Tip Sheet
A tip sheet is a concise, single-page document that provides practical advice, helpful hints, or best practices for completing specific tasks or improving performance in a particular area.
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What is a Tip Sheet?
A tip sheet is a short, focused document that gives you practical advice or best practices for getting something done. Think of it as the opposite of a lengthy manual. Instead of pages and pages of information, a tip sheet boils things down to just what you need, usually fitting on a single page. It's meant to be grabbed quickly when you need a refresher or guidance on a specific task, serving as a type of job aid that supports performance in the moment.
In workplaces, tip sheets often mix text with visuals like screenshots or simple diagrams. You'll typically see numbered lists, bullet points, and callouts that make it easy to scan and find what you're looking for. They're useful for reinforcing what people learned in training, supporting everyday tasks, and helping employees do their jobs without hunting through long documents.
The term itself has been around for a while across different industries. Today, tip sheets act as lightweight performance support tools that fill the space between formal training sessions and doing the work independently. They give people guidance right when they need it.
Key Characteristics of Tip Sheet
- Brevity: Usually one or two pages max. You're not trying to explain everything, just the essentials.
- Practical Focus: Heavy on actionable advice and specific steps. This isn't about theory or background info.
- Visual Elements: Screenshots, diagrams, icons, callout boxes. Visuals help people follow along faster than walls of text.
- Scannable Format: Bullet points, numbered lists, bold headers, and plenty of white space. People should be able to find what they need at a glance.
- Task-Oriented: Focused on helping someone accomplish a specific goal or solve a particular problem, not on being a general reference.
Tip Sheet Examples
Example 1: Software Navigation Tip Sheet
A customer service team gets a one-page tip sheet for their new CRM. It has six annotated screenshots showing how to log a complaint, escalate a ticket, and add internal notes. Each screenshot includes numbered callouts pointing to buttons and fields, with a line or two of explanation underneath. Staff can print it out for their desk or pull it up as a PDF on a second monitor.
Example 2: Safety Best Practices Tip Sheet
A manufacturing plant puts together a tip sheet for forklift operators. It lists eight safety tips as a checklist with icons next to each one. Every tip gets a quick one-sentence explanation and points to the relevant section in the full safety manual. The document is laminated and posted by the equipment so operators can glance at it before their shift starts.
Example 3: Sales Technique Tip Sheet
A sales team receives a tip sheet with five techniques for handling common objections on discovery calls. Each technique has a short description, an example conversation snippet, and a note on when to use it. Reps review it before calls or pull it out during role-playing sessions.
Tip Sheet vs Cheat Sheet
Both tip sheets and cheat sheets are short reference documents, but they're not quite the same thing.
| Aspect | Tip Sheet | Cheat Sheet |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Gives advice and guidance on how to perform tasks well | Provides quick reference for commands, formulas, syntax, or facts |
| Content Type | Actionable tips with some explanatory context | Condensed data, shortcuts, or key facts with little explanation |
| Use Case | Helping people improve performance or reinforce training | Looking up technical info or facts you haven't memorized |
| Format | Often includes explanations, context, and step-by-step guidance with visuals | Usually just lists, tables, or dense reference cards |
| When to Use | When you need guidance on doing something well or handling common problems | When you know what to do but need to recall a specific command, formula, or data point |
How Glitter AI Helps with Tip Sheet Creation
Glitter AI makes creating tip sheets a lot faster. It captures your screen while you perform a task and automatically generates annotated, step-by-step documentation. No more taking screenshots by hand and adding callouts one by one. Glitter records your workflow and builds visual guides with numbered steps and highlighted interface elements.
You can also refine your tip sheets using Glitter's editing features. Adjust annotations, add explanatory text, or reorganize steps until the balance of visuals and instructions feels right. When you're done, export in various formats: PDFs for desk reference, embeds for learning management systems, or links for knowledge bases where people can find the guidance they need on the spot.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does tip sheet mean?
A tip sheet is a short document, usually just one page, that gives practical advice or best practices for completing a task or improving performance. It mixes text and visuals to deliver quick, actionable guidance without a lot of extra detail.
What is an example of a tip sheet?
A good example would be a one-page guide for customer service reps showing six annotated screenshots of how to process a refund. Each screenshot has numbered callouts pointing to the buttons they need to click, with a brief explanation under each step.
Why are tip sheets important in training?
Tip sheets give employees quick, accessible support so they can apply what they learned without digging through long documentation. They act as just-in-time references that reinforce training and help people complete tasks faster and more accurately.
How do I create an effective tip sheet?
Pick one specific task or topic, keep it to one or two pages, use visuals like annotated screenshots, organize with bullet points or numbered steps, and make sure it's easy to scan. Tools like Glitter AI can speed this up by capturing your workflow and generating visual documentation automatically.
What is the difference between a tip sheet and a quick reference guide?
The terms often get used interchangeably. That said, tip sheets usually focus on advice and best practices for doing tasks well, while quick reference guides lean more toward helping people find specific information or navigate procedures. Many organizations treat them as basically the same thing.
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