All posts in Document Management

How to Attach Files to your Standard Operating Procedures

How to attach files to your standard operating procedures

Standard operating procedures only work when they contain everything a team member needs to execute correctly. That means the SOP itself is rarely enough on its own. The supporting files, compliance forms, reference documents, training videos, and templates that sit alongside each procedure are what turn a static document into an executable, auditable process.

Attaching files directly to your SOPs eliminates the most common failure mode in process execution: someone following the steps but missing a critical resource because it lived in a different folder, a shared drive, or someone’s email inbox.

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Use this Interactive Project Proposal Template (and Ditch Microsoft Word)

Project Proposal Template

Do you need a project proposal template?

If so, we’re happy to help!

When getting a project approved, you need to submit all pertinent information to stakeholders and then get their approval to start. This means listing the project’s background, timeframes and expenses in an easily digestible document.

Traditionally, this has been done in Microsoft Word or on paper, but by using Process Street you can generate as many proposals as you like just by running a checklist of this template and filling in the form fields. When the stakeholders sign off on the document, all they need to do is click the checkbox next to their name, and Process Street will log the activity.

Check out the project proposal template below, and when you’re done, scroll down for a breakdown of the steps and how it all works:

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What is ISO 9001 Certification? How to Get Certified (For Beginners)

ISO 9001 certification

ISO 9001 certification is an international standard for defining a quality management system (QMS). It outlines various criteria (or standards) to define quality management principles such as focusing on the customer, optimizing leadership and management within the organization, improving and fine-tuning internal processes, and general methods of continuous improvement.

If you’re working toward ISO 9001 certification or maintaining it, Process Street’s ISO 9001 software can help you document, manage, and improve your quality processes with ease.

Let’s break down each of the components of and ISO 9001 certification.

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Airtable vs Trello: The Best of Task and Project Management

airtable vs trello

Airtable vs Trello. Which is better?

Our team (and customers) used Trello for years before transitioning to Airtable several years ago. We were having a tough time adjusting (old habits die hard), and my Process Street colleague Ben Brandall was trying to get to the bottom of why.

We love improving our productivity using everything from business process automation to focus music, and this case was no different.

Trello is a powerhouse of task management but Airtable is a masterful mix of database, spreadsheet, task and project management app. How are you supposed to choose?

That’s why I’m writing this post. After having used both apps personally and professionally for more than three years, I’ve been able to get to grips with who these apps are designed for and what makes them useful.

Most of all, you can learn from this to see which app would suit you instead of spending years testing them out yourself.

Let’s get started.

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Introducing Pages: Your Free-For-Everyone Home for Team Knowledge

announcing pages

Way back in 2013, in a converted horse stable in Buenos Aires, the first version of Process Street was just starting to come together.

From day one, we were inspired by the concept of a repeatable checklist. We still love checklists. And we’re still guided by that initial concept. But we’ve come a long way.

Over the years, we’ve evolved checklists into Workflows and grown our Workflows product in new and exciting ways. Workflows continues to be a cornerstone of the Process Street platform with even more exciting developments in the works.

Now, we’re excited to announce Pages: a new, companion product to Workflows. It’s the latest step in evolving Process Street from a repeatable checklists tool to a complete, modern process management platform.

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File Naming Conventions: How to Optimize Document Management

file naming conventions

This is a guest post written by Ashley Ferro, a freelance content writer & copywriter specializing in SEO content marketing.

It’s all too common to find yourself wading through your organization’s shared folders in search of the file you’ve been asked to review:

  • PROJECT-PROPOSAL-NEW-v5.doc
  • Project_proposal_2020_final+edits.doc
  • THIS_is_the_final_proposal_(old-version).PDF

Why does this happen? Why can’t everyone just use proper file naming conventions? The reasons can be lack of proper internal policy or procedure for naming and organizing files, lack of any consideration for folder or information architecture, and just plain carelessness.

With a small amount of effort, you can establish proper file naming conventions and avoid this kind of document spaghetti. The more organized you can be with your internal information, the more efficient and effective you can be in your business goals.

Just imagine – seeing neat, intuitively named folders, knowing which folders contain the documents you’re looking for, and – take a seat – having confidence that the file you’re about to click on will be what you expect it to be.

In this Process Street article, we’ll cover:

  • File naming conventions: Best practices & tips
  • The Dewey Decimal file naming convention
  • Process standardization vs process harmonization
  • How we organize internal processes at Process Street
  • How to organize the perfect process library

  • Let’s go!

