Last time, we talked about the importance of setup sheets or documents with basic information about each setup.

Setup sheets aren't the same as setup instructions.  Setup sheets are the "recipe" for someone who already knows how to carry out the setup in general.  A recipe in a cookbook tells you what temperature to turn the oven to and how long to leave the brownies in but it assumes you already know how to turn the oven on and set the temperature.

We also need to "how to" instructions for a setup.  Just as, at some point, you needed instructions on how to turn on the oven and set the temperature.  This gets us to actually documenting Standard Work.

Simply put, you're going to list each step in the setup.  Then you're going to write instructions for carrying out that step.  That's it.

First, some guidelines:

1. Simpler is better.  Don't confuse the issue with lots of jargon, extra information, references to other sets of instructions, etc.  Step by step instructions are challenging enough to document.  Don't make it harder on yourself or the trainee.
2. Pictures are helpful.
3. Make certain...CERTAIN...that the instructions are user friendly.  Instructions that the writer understands are of no use if they are so badly written that no one else can follow them.
4. Make certain that the instructions are fairly detailed and complete.  Don't just write, "Install left-handed widget".  If they knew how to install it, they wouldn't need training.  Provide the instructions for installing the widget.
5. Along those lines, a checklist can be helpful but don't confuse a checklist with a set of instructions. 

Next time, I'm going to attach some examples of standard work instructions.  They're not perfect but they're not bad either and they worked pretty well for the organizations that developed them.