Document your systems! No one person is going to be in place forever…

In a business recently, the IT director was due to make many changes to add a new employee to all of the firm’s systems and software products, and also remove a leaving employee. Over the weekend, he fell off his bike, broke a leg, and needed an operation and a couple of days away. The accident could have been much worse!

No one else knew what needed doing and did not have access, in any event, to the admin logins and passwords to some of the software, so some of the procedures and processes had to be put on hold until the director’s return. Whilst these were not critical, they could have been!

If someone is leaving the business, make sure you have access to all the products, services and software they are using and transfer “ownership” if they are the named owner before they leave too!

Once documented, ensure the notes are reviewed and updated regularly too!

The use of videos to record steps is often a good substitute for pages of written notes and screenshots. We recommend you take a look at Loom.com.