How do you handle repeat "how do I do X?" questions from your team?

[Frans VH]

Those of you with small teams - how do you handle training and "how do I do X?" questions?

I'm curious whether most people just rely on shadowing/asking colleagues,
or if you've found something that actually works for documenting processes.

(Context: thinking about this for a business owner I'm helping, not selling anything)

 

[fisicx]

You get the person asking the question to write down the process. They will never ask again.

Or if they do ask again you point them towards the process they wrote down.

 

[StrategyDoctor]

Those of you with small teams - how do you handle training and "how do I do X?" questions?

I'm curious whether most people just rely on shadowing/asking colleagues,
or if you've found something that actually works for documenting processes.

(Context: thinking about this for a business owner I'm helping, not selling anything)

agree with @fisicx and for regular tasks I would recommend you get them to put it into an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) - you then develop a set of written procedures, so when you have new starters there is a starter manual.

Then get the newbies to update the SOP for any improvements and/or better detail.

 

[Ozzy]

In my business, we've done a mixture of @fisicx advice, as well as some of the old guard in the business documenting their areas of responsibility. Part of this was done through the ISO certification process, but it all started with the main and very transparent reason that led to me being able to be made redundant in the company.

 

[fisicx]

@Frans VH - what sort of business do you have?

 

[Paul FilmMaker]

Those of you with small teams - how do you handle training and "how do I do X?" questions?

I'm curious whether most people just rely on shadowing/asking colleagues,
or if you've found something that actually works for documenting processes.

(Context: thinking about this for a business owner I'm helping, not selling anything)

Every morning for the first 6 weeks, I train my team for 1 hour on days where we don't have shoots. During and after this, they have training time. Some of this is research where they have to present or team me, while other elements are just to go and practice stuff.

Then, they pick a specialisation and we put in place a longer term plan.

Video production can be complex so we do this consistently.

 

[web-aviso]

Those of you with small teams - how do you handle training and "how do I do X?" questions?

I'm curious whether most people just rely on shadowing/asking colleagues,
or if you've found something that actually works for documenting processes.

(Context: thinking about this for a business owner I'm helping, not selling anything)

Documenting processes (with a quality management review process too) is really the best approach as should they ever apply for accrediation it puts them, in good stead, plus enables them to evaluate business progress.

Also a (diplomatic) deflective the reply to a question such as 'how would you approach the [task]' can be both empowering and educational to both.

 

[Frans VH]

@Frans VH - what sort of business do you have?

The issue came up when I was doing consulting work for a chain of 12 stores selling mainly during spring and summer. They needed to hire many temp workers and students but could not train them well enough to deliver good service to customers.

 

[Jordan Lopez]

Agree on documenting processes. Sometimes the detail of SOPs can deter employees from wanting to follow them, in which case it becomes a behavioural issue.

However this can be partially mitigated by developing more lightweight process documentation like swimlane diagrams and how-to videos. Loom or Scribe are good options for this (no affiliation).

 

[fisicx]

They needed to hire many temp workers and students but could not train them well enough to deliver good service to customers.

That looks like a management failure. The investigation needs to begin with finding out why they were not properly trained.

 

[Mark T Jones]

The issue came up when I was doing consulting work for a chain of 12 stores selling mainly during spring and summer. They needed to hire many temp workers and students but could not train them well enough to deliver good service to customers.

As an occasional agency drive, I can fully relate to this.

Common MO is to simply throw the keys and manifest at the driver and send them on their way. Then blame agency drivers when things go wrong.

I've often pointed out that a simple A4 guide would offer some value (anything is better than the current 'system')

 

[GLAbusiness]

I've often pointed out that a simple A4 guide would offer some value (anything is better than the current 'system')

I agree. A simple A4 /A5 checklist backed up (if appropriate) by a comprehensive user guide

 

[fisicx]

What? You expect me, a summer temp on minimum wages, to read and carry around an instruction book? Nah, far easier to keep asking my supervisor.

 

[Newchodge]

Any employer who cannot be bothered to ensure all staff (temp or not) are properly trained will always have issues.

 

[BubbaWY]

Any employer who cannot be bothered to ensure all staff (temp or not) are properly trained will always have issues.

Hi Cyndy, have you been receiving my emails. Been trying to get hold for over a week.

 

[Stuart_Walker]

Make sure you have a good company wiki. An online one is best, if not then use a lever arch file.

Get each member of the team to document some part of the process.

Then when you get a question refer them to the wiki. Make a joke of it. "Where do we look???" type of thing.

if it is in there then fine
If it is in there but they don't understand the answer then it needs rewriting
if it is not in there at all then needs adding.

The best way to get the team engaged is to use the 'number 9 bus' problem.
What would you do if I fell under the number 9 bus. let's work as a team to produce a comprehensive 'how to' manual that everyone can use.

