Workflow Documentation Project
Documented and systematised operational workflows for a media production company preparing for growth, creating handover-ready process documentation.
Client
Northern Media Collective
Role
Systems Consultant
Duration
4 weeks
Tools
Notion, Loom, Miro, Google Workspace
Overview
Northern Media Collective had grown to the point where tribal knowledge was becoming a liability. Key processes lived in people's heads, onboarding new team members took months, and the founders couldn't step back from day-to-day operations. They needed their workflows documented before they could grow further.
Constraints
Time
Four weeks to complete documentation before a new hire started
Budget
Limited budget for external consulting
Team
Three founders plus two contractors, all actively working on projects
Platform
Already using Notion for project management, needed to integrate documentation there
Approach
Shadowed each team member for a day, documenting their actual workflows rather than what they thought their workflows were.
Identified the critical processes that would break if someone was unavailable—these became the priority for documentation.
Created process documentation in Notion with decision trees, checklists, and embedded Loom videos for complex tasks.
Built a documentation structure that could grow with the company, with clear ownership and review cycles.
Outcome
- New hire onboarding time reduced from 3 months to 6 weeks
- Founders able to take their first holiday in two years
- Zero process failures during staff absence
- Documentation became living resource, updated regularly by team
The documentation project wasn't glamorous, but it was transformative. The company could finally operate without every decision going through the founders.
Reflection
What worked
- Observing actual workflows rather than asking about them revealed the real processes
- Loom videos captured context that written documentation couldn't
- Building documentation into existing tools (Notion) meant it actually got used
What didn't
- Some processes were more variable than expected, making documentation challenging
- Initial documentation was too detailed in places—had to simplify for usability
What I would do differently
Would involve the team more in the writing process from the start. Documentation that people write themselves tends to be more accurate and more likely to be maintained.