Where Should My Processes & Training Live?

Nov 7

The #1 problem I see among companies who are struggling to onboard and train new people in the best and most efficient way is they don’t have their processes and training documented.

The #1 problem I see among companies who do have their processes & training documented is that their team either a) doesn't know that documentation exists or b) doesn't know where to find it.

The good news is...there's an app for that! Several, actually. There are lots of ways you can cobble together a business playbook, like in Google folders, Sharepoint, or Dropbox files. But the “cobbling together” of anything has not historically led most companies to focused, sustainable growth.

In this article, I’m going to focus on the two leading softwares designed specifically to host process and training documentation, aka your business playbook: Trainual and Playbook Builder. Each has different strengths and in my point of view, solves slightly different problems.

We’ll also take a look at Notion, which I haven’t personally used for a playbook but seems to be a great alternative for small companies that don’t really need to invest in playbook software yet.

What to look for?

A good piece of playbook software will help you:

Segment your employees (You want the ability to share only what is relevant with each role or team, and organize your process and training content accordingly. You do not want to drown people in processes and training. It will not work.)
Build accountability by giving you visibility into who has completed which training
Share process updates quickly and easily (and know who actually got it)
Add text, images, and video to satisfy different learning styles
Create quizzes to prove a trainee actually gets it

About Trainual

Trainual launched in 2018 out of an operations consulting firm, and has been adding new functions ever since. It’s turned into quite the robust platform designed to define your team’s roles and responsibilities, host a curated onboarding and training path for each role, make it easy for managers to build accountability as team members travel that path…and add plenty of GIFs and emoji to make learning fun 🎉

The AI features added in 2024 even do a bulk of the documenting for you…as long as you have the process outlined well in your head!

About Playbook Builder

Playbook Builder’s first core value as a company is “Exquisite Simplicity,” and the product exudes that value. The software does one thing only, and it does it very well: provides an intuitive interface for entrepreneurial companies to host their core processes and other essential company knowledge, and share it all with their team as they hire and scale.

There are also integrations and AI functions to make documenting as black and white as possible…literally.

About Notion

In most companies, Employee #1 is a very good generalist. Then as you grow, you add more specialists to the team. Well, those are exactly the shoes Notion fills when it comes to your playbook.

Notion is designed to house all of your projects, goals, calendars, roadmaps, and more, all in one tool. Unlike Trainual and Playbook Builder, it is not designed specifically to house your business playbook, which means it doesn’t have unique features that make operationalizing your playbook easier or faster. But it does have a “docs” function, so it can still serve as a single source of truth if you choose to document your processes there.

**Bottom Line: There’s getting your processes out of your head…and there’s actually using those processes to align your team.**

Good business playbook software should make it easy to operationalize your company’s unique processes by serving as a knowledge repository that’s easy to organize, easy to add different permission levels, and easy to update.

The Recap

- Get Trainual if you not only want to document what you do, but also want the bells and whistles that help managers manage (like The Delegation Planner™️), and make the platform fun to look at.

- Get Playbook Builder if you’re looking for a super easy to use, stripped down piece of playbook technology. You’ll add your text and videos, share it with the right people, update when needed, rinse and repeat.

Sign up for a free trial here.

- Consider Notion if you have a team of 10 or less, and you need a little4 bit of everything: a little project management, a little knowledge base, and a little calendar help.