How to Use Software to Organize SOPs & Business Documentation (Beginner SmartSuite Tutorial)

[@MrGoodthelife]

Layla you rock! I learned more in 15 minutes from you than in 1 hour reading SmartSuite's own documentation. They made a great decision to sponsor you... but I have a feeling you'd do it even if they hadn't 😉.

[@LaylaPomper]

I'm so glad this was helpful! Thank you for the kind words!

[@rodrigo13121962]

Layla, nice job with a good pace. Simple words that every non English speaker like me can understand. Straight to the point. Easy flow. Superb👏

[@dragonflyvisions]

And the best thing is you can then link to the SOPs directly inside of tasks across all Solutions! Thank you for the content, Layla - can't wait to get my operations running in SmartSuite.

[@LaylaPomper]

I'm so glad this was helpful!

[@OtoLivingston]

Thanks Would be nice to have a follow up on how to turn these SOP’s into templates for task and using check list with automated due dates as part of the sop

[@LaylaPomper]

This is such a great idea! I've added it to our content ideas list! Thank you!

[@propagandamag]

Curious if this was done? @@LaylaPomper

[@billymuchly]

Very Underrated Channel. You deserve 1Million Subscribers!

[@LaylaPomper]

Thank you for your support!

[@LaylaPomper]

The best time to start organizing your SOPs was years ago...but the second best time is today! Do you have a centralized and easy-to-update method for getting information out of your head? Let me know in the comments!

[@RickAFogerty]

Thanks to your amazing video and blog post, I'm working on my SOPs right now. I'll soon have my VAs working on them too.

[@alpineai]

I learned something!!! You built a view before you built the tables - a great "end result driven" UI strategy

[@LaylaPomper]

Excellent!

[@TerriBurke-ff7ul]

This video was so remarkably helpful to get me started in SmartSuite. I'm so glad you introduced me to this tool because it seems like it just might be what I've wanted for years. I look forward to moving in to try it and needed this foundation to get me started. I look forward to future videos about using SmartSuite to guide me to think of more ways to make it my home!

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Terri! I'm so glad the content is helpful!

[@M3a9m]

Lovely! Layla, what is the best way to assign a unique ID number to a specific SOP, a step, or to a policy for future reference and/ or for business automation purposes? Thank you

[@LaylaPomper]

I'd suggest either using the built-in id for Records in SmartSuite or (for a prettier result) using the Auto-generated options you can enable inside the Record Title! It's a super handy feature. Details here: help.smartsuite.com/en/articles/4616487-auto-number-field

[@monicasharman8481]

I am building mine now! I want to keep a central database, but I'd also like to see them inside each solution for easy reference. I was hopping for maybe a dashboard inside each solution...any thoughts on how this might be best achieved?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Monica! Hmm...personally, I'd consider using a Linked Record fieldj. However, you could create a Dashboard View by freestyling with text OR waiting until their Task Embed options get a little stronger! :) Great idea!

[@adriennemccue-SUFMH]

Layla, this was a good one; thanks for the tips. I think about this a lot!

[@LaylaPomper]

I'm so glad this was helpful!

[@tehaeo]

Thanks for the Video! Is it possible to link Smart Docs together from other solutions? I'm trying to copy our Click-Up setup into Smart Suite, but I'm running into some issues that I'm not sure how to fix just yet. 1. Making reccuring tasks is still quite difficult. 2. There are very few guest permissions. 3. Linked records cannot be presented for visitors, despite the fact that they function properly across solutions. Therefore, it is not really possible for me to exchange instructions with clients or independent contractors. But if there was a mechanism to link smart documents together, that might be helpful. For instance, if I need to retrieve a process from the solution -like in your video: SOPs & Business Documentation and display it on another solution lets say Content Creation - it cannot really be connected. Right now, I could create an automation that links the SOPs, but it wouldn't be as good as if I could put it all into a nice SmartDoc where I could divide it up however I wanted. How do you connect those SOPs out to other Solutions or Apps outside your Documentation Solution ?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Theo! You can used Linked Records to connect between Solutions -- yes! As for your other points: 1. I feel you on this! I know SmartSuite is working hard of changing this functionality as we speak but, for more time-sensitive updates, you may want to reach out to their support to see if you can get a specific timeline or strategies for making this easier. 2. This has changed since the time this comment was posted! They've added new permissions, which should help. 3. Ah, yes! Permissions in most tools do impact both ends of the relationship. I'm not sure of a quick workaround for this specific one beyond providing expanded access! I'll add this as a video idea to demonstrate this in the future but, in the meantime, you might want to connect with SmartSuite directly to see if they have any clever workarounds, too. :)

[@upulaherath7204]

Can we use clickup for the same purpose?

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Upula! While some of these features are SmartSuite-only, the general principles here can be carried with you to any work management tool (or even pen-and-paper notebook!) that best suits your business, yes! That's the beauty of processes -- they're software agnostic. 😊

[@upulaherath7204]

@@LaylaPomper thanks, keep up the good work!

[@LaylaPomper]

Want to work with me to get your SOPs updated (or created for the first time)? 1 - Join my next live SOP workshop: processdriven.co/services/sop 2 - Unlock 109 SOP examples: processdriven.co/sop

[@wadethomas1043]

So have you and your business moved away from clickup to smartsuite? Do you prefer it? I've just noticed this year a major pivot on your videos to smartsuite. Wasn't sure if it was because of the sponsorship or if you prefer it to clickup

[@LaylaPomper]

Hey Wade! We still use ClickUp. Check out this video where I explain in more detail: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lYioap2hfLZ7gJo

[@wadethomas1043]

@Layla at ProcessDriven thanks Layla. Maybe a better quotation would be.... if your were starting over and didn't already have so much invested in clickup... which would you use. Monday, clickup, or smartsuite?

[@LaylaPomper]

If I was a team of 1 and needed flexibility on a budget? Probably ClickUp. When your team grows or you find yourself needing more spreadsheets to support ClickUp a few years in, I’d probably just centralize with SmartSuite. I’d jump to Monday only in niche situations where I need specialized setups or if I didn’t have the time to set up SmartSuite properly for some strange reason. 😅

[@wadethomas1043]

@Layla at ProcessDriven thank you. I have been bouncing back and forth between the 3 and anyways end back at Monday for some reason. Clickup tends to overwhelm others and it's so complex that we end up Sorenson more time fine tuning and fixing hierarchy issues and some between folders and lists it seems. Plus it's slow as molasses and seems buggies than the other two. But many things I also like about it. Smartsuite for me has some nice features but still suffering on automation. Plus I hate having to go back to home screen to go to new solutions. We bounce around solutions all the time. I wish there was a tree structure or something like the others have. I do prefer the way it handles solutions having their own... workspace so to speak with different tabs for apps. Monday to me is the easiest to get started with and to use in general. But dear lord... it's the worst when it comes to opening a specific item or task. What a terrible feature. And docs... ugh. It's like I like everything about Monday except at the item level. Long story short.... I can't choose one. Been at this crossroad for over a year. Lol.

[@LaylaPomper]

For what it’s worth, I’d go SmartSuite given your context! SmartSuite’s automations are getting some crazy updates (and I expect more in the future). ☺️ I know it doesn’t feel like it , but you really can’t go wrong with any of them!

[@tomasanthony559]

Now I want toast!

[@LaylaPomper]

🤣