’s to build the mechanism that makes it easy for you to update your processes as they change.

Unless you’re leading a company that never grows or changes (so, it’s dying), this documenting your processes initiative does not have a final destination.

Instead, think of your playbook as a living, breathing part of your business that grows and changes with you.

Good, now that we’re clear, here’s how to get started.

1 - Appoint a project manager

If you’re the business owner, ideally it’s not you. But, especially if you have a small team, it certainly can be.

If you’re the only one you trust to get it done, that’s a problem...but building your playbook is a critical step in solving that problem. So let’s live with it for just a little while longer.

What’s important is that “building your playbook” doesn’t remain an initiative that you keep talking about without acting on. It’s too easy to blow smoke and continually tell people you need to document processes, write the operating manual, work on the playbook, etc etc etc.

But we all know how projects actually get done: by allocating resources toward them. In this case, if you’re doing it all in house, the resources are someone's time and mental energy. So pick a person to own the project, even if multiple players are involved.

Carve out the time on their calendar, put accountability checks in place (especially if that person is you), then send them this article.

2 - Map out the company knowledge that needs to be documented

If building your playbook feels important to you, it’s probably because you’ve gotten to the point where the chaos and the experimenting is no longer serving you and you’re ready to standardize.

For some, maybe you’ve standardized in the past, iterated since then, and it’s time to do it again. It’s a continual process, after all. If we’re not changing we’re dying and all of that.

That means throughout the growth and the change, you and the team have learned how to do things and how not to do those things. Inside your heads is essential company knowledge that needs to be extracted, simplified, and documented.

But what exactly is that essential company knowledge? That’s the first big problem you’ll run into: identifying what to put in the playbook in the first place.

There’s so much you know about your business and the way you do things…what is important? What is not? How detailed?

Before you grapple with the rest of your questions and go down a really long rabbit trail (again), make it easy on yourself and do a big brain dump. Dump first, organize later.

There’s no one right way to brain dump, but if it feels easier for you, use this template: Untangled Playbook Roadmap Template

3 - Document processes for one company role (just one!)

Ok, so now you’ve mapped out what needs to be in your playbook. You have your outline, your to do list. That’s 50% of the work!

Next, prioritize it. Where to begin? There’s no right or wrong here, either, but I’ll ask you two questions that will point you in the best direction, if there is one for you. If not, just start somewhere.

1. Which company role will have the biggest impact if documented because it has the highest number of employees?
2. Which company role will have the biggest impact if documented because that area is struggling with the most chaos?

Now, remember Parkinson’s Law and set some guardrails around how much time you’ll spend documenting the processes and company knowledge you mapped out. One of the reasons you likely haven’t finished this in the past is because it gets tangled up in your mind, then you chase rabbits until you finally give up.

So this time, block 3 hours per week for 3 weeks in a row. At the end of those 3 weeks, you’re going to have something usable. Will it be perfect? No, but that’s not the goal. It will be done for now and it will be usable.

Start with your highest priority role, and with the very first process on your map.

Here’s an incredible hack: Use Loom or your favorite other screen recording software for your first draft of each process. This video is only for you, so don’t worry about your background, how you look, or how much you stumble through the words.

Talk through until you’re clear on what the steps are you’re trying to convey. Then get the transcript and BAM. There’s the rough draft of your process for you to edit.

4 - Start using it AKA team adoption

Do not wait until you feel “finished” to start using your playbook. You’ll never feel finished which?means you’ll never start using it.

Whether you’ve documented your processes in a Google Doc, an all-in-one platform like Notion, or a playbook system like Trainual, once the processes for your first role are complete, HIT SEND.

Share with your team, get feedback, make edits. Then move on.

Just like launching a new product out into the world, the minimum viable version will work in your favor here. If you spend too long perfecting the words you write down, the process will have changed anyway and everything will be for naught.?

Instead, adopt a “done is better than perfect” mentality. Get it out of your head, write it down, and just share it.?        

The words on the page matter a lot less than the actions your team takes. You’re doing this for a reason, whether that be a better onboarding experience, more team alignment, or because you want some of your own time back.

So don’t stop with getting the words on the page. Get your team to adopt using the playbook just like you would get them to adopt anything else—a new software, a new meeting schedule, a new offering.

If it sits on a shelf or in a Teams folder forever…it will do no one any good.

5 - Repeat

Once you’ve gone through the full cycle for one role and you’ve gotten the hang of it, it will feel like second nature.

Your playbook becomes a living, breathing part of your business and your life.

Experiment until you discover what the process should be, document it until you find a better way, then share it with your team. Repeat forever.

Need help getting your business out of your brain? DM me or reach out here.

Hi, I'm Elizabeth

I help business owners define and document what they do so they can grow their team. After scaling and selling my first business in the food industry, I started Untangled. I've been working with fascinating, smart, growth-minded entrepreneurs ever since. Most have rapidly growing small businesses where it's challenging to get everyone aligned around doing things the same way.

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Curious about working together? Reach out here: elizabeth at untangleyourbiz dot com.