Operational Processes: What They Are & How to Document Them

I used to think "operational processes" was just fancy corporate speak for "the stuff we do every day."

Turns out, I was half right.

At my first startup, I had this moment around 2 AM on a Wednesday. I was manually processing customer refunds for the third time that week because our finance person was out sick. I'd done this before, but I couldn't remember the exact steps. Was I supposed to update the CRM first? Or the accounting software? What about the customer notification email?

I ended up messaging three different people, piecing together the process from memory and Slack threads. The whole thing took 45 minutes. It should have taken 5.

That's when it hit me: we had processes, we just didn't have them documented. And that distinction was costing us time, money, and my sanity.

I'm Yuval, founder and CEO of Glitter AI. I've spent the last few years thinking deeply about operational processes - what they are, why they matter, and how to actually document them without losing your mind. Let me share what I've learned.

What Are Operational Processes?

An operational process is any repeatable series of steps that helps your business run. It's the "how" behind the "what" your company does.

Think of operational processes as the recipes that keep your business kitchen running. Just like a recipe tells you how to make a dish consistently, an operational process tells you how to complete a task the same way every time.

Examples of Operational Processes

Let me make this concrete with some real examples:

Customer-facing processes:

• Onboarding new clients
• Handling customer support tickets
• Processing returns and refunds
• Responding to sales inquiries

Internal operations:

• Employee onboarding
• Expense report approval
• Inventory management
• Quality control checks

Administrative processes:

• Invoice processing
• Payroll management
• Data backup procedures
• Security access requests

At my first startup, we had dozens of these processes. Some were simple (how to reset a customer password). Others were complex (how to onboard a new enterprise client). But they all had one thing in common: they needed to happen consistently.

Why Operational Processes Matter

Here's a stat that might grab your attention: poorly documented processes cost businesses up to 20-30% of their revenue annually through wasted time, errors, and inefficiencies.

Let me make it more personal though.

The Real Cost of Undocumented Processes

Time Drain

At my first startup, I calculated that I spent about 6-8 hours every week answering "how do I..." questions from my team. That's almost a full workday just explaining how to do things we'd already figured out.

Quality Inconsistency

When everyone does things their own way, you get inconsistent results. One support agent closes tickets in 5 minutes, another takes 30 minutes. Not because of skill differences, but because they literally follow different steps.

Knowledge Loss

When Maria left, she took three years of operational knowledge with her. We scrambled for weeks trying to figure out how she handled certain vendor relationships. If those processes had been documented, the transition would have been smooth.

Bottlenecks

I became a bottleneck for everything because I was the only one who knew how certain things worked. Needed to update pricing in the system? Only I knew how. Processing a refund? Same thing. I couldn't delegate because there was nothing to delegate to.

Types of Operational Processes

Not all operational processes are created equal. Understanding the different types helps you prioritize what to document first.

Core Operational Processes

These are the processes that directly deliver value to your customers:

• Product delivery
• Service fulfillment
• Customer support
• Quality assurance

If these processes fail, your customers immediately feel it.

Support Processes

These enable your core processes to function:

• IT support
• HR functions
• Accounting and finance
• Legal compliance

They're not customer-facing, but they keep the engine running.

Management Processes

These help you run the business strategically:

• Performance reviews
• Strategic planning
• Budget allocation
• Hiring and recruitment

At my first startup, I learned to prioritize documenting core operational processes first. Why? Because those had the biggest immediate impact on customer satisfaction and revenue.

The Difference Between Operational Processes and SOPs

I see people use these terms interchangeably, but there's a useful distinction.

An operational process is the high-level workflow - the series of steps that need to happen. An SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is the detailed documentation of that process.

Think of it this way:

• Operational process = "We need to onboard new employees"
• SOP = The detailed, step-by-step guide showing exactly how to onboard them

The operational process is the "what." The SOP is the "how."

I've written a complete guide on how to create SOPs that people actually use if you want to dive deeper into that side of things.

How to Document Operational Processes

Okay, here's where we get practical. After documenting hundreds of processes at my first startup and now at Glitter AI, I've learned what actually works.

Step 1: Identify Which Processes to Document First

You can't document everything at once. Trust me, I tried. I burned out and accomplished nothing.

Instead, prioritize processes that are:

1. Frequently performed (daily or weekly tasks) 2. Prone to errors (where mistakes have real consequences) 3. Currently known by only one person (your biggest knowledge silos) 4. Critical to customer satisfaction (anything customer-facing)

At my first startup, I started with our customer onboarding process. We did it 10-15 times per month, it involved multiple systems, and only two people really knew how to do it well.

