← Back to Running a business

The Library / Running a business

Practical guide / Free to read

Make the work easier to follow, every time.

Turn practical business knowledge into instructions someone can use. Try them, keep each run separate, and learn from the work.

Begin with a job you already understand

Choose something that happens again: bringing a customer into the business, preparing a delivery, reviewing paperwork, or covering a responsibility while someone is away. Start with the work in front of you. A short routine can be useful long before you have a complete business manual.

A procedure explains the reusable way of working. A run records one occasion when that work happens. A follow-up action records something that needs attention. Keep these three things distinct so improving the instructions does not erase yesterday’s work.

Find out how the work actually happens

Ask the person who knows the task to explain it while walking through a real or representative situation. Notice the information they look for, decisions they make, things they check, and moments when they ask for help. Write down the useful knowledge that someone else would otherwise have to guess.

Ask someone who performs the task to help write and try the instructions. Make the detail appropriate to the person using them and the consequences of a missed step. Instructions support preparation and experience; they do not establish competence by themselves.

Background: EPA: Guidance for Preparing Standard Operating Procedures

Make the starting point and result clear

Name what starts the routine, who maintains the instructions, and the result that should be observable at the end. Add the business, location, and situations where the procedure applies. If another situation needs different instructions, say so.

Preparation can include an agreed proposal, access to the right records, ordinary materials, or experience needed for the work. Identify who can provide cover and when to stop and ask for help. Describe where information is available without putting passwords or unnecessary personal details in the playbook.

Give each step an action and a check

Use a clear action such as “confirm the appointment” and an observable check such as “the customer’s agreed time and contact person are recorded.” Add explanation where it helps the person doing the task. Group related steps when that makes the work easier to follow.

A conditional step needs a condition that can be checked: “Arrange site access when this service includes a visit.” During the run, record whether that condition applies. A dependency identifies a step that must be resolved first. Required checks should be clearly marked; their purpose is to make the work’s requirements visible.

Try the draft before choosing it for use

Run through the instructions and record who tried them, when, the outcome, and where help was needed. A self-test is useful; another person’s walkthrough can reveal knowledge the writer took for granted. The tool records which kind of test occurred.

The EPA’s 2007 procedure guidance recommends review and testing of draft instructions, including testing by people other than the writer. Here, a successful walkthrough belongs to the exact draft tried. Changing the draft requires another walkthrough before that revision can be chosen for use.

Background: EPA: Guidance for Preparing Standard Operating Procedures

Keep each occasion separate

Name a run so you can recognize it later: the customer reference, delivery, day, or responsibility being covered. Identify the person doing it and any planned or due date. Starting the run records the actual start; recording a step records what actually happened.

A new run begins unchecked. A completed step needs a result, and a blocked or skipped step needs an explanation. Not applicable is a decision about a conditional step, not a substitute for unfinished work. The summary shows these positions separately.

Give problems somewhere to go

If a customer has not supplied necessary information, record what is missing, how it affects the work, who will follow it through, and the next action. Pause work where appropriate. A run can close with explicitly recorded exceptions, while its unresolved follow-ups stay visible.

An improvement may be useful even when the run finishes successfully. Record the idea, what you decide, how you try it, and the result. A readiness issue is different: it needs resolution before a draft is selected for use. Names entered here describe your arrangements; the tool does not contact or assign work to those people.

Change the instructions without rewriting the past

A revision starts as a draft copied from the selected version. Review it, test it, and deliberately choose it for use. New runs use that version. Earlier runs retain their original instructions, results, and change history.

When instructions change during a run, compare the versions and record whether to continue or pause. Replacing an open run preserves it and creates a separate replacement. Review each prior result before recording work in the replacement; completed checks are not carried forward automatically. Process Street’s documentation also treats applying new instructions to active runs as an explicit update operation.

Background: Process Street: What Updates When I Publish My Workflow?

Return to the work that still needs attention

Use the attention view to find blocked work, paused runs, dated follow-ups, and instructions due for review. Search routines and runs by a recognizable name, person, or context. Open actions remain visible even after a related run is closed or replaced.

Timing can be recurring, such as a weekly administrative routine, or triggered by an event, such as an accepted quote. Next-use dates are planning entries. Starting a run does not automatically change them, and this working tool does not send reminders. Review the next date deliberately.

Keep a useful copy and prepare a handover

Download the editable JSON playbook after changes and before closing. Reopen that file here to restore routines, versions, runs, and actions. Procedure and run PDFs are readable copies; the editable file is the copy that lets you continue working.

The PDF selection screen lets you choose steps and optional notes, references, and history. Review the preview before sharing. A selected-step document is labeled as a partial copy. A handover summary gathers the purpose, preparation, support, open runs, and unresolved actions for a conversation with the next person.

Connect the work you already have

Import a reusable Brass Charter checklist to create a new draft procedure. Read the preview before importing. Groups, instructions, and completion checks come across; previously checked boxes do not become completed runs. Add the context the routine needs and test the draft.

Records, Deadlines, Delivery, and Handover links help you reach the relevant neighboring tools. Enter related references deliberately. These navigation links do not synchronize entries or grant access to referenced documents.

Try it in your own situation

Take one routine from memory to a useful first run

  1. Choose one recurring task and name its trigger and successful result.
  2. Write the actions and a completion check for each.
  3. Add preparation, conditional steps, and help where needed.
  4. Try the instructions and record the actual walkthrough.
  5. Revise unclear details, try the changed draft, and choose a version for use.
  6. Create a named run and record what happens without overwriting the instructions.
  7. Give problems an owner, next action, and follow-up date.
  8. Review the outcome and prepare any improvement as a separate revision.
  9. Download the editable playbook and review a PDF of the details you want to share.

Keep exploring.

Write a simple checklist for repeatable work. Explore Running a business
Sources and further reading

Original Brass Charter examples and exercises, with background reading from the sources below.

Keep your open draft?

Continuing will discard your unsaved changes. You can return to the draft and save or download it first.