A business playbook is essentially your company’s go-to manual, packed with all its processes, policies, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Sometimes called a company playbook, it outlines everything about your business's operation, detailing each role, responsibility, strategy, and what sets you apart.
Running a business can be challenging, and every entrepreneur feels that. As your business grows, things can get even trickier, especially without clear plans for your team to follow. That’s where a business playbook comes into the picture.
So, what is a playbook in business? It’s a tool that helps your team perform at their best while delivering top-notch customer service. A well-structured playbook for business lays out the core features of your system and provides standard operating procedures. It includes all the necessary regulations and steps to follow in any situation that might arise.
For any organization, having a comprehensive playbook is vital for smooth operations, no matter how big or small. It keeps everyone focused and encourages logical decision-making in the workplace.
So, let’s take a closer look at what is a business playbook, why it’s essential for your company, and how you can create one.
A business playbook is essentially your company’s go-to manual, packed with all its processes, policies, and standard operating procedures (SOPs). Sometimes called a company playbook, it outlines everything about your business's operation, detailing each role, responsibility, strategy, and what sets you apart.
This playbook includes important content for onboarding, such as orientation materials and necessary policies. It also provides an overview of everyone in the organization and their roles, along with all the documented training for each position.
Every business playbook typically has four key components:
With these four elements in place, your team won’t be left guessing about their tasks. Instead, they’ll know precisely what’s expected of them and how to accomplish it.
Think of it like this: when you purchase a new car, you receive a hefty user manual. This manual teaches you everything you could ever want (and maybe some things you didn’t even need) to know about your new vehicle.
This is an excellent business playbook example, wherein your playbook serves as your business's user manual! It captures all your company’s valuable insights and ensures that anyone on your team can tackle any task. Most importantly, it helps keep your operations running smoothly.
The twist, however, is that, unlike a car manual, you’ll need to create your own playbook. And it’s essential to keep it updated as your business grows and changes.
A business playbook acts as a handy reference guide for employees. It provides direction and clarity on your company’s rules, policies, best practices, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Every business, regardless of its size or industry, needs a solid playbook to operate smoothly and scale effectively. This playbook should include all documented processes, policies, and procedures.
For example, a well-orchestrated symphony. The performance doesn’t shine just because of the talented musicians; it thrives on a detailed score. Like a symphony needs its sheet music for harmony, scaling your business requires a solid playbook!
Sure, having a talented team is crucial, but it’s equally important to document your top strategies. This ensures that your processes and policies are accessible to everyone, allowing your business to operate independently of you. This way, your operations become scalable and not solely dependent on your knowledge.
With a business playbook, you get several benefits:
On the flip side, your business risks looking more like a chaotic kindergarten soccer game without a playbook. Picture everyone chasing the ball, colliding with one another, all trying to win without strategy.
For instance, imagine you’re out sick for the week. Nothing gets done if your responsibilities aren’t documented or your team can’t find that information.
In that scenario, your team may guess how to handle things, leading to mistakes. A slip-up on a social media post might be minor, but a payroll error could lead to significant issues.
When it comes to creating a business playbook, there are several types you might consider for your company.
Creating a business playbook is all about finding the right tools that make the process seamless, efficient, and accessible for everyone. If you're wondering where to start, platforms like Documentations AI can help you get there quickly.
Documentations AI, a robust document collaboration software, allows you to compile, organize, and share your playbook effortlessly. It streamlines workflows and enhances team productivity. With its AI-powered features, creating a practical playbook becomes a breeze, regardless of the content's complexity.
Using Documentations AI, your team can easily collaborate in real-time, ensuring everyone can access the most up-to-date information. This makes it a perfect platform for building a company wiki as well, centralizing all key information in one place for easy access.
And when everyone is on the same page, processes move faster, minimizing miscommunications. Well-organized information means your team can access what they need without wasting time. Plus, it enhances customer satisfaction since your team can refer to clear, structured guidance for every process.
Now, if you're thinking about making your playbook even more interactive, incorporating video documentation is a fantastic way to do it. You can use videos to explain complex processes or give step-by-step walkthroughs of tasks, making it easier for your team to grasp new information. Video documentation can be embedded right alongside text, providing a richer learning experience for everyone involved.
Lastly, you need to know how to create a runbook if your business playbook includes technical aspects like system maintenance or troubleshooting steps. A runbook is a specific type of playbook focused on IT operations, and having one ensures that your team is prepared for any technical challenges that come their way.
By incorporating runbooks into your business playbook, you create a well-rounded resource that covers all operational areas.
The simple answer: your subject matter experts—or, as we like to call them, subject owners. And yes, you’ll need more than just one person for this.
Even if you're the business owner or team leader, it doesn’t mean the playbook should be your sole responsibility. In fact, it’s better if you don’t handle it alone!
At Documentations AI, we see building a business playbook as a collaborative effort in which each person contributes what they know best.
For example, your HR lead is the perfect person to document your hiring process, while the head of training should handle how to create compelling training content. This way, each expert focuses on their own area, making the playbook well-rounded without overwhelming any single person (including you).
By taking this approach, you won’t feel buried in creating the entire playbook. Plus, this ensures the content is accurate and up-to-date because it’s coming straight from the people who live and breathe these processes daily.
After all, who better to detail how something is done than the person responsible for doing it?
Now that you’ve realized how crucial these documents are for your business, you’re probably asking yourself, "Where do I even begin?" Don’t worry; we've got you covered!
Here’s a simple guide to help you create a business playbook that aligns with your company's goals and values. And guess what? It won’t take you ages to get it done, either!