Step 2: Map the Current Process

Before you write anything down, understand what actually happens - not what you think should happen.

Shadow the person who does this task most often. Watch them do it. Take notes. Screen record if it's a digital process.

Ask these questions:

• What triggers this process to start?
• What are the individual steps?
• Which systems or tools are involved?
• Where do handoffs happen between people?
• What are the common mistakes or pain points?
• How do you know when it's complete?

I learned this the hard way. I once documented a process based on how I thought we did things. Turns out my team had developed their own workarounds because my original approach didn't actually work well. If I'd just watched them first, I would have saved hours.

Step 3: Document the Process

Now it's time to write it down. Here's my approach:

Use simple, clear language. Write for someone who's never done this before. Avoid jargon unless you explain it.

Keep steps atomic. Each step should be one action. If you find yourself using "and" or "then" multiple times in a step, break it into multiple steps.

Include screenshots. For digital processes, screenshots are invaluable. They give people confirmation they're in the right place.

Add context. Explain the "why" behind steps. People follow processes better when they understand the reasoning.

Note common mistakes. Include a "Troubleshooting" or "Common Mistakes" section. This saves so much back-and-forth.

Step 4: Test the Documentation

This is the step most people skip. Don't be most people.

Find someone who's never done this task. Give them your documentation. Watch them try to complete the task without your help.

You'll be shocked at what you missed. Steps that seemed obvious to you will confuse them. You'll discover you skipped things that were so automatic to you that you forgot to write them down.

At Glitter AI, we have a rule: no process documentation gets published until at least two people have successfully used it to complete the task.

Step 5: Make It Accessible

Documentation that nobody can find is documentation that doesn't exist.

Store your operational process docs somewhere central and searchable:

• Not on someone's desktop
• Not in random email threads
• Not in a "to be organized" folder

We use a centralized knowledge base where everything is tagged and searchable. When someone needs to know how to do something, they can find it in seconds.

Step 6: Keep It Updated

This is where most process documentation goes to die.

Processes change. Systems get updated. New tools get adopted. If your documentation doesn't reflect these changes, people stop trusting it.

Set a review schedule. For critical processes, quarterly reviews work well. Assign ownership so someone is responsible for keeping each document current.

At Glitter AI, whenever we change a process, updating the documentation is part of the change. Not an afterthought. Part of it.

Operational Process Documentation Best Practices

After documenting hundreds of processes, here are the lessons that stuck:

Start with the End User in Mind

Who's going to use this documentation? A new employee? An experienced team member who rarely does this task? Someone in a different department?

Write for them, not for yourself.

Use Visual Hierarchy

Break up walls of text with:

• Numbered lists for sequential steps
• Bullet points for non-sequential items
• Bold text for important concepts
• Screenshots with annotations
• Headings and subheadings

Make it scannable. People often skim documentation looking for the specific step they need.

Include Decision Points

Many processes have "if this, then that" branches. Make these crystal clear.

Bad: "Handle the customer request appropriately"

Good:

• If the request is a refund: Follow section 2.3
• If the request is a technical issue: Escalate to technical support
• If the request is a feature request: Add to the product feedback board

Link Related Processes

Operational processes rarely exist in isolation. Link to related documentation.

For example, our customer onboarding process links to our employee training materials because new hires need to learn the onboarding process.

Keep Language Consistent

Use the same terminology throughout all your process documentation. If you call something a "customer profile" in one document, don't call it a "user account" in another.

This seems small, but it reduces cognitive load and prevents confusion.

Common Mistakes When Documenting Operational Processes

Let me save you some pain by sharing the mistakes I made:

1. Documenting the Ideal, Not the Reality

I once spent hours documenting our "perfect" customer support process. Beautiful flowcharts, comprehensive decision trees, the works.

Nobody used it. Why? Because it didn't reflect how support actually worked in practice. It was how I wished it worked.

Document what actually happens, then improve it. Don't document fantasy.

2. Making Documentation Too Detailed

It's possible to over-document. I've seen 50-page processes for tasks that take 10 minutes.

If your documentation is intimidating, people won't read it. Find the balance between comprehensive and usable.

3. Not Involving the People Who Do the Work

The person who does a task every day knows things you don't. They know the shortcuts, the common errors, the edge cases.

If you document processes in isolation without input from the people who execute them, you'll miss crucial details.

