When know-how is stuck in one person’s head

The short version#

• If a task only works when one person does it, the business runs on their calendar.
• Don’t start with a manual. Capture the task the next time it’s done: the steps, the decisions, the awkward cases and where things live.
• Then have someone else do it from the notes while the original person watches. Every question they ask is a gap.
• Keep the notes where the work happens, give them an owner, and update them when the task changes.

First step: pick the task that stalls when one person is away, and book the next time they do it as a capture session. Download the process capture sheet (.docx)

What it looks like#

Sam is away for a week. A new client signs on Monday. Nobody else is sure which folders to set up, which welcome email to send, or that this client needs a purchase order number on every invoice.

By Wednesday the client has had two different welcome emails and still has no login. When Sam gets back, it’s quick to fix and slow to explain.

Signs it’s happening:

• ‘Ask Sam’ is the answer to the same question every month.
• Work waits when one person is away, or flat out.
• The same task comes out differently depending on who does it.
• New people learn by interrupting whoever knows.

Why it happens#

• It never needed writing down. The person who does it every week doesn’t need notes, so none exist.
• Manuals get written away from the work. Written from memory, they skip the awkward cases, and nobody updates them.
• The hard part is the judgement. Which client gets which email, and when to escalate, lives in experience, not in a list of steps.
• Nobody owns the know-how. So it leaves when the person does.

How to set it up#

1. Pick the task that hurts most when one person is away

   Something that happens often, matters when it goes wrong, or both. One task, not a whole role.

2. Capture it while it’s being done

   Sit with the person the next time they do it, or have them talk through a screen recording or a voice note as they go. Write each step as it happens: what they do, where, and why. The order it’s done in beats the order it’s remembered in.

3. Write down the decisions, not just the steps

   For every ‘it depends’, note what it depends on, the options, and who can decide. That’s the part a newcomer can’t guess.

4. List the awkward cases

   Ask what went wrong last time, and what’s different for particular clients or jobs. Those exceptions are usually the reason the task needed that person.

5. Say where everything lives

   Link the folders, templates and systems the task uses. For logins, point to the password manager. Never put passwords or codes in the notes.

6. Test it with someone else

   Someone who hasn’t done the task does it from the notes, with the original person watching but not helping. Every question they ask is a gap. Fix the notes, then use them again on the next real one.

7. Give it an owner and a review date

   Keep the notes where the work happens, linked from the record or the template folder. The owner updates them whenever the task changes, and reads them through every quarter.

Worked example: setting up a new client#

Start this week#

1. List the tasks that stall when someone is away, and pick one.
2. Book the next time it’s done as a capture session.
3. Fill in the capture sheet as it happens: steps, decisions, awkward cases, where things live.
4. Have someone else do it from the notes the time after.
5. Name an owner and a review date.

Template: Process capture sheet#

When notes stop being enough#

1. The task runs often, in the same orderA checklist inside the tool where the task happens, so a skipped step shows.
2. The same decisions come up again and againWritten rules for the routine ones, so only the exceptions need a person.
3. People keep asking where the notes areOne searchable home for task notes, linked from the records they relate to.
4. The know-how arrives as voice notes and messagesAn AI step that drafts changes to the notes from a recorded walkthrough, for the owner to review.

For whoever builds it

Setup notes#

Where notes live

• Next to the work: linked from the job or client record, or kept in the template folder the task uses.
• Date each change and say what changed, so people can tell a current note from an old one.

Recordings and AI

• Screen recordings are useful raw capture, but turn them into written steps. Nobody rewatches forty minutes to find step seven.
• If AI drafts notes from a recording, the person who does the task checks every step before anyone relies on it. Guide 04 covers making a step like that reliable.

Security

• Never put passwords, codes or personal details in the notes. Point to where they’re kept.

Checking it’s working

• Count the ‘ask Sam’ questions for a fortnight before and after, and note how the task went the next time Sam was away.

What this won’t do#

• It won’t replace experience. Notes carry the steps and the known decisions. New situations still need someone who understands the work.
• It won’t stay current on its own. Without an owner and a review date, notes drift until nobody trusts them.

Want it built into your business?#

You can capture a task with the sheet and one real run of it. Where I help: choosing which tasks to capture first, running the capture sessions, and building the checklists and rules into the tools your team already uses.

Book a free 30-minute call How working together works