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    What is Form Automation Software? How to Pick the Best Form Software

    form automation software

    I have a riddle for you:

    What has four sides, often goes missing, comes from trees, and can be expensive to reproduce?

    I’ll give you a hint.

    It wastes up to 40% of on-the-job time, and about $120 billion per year in the US alone.

    Need another?

    Around 7.5% of them will be lost or misplaced each year (about one lost every 12 seconds), and for each that gets lost you’re looking at a loss of between $350 to $700 in employee time.

    Did you get it yet?

    Condescending sarcasm aside, I am of course talking about paper forms. But this article isn’t about paper forms, per se; it’s about how you can get rid of paper forms in your business with form automation software.

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    Free Meeting Minutes Template and Top Tips to Effectively Record Your Meeting Minutes

    Free Meeting Minutes Template and Top Tips to Effectively Record Your Meeting Minutes

    Following a pre-planned meeting agenda can decrease meeting time by 80%.

    Despite this, less than half (37%) of U.S. meetings follow a set agenda.

    Why, when the time savings of doing so are substantial? When time = money, it doesn’t take a genius to visualize the knock-on effects this has to an organization’s bottom-line.

    Using a Meeting Minutes Template will establish processes to clearly define and set the meeting agenda before the meeting has begun, saving you both time and money.

    In addition, a Meeting Minutes Template offers legal protection, provides meeting structure, documents state ownership, drives action, serves as a reference point, helps avoid repetition, and offers a platform for open communication.

    Sounds good right?

    So good that the content creation team here at Process Street give you this comprehensive guide, so you can effectively record meeting minutes in your business and line of work. You are provided with our free Meeting Minutes Template, to be used in conjunction with 3 more top meeting process templates.

    Click on the relevant subheader below to hop to that section. Alternatively, read all to discover our secrets for how you can become a pro meetings note taker .

    Let’s get stuck in!
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    Operations Manual Templates: How to Create a Solid Operations Manual (Free Templates!)

    Operations Manual Templates

    In a past life, I interned at a fashion company. And at the tender age of 19, it was my first introduction to the working world.

    But my time there was largely spent in a state of bewilderment, wondering what tasks I should be focusing on, what the right processes for those tasks were, and what a successful end-result for those tasks would look like. (This company was part of the 22% that have no onboarding program.)

    And because the team was always out of the office – attending photoshoots, meeting brands and retailers, going for their 17th coffee of the day at over-priced (and mediocre) cafés in London’s East End – it meant I was often alone in the office, wondering what the hell to do.

    Unsurprisingly, the company went bust in 2019.

    If they’d have had an operations manual or some operations manual templates, however, I would’ve been able to complete a ton of work while they were focusing on other parts of the business. That’s because an operations manual contains information about the company, the company’s hierarchy, roles and responsibilities, business policies, and key facts regarding processes and procedures.

    Don’t let your business fall into the same trap as the now-defunct fashion company.

    Create, implement, and audit an operations manual.

    In this post, I’ll further define what an operations manual is and the benefits of having an operations manual. To boot, I’ll provide you with a host of nifty operations manual templates, and tell you how Process Street can aid you with your manual!

    Read the following sections to get clued up:

    Or, if you just wanted the templates, grab them here:

    In fact, here’s a sneak preview of the templates that you’ll be getting for free!

    Let’s get started, shall we?

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    Ultimate SOP Guide: Standard Operating Procedures Made Easy (Free Templates!)

    sop templates

    SOPs (often pronounced S-O-P) are basically just another way to think about processes. Specifically, with a focus on formally defining the best way of doing something.

    In business terms, that means saving time and money by building a clear, concise set of instructions for all of your internal processes. Policies (or standards) are important too; SOPs are kind of like a hybrid of policy and procedure.

    Traditionally, SOPs were useful in principle, but often suffered from being difficult to maintain and crucially, hard to enforce. What good is an SOP if it lives its life sat on a dusty stack of paper forms? Your SOPs should be actionable, and that’s where BPM software like Process Street comes in.

    If you understand how to build, maintain, and optimize SOPs with software, you can supercharge your standard operating procedures.

    In this article, we want to give you everything you will ever need to know about SOPs, including:

    Each section will be as concise as possible, with links out to further reading wherever appropriate. Let’s start with the basics.
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