4. Forgetting About Maintenance

Documentation without maintenance becomes dangerous. People follow outdated instructions and wonder why things aren't working.

Build maintenance into your process from day one. Who owns this document? When will it be reviewed? How do people suggest updates?

5. Not Testing Before Publishing

I can't stress this enough: have someone actually use your documentation before you declare it done.

The only way to know if your documentation works is to watch someone use it.

Tools for Documenting Operational Processes

You have a lot of options for documenting processes. Here's the landscape:

Basic Options

Google Docs / Microsoft Word

• Pros: Free, familiar, easy collaboration
• Cons: Gets messy at scale, hard to keep organized, poor version control

Notion / Confluence

• Pros: Better organization, good for teams, decent search
• Cons: Can become overwhelming, learning curve for some features

SharePoint / Internal Wikis

• Pros: Often already available in organizations, good security
• Cons: Often clunky interfaces, can be slow

Process-Specific Tools

Process Street / Trainual

• Pros: Built specifically for process documentation, good workflow features
• Cons: Can be expensive, another tool to manage

Lucidchart / Miro

• Pros: Great for visual process mapping
• Cons: Not ideal for detailed step-by-step instructions

AI-Powered Documentation

This is where things get interesting (and yes, I'm biased here).

Tools like Glitter AI can create operational process documentation automatically while you work. You just do the task while narrating what you're doing, and the tool captures your clicks as screenshots and your voice as written instructions.

That customer onboarding process that would have taken me 3-4 hours to document manually? I recreated it in about 20 minutes.

I built Glitter AI because I was tired of spending hours on documentation when I could be doing literally anything else. If you're documenting operational processes regularly, check out my guide on process documentation software to see what's available.

Real Examples of Operational Processes

Let me give you some concrete examples from my own companies:

Example 1: Customer Refund Process

Trigger: Customer requests refund via email or support ticket

Steps:

1. Verify refund eligibility (within 30 days, meets refund policy criteria)
2. Open Stripe dashboard and locate customer payment
3. Process refund through Stripe
4. Update customer record in CRM with refund status and reason
5. Send customer confirmation email using "Refund Confirmation" template
6. Update monthly refund tracking spreadsheet
7. Notify finance team via Slack in #finance channel

Average time: 5 minutes Common mistakes: Forgetting to update CRM (leads to double refunds)

Example 2: Weekly Blog Post Process at Glitter AI

Trigger: Every Monday morning

Steps:

1. Review blog calendar in Notion for this week's topic
2. Research topic using content brief template
3. Write draft in Google Docs using blog post template
4. Add screenshots and visual elements
5. Run through SEO checklist (keywords, meta description, internal links)
6. Request review from team member
7. Incorporate feedback
8. Upload to CMS and schedule for Thursday 9 AM
9. Create social media posts in Buffer
10. Update blog calendar status to "Scheduled"

Average time: 3-4 hours Common mistakes: Forgetting internal links (hurts SEO)

Notice how both examples include context about timing, common mistakes, and outcomes? That's what makes process documentation actually useful.

How to Get Your Team to Actually Use Process Documentation

Creating documentation is one thing. Getting people to actually use it? That's the real challenge.

Make It Easy to Find

If someone can't find your documentation in 30 seconds or less, they'll just ask someone instead.

Invest in good search functionality. Use clear, descriptive titles. Tag and categorize ruthlessly.

Build It Into Onboarding

New employees should learn where process documentation lives and how to use it from day one.

At Glitter AI, part of every new hire's first week is exploring our process documentation. We give them small tasks where they have to find and follow specific processes. It builds the habit early.

Make It Part of the Culture

Leaders need to model the behavior. When someone asks me how to do something we've documented, I don't just tell them - I point them to the documentation and say "it's documented here."

This does two things: it reinforces that the documentation exists and can be trusted, and it encourages self-service.

Keep It Current

I said this before, but it bears repeating: outdated documentation is worse than no documentation.

If people find outdated info once or twice, they'll stop trusting all your documentation. Keep it fresh.

Celebrate Documentation Wins

When someone successfully completes a complex task using only the documentation, celebrate it. Share it in team meetings or Slack.

This reinforces the value and encourages others to both use and contribute to documentation.

Measuring the Impact of Documented Operational Processes

How do you know if your process documentation efforts are paying off?

Here are the metrics I track:

Time to Competency

How long does it take a new employee to become proficient at key tasks?

At my first startup, before we documented processes, it took new support agents about 6 weeks to handle tickets independently. After documentation? 3 weeks.