Before diving into the details, clarify your company’s overall objectives. Your company’s goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) because that gives your playbook a clear sense of direction.
For example, a SMART goal for a software company might be: "Increase annual recurring revenue by 20% in the next 12 months by expanding product offerings." This gives you a clear focus, and it’s easy to track your progress.
To identify the right goals, you might:
Once your goals are clear, document the processes and procedures to help you reach them. Break each process down into actionable steps, specifying who’s responsible for what. This is where you assign process owners to keep everything running smoothly.
Get insights from subject matter experts (SMEs) and senior leaders. Since they know your business inside and out, they can offer key advice on areas that need reworking or updating.
And don’t worry, even if you’re a small business – with tools like Documentations AI, you can still document detailed procedures without needing a huge team.
A well-organized playbook ensures that everyone can find what they need, when they need it. Here's how you can keep it structured:
Before rolling out your playbook, share it with your team and key stakeholders. Ask for feedback to identify any gaps or inconsistencies. This feedback will help you refine the playbook and ensure that it covers everything your team needs to know.
Once it's finalized, share the business playbook with everyone in the company. Ensure employees understand how to use it and provide any necessary training to get them up to speed.
Keeping it updated is critical to maintaining its effectiveness, especially as your company evolves.
Creating a business playbook is more than just putting information together. There are a few key points to keep in mind to make sure it’s not only useful but also practical for everyone in your company. Let’s walk through what makes a great playbook.
A business playbook that’s hard to find won’t be used much. You don’t want employees spending time hunting it down. Ensure it’s always easy to reach, maybe through your intranet homepage or by sharing updated versions via email.
The easier it is to access, the more people will use it.
Your business playbook should include an explicit section about your company’s values and vision. This is particularly helpful for new team members who are just getting to know your culture.
A solid vision statement tells them what your company stands for and sets the tone for behavior and expectations.
A playbook full of outdated information can do more harm than good. If people notice the content is irrelevant, they might stop trusting it.
So, make a habit of reviewing and refreshing the information. The goal is for employees always to feel confident they’re looking at accurate, current material.
Your business playbook isn’t a one-and-done project; it’s something that will likely grow as your company evolves.
Hence, it’s important to design it in a way that can quickly adapt and expand. That way, as you add new processes or scale your business, your playbook can grow with you.
Gartner reports that 27% of employees and 38% of managers feel overwhelmed by the information they receive at work. The goal of your playbook is to support your employees, not to increase their stress.
Therefore, focus on distilling the information to include only the most essential and useful ‘need-to-know’ items.
No one wants to sift through walls of text, so why not make your playbook more fun to interact with?
Incorporating visuals like images and videos can bring it to life. This not only keeps employees more engaged but also helps make the content easier to understand.
When writing your business playbook, tailor it to your organization. Generic material can come across as unhelpful or irrelevant.
Remember, employees want content that speaks directly to them and their role, so keep it focused on your company’s unique processes.
We understand that starting this process can feel overwhelming. But here’s a little secret: technology is your best friend when it comes to documenting your business playbook. With AI tools—like the ones we use at Documentations AI—you can document entire processes with just a few clicks!
So, there’s really no reason to hold back from getting started.
One of the best ways to keep your playbook fresh is to set deadlines for those contributing content.
This helps ensure new material is added regularly, keeping the playbook relevant and up-to-date.
Now that you’ve got the basics down, it’s time to look at a few business playbook examples to see how they can come to life. These examples give you a peek into how different industries approach their playbooks.
Source: HubSpot
HubSpot offers a great business playbook template for sales teams. It provides a clear structure for organizing sales meetings.
This playbook stands out because it places the sales goals right at the top. This gives sales reps a clear sense of purpose and direction, allowing them to lead conversations more strategically.
Source: Oracle
The finance industry is constantly evolving, requiring businesses to adapt to new technology, customer demands, and regulations. For banks and financial firms, embracing change can be daunting.
That's where Oracle's business playbook template comes in.
It’s designed to help these companies navigate system upgrades smoothly, ensuring finance is critical in supporting business growth. This example shows how even complex industries can simplify transformation with the right tools.
Source: Mattermost
Operations are the backbone of any organization, and Mattermost’s playbook examples for business do a stellar job of explaining how the finance and accounting team operates on a day-to-day basis.
From the start, they make it clear that some documents are off-limits due to sensitive information, which sets clear expectations for readers. They even offer guidance on checking access control, saving everyone time and confusion.
Source: Issuu
This customer service playbook by Issuu outlines your company’s customer service policies and procedures, including processes for handling customer complaint escalations. It also features training manuals to enhance product knowledge and templates for conducting performance reviews.
By providing this structured approach, the playbook ensures that your customer service representatives have a consistent method for interacting with customers, leading to a great experience every time.
Incorporating a business playbook into your company isn't just a good idea—it's a strategic move that can really set you apart in today’s competitive landscape. With a well-structured playbook, you’re not only aligning your team but also providing them with a clear path to success. It brings consistency and efficiency, which is crucial when challenges arise.
The best part? Getting started is easier than you might think! With the right tools and a little bit of tech, you can build a playbook that grows alongside your business.
Tools like Documentations AI make it simple to start crafting your own playbooks, giving your company the foundation it needs to scale. With our step-by-step guides, multimedia integration, and user-friendly features, it’s an essential resource for creating playbooks as well as for various applications and projects.
Curious about how it can work for you? Book a free demo today to discover how to empower your team and transform your business with playbooks!