Question Volume

Track how many "how do I..." questions you get via Slack, email, or in-person.

When we implemented good process documentation at Glitter AI, these questions dropped by about 60-70%.

Error Rates

Are mistakes going down? Especially for processes prone to errors?

Our refund process error rate went from about 15% (missing steps, updating wrong systems) to under 2% once we documented it properly.

Time Per Task

How long does it take to complete common operational processes?

Good documentation should reduce time per task because people aren't figuring things out from scratch each time.

Documentation Usage

If your documentation platform has analytics, use them. Which docs are accessed most? Which ones are never opened? Where do people drop off?

This helps you prioritize what to improve.

Getting Started with Operational Process Documentation

If you've made it this far, you know operational processes matter. The question is: what are you going to do about it?

Here's my challenge: Pick one operational process this week and document it.

Not ten processes. Not your entire company's operations. One process.

Choose something that:

• Happens regularly
• Causes frustration or errors
• Currently lives only in someone's head

Document it. Test it with someone who doesn't normally do that task. Iterate based on their feedback. Publish it.

Then pick another one next week.

I know it feels overwhelming when you think about documenting everything. But you don't have to document everything. You just have to document one thing. Then another. Then another.

Six months from now, you'll have dozens of documented processes. Your team will be more efficient. Your onboarding will be faster. You'll be less of a bottleneck.

And isn't that worth 20 minutes this week?

If you want to make it even easier, try Glitter AI for free. Document your operational processes as you actually do them, not by spending hours writing and screenshotting afterward.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an operational process?

An operational process is a repeatable series of steps that helps your business run smoothly. It's the documented "how" behind tasks your company performs regularly - from customer onboarding to invoice processing to employee training. Think of operational processes as recipes that ensure tasks get completed the same way every time, maintaining quality and consistency across your organization. Without documented operational processes, businesses lose up to 20-30% of revenue annually through wasted time, errors, and inefficiencies.

What's the difference between an operational process and an SOP?

An operational process is the high-level workflow - the series of steps that need to happen to accomplish a business function. An SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is the detailed documentation of that process. Think of it this way: the operational process is the "what" (we need to onboard new employees), while the SOP is the "how" (the step-by-step guide showing exactly how to onboard them, including specific systems to use, forms to complete, and timelines to follow).

How do you document operational processes effectively?

Start by identifying which processes to document first - prioritize frequent tasks, error-prone workflows, and knowledge held by only one person. Shadow the person who performs the task to understand what actually happens, not what you think should happen. Document using simple language with atomic steps (one action per step), include screenshots for digital processes, and explain the "why" behind each step. Most importantly, test your documentation by having someone who's never done the task try to complete it using only your guide. This reveals gaps you didn't realize existed.

What are examples of operational processes?

Common operational processes include customer-facing workflows (onboarding new clients, handling support tickets, processing refunds), internal operations (employee onboarding, expense report approval, inventory management), and administrative tasks (invoice processing, payroll management, data backup procedures). Most businesses have dozens of these processes running simultaneously. The key is documenting the ones that happen frequently, impact customer satisfaction, or currently exist only in someone's head - making them vulnerable to knowledge loss when that person leaves.

How do you get your team to actually use process documentation?

Make documentation easy to find (searchable within 30 seconds), build it into onboarding so new hires learn to use it from day one, and model the behavior by pointing people to documentation rather than answering questions directly. Keep documentation current - outdated information destroys trust faster than anything else. Celebrate wins when someone successfully completes a task using only the documentation. Most importantly, choose tools and formats that match how your team actually works, not how you wish they worked.

What tools are best for documenting operational processes?

The best tool depends on your needs and team size. Basic options like Google Docs or Notion work well for small teams and are free or inexpensive. Process-specific tools like Process Street or Trainual offer workflow features but can be expensive. Visual tools like Lucidchart excel at process mapping but aren't ideal for detailed instructions. AI-powered documentation tools like Glitter AI can automatically create process documentation while you work, capturing screenshots and converting spoken instructions into written steps, reducing documentation time from hours to minutes.

Final Thoughts

Operational processes are the backbone of any functioning business. They're not sexy. They're not exciting. But they're absolutely critical.

I learned this the hard way at my first startup, staying up until 2 AM trying to piece together processes from memory and Slack threads. I don't want you to learn the same way.

Document your operational processes. Start small. Be consistent. Involve your team. Keep it updated.

Your future self (and your team) will thank you.