 

[fisicx]

But @Stuart_Walker that probably won’t work if your team is a bunch of sullen, teenagers only here for the summer.

 

[Stuart_Walker]

But @Stuart_Walker that probably won’t work if your team is a bunch of sullen, teenagers only here for the summer.

Haha yes that's true.

 

[Newchodge]

Make a joke of it. "Where do we look???" type of thing.

I thought the team were teenagers, not 4 year olds!

 

[alamest]

In small teams, we found a mix works best. Early on it’s mostly shadowing and asking questions, but that doesn’t scale once the same “how do I do X?” keeps coming up.


What helped was lightweight documentation:

• Short written checklists or SOPs for repeat tasks
• Quick screen recordings for anything visual
• One obvious place to store them (wiki/Notion/Drive)
  

The key was not trying to document everything up front — only writing things down once the same question had been asked a couple of times. That kept it useful rather than becoming shelf-ware.

 

[CassieJ]

The issue came up when I was doing consulting work for a chain of 12 stores selling mainly during spring and summer. They needed to hire many temp workers and students but could not train them well enough to deliver good service to customers.

What about an online training package? Someone just puts it together and they have to pass it to be able to take on the role? Or maybe their selection process should be reviewed, for a job requiring good customer services, then they need people who can do that.

 

[Keynote Speech]

Those of you with small teams - how do you handle training and "how do I do X?" questions?

I'm curious whether most people just rely on shadowing/asking colleagues,
or if you've found something that actually works for documenting processes.

(Context: thinking about this for a business owner I'm helping, not selling anything)

In smaller teams, informal shadowing tends to happen naturally, but it rarely scales well. The challenge isn’t just documenting processes; it’s keeping them usable and up to date.

What I’ve seen work effectively is a simple three-layer approach:

1. Short written step summaries for core tasks
2. Screen recordings for more complex processes
3. A central, searchable hub where everything lives

The key is making documentation lightweight. If it feels like a project in itself, no one maintains it. Building it into the day-to-day workflow usually makes the difference.

 

[fisicx]

In smaller teams, informal shadowing tends to happen naturally, but it rarely scales well. The challenge isn’t just documenting processes; it’s keeping them usable and up to date.

These are casual summer workers. The issue here is training not documentation.

 

[Keynote Speech]

These are casual summer workers. The issue here is training not documentation.

I fully agree, good training needs to be in place first.

Especially with casual summer workers, clear onboarding and hands-on guidance have much more impact. Getting the training structure right upfront usually solves most of the “how do I do X?” questions.

For smaller but long-term teams, having insightful training backed by documentation is a great way to go!

 

[Frans VH]

These are casual summer workers. The issue here is training not documentation.

There are a lot of good suggestions in the replies above: setting up wikis, develop SOP, write employee handbooks... Those can help for your full time staff. However, like fisicx mentioned, this doesn't work for a bunch of summer interns. Trying to get them through a training is also difficult: people forget most of what they learned after a few days. So employees ask their senior colleague or their team lead, which takes time.

What do people do in those cases? What works/doesn't work?

 

[fisicx]

Are these repeated questions about processes, locations, regulations…

Is there a pattern to the questions?

 

[Frans VH]

It is mainly product related questions. Customers come in the shops and explain a problem they are having with their installation. The root causes of the customer problems are sometimes difficult to find and it requires some expertise to ask the right questions. That's one part of the issue.

Typically there may be a product that can help the customer, however, it's difficult for new hires to know about the different product categories, let alone the individual products. They have about 30 000 items on their product list (half of it in dropshipping).

 

[lattod]

Those of you with small teams - how do you handle training and "how do I do X?" questions?

I'm curious whether most people just rely on shadowing/asking colleagues,
or if you've found something that actually works for documenting processes.

(Context: thinking about this for a business owner I'm helping, not selling anything)

My favourite was always "If I wasn't here and you had to make a decision - what would it be?"

Then i'd let them make the decision (rightly or wrongly) and then they get to learn - you have to be prepared for some mistakes, but you also have to give them the empowerment to make those decisions

Hope that helps

 

[fisicx]

My favourite was always "If I wasn't here and you had to make a decision - what would it be?"

Then i'd let them make the decision (rightly or wrongly) and then they get to learn - you have to be prepared for some mistakes, but you also have to give them the empowerment to make those decisions

Unlikely to work with the casual labour this thread is about. They probably couldn’t care less.

 

[1emma19]

Regulatory/compliance work is exactly the environment where this problem compounds fast! What actually worked in practice was building a living SOP library organized by task rather than by role. Shadowing is useful for nuance but SOPs handle the repetitive daily questions.

 

[Frans VH]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

My customer is in the unique situation that he requires a large number of people for a short period during spring and early summer.

His sector and the products being sold are somewhat complex, requiring domain knowledge to correctly fulfill customer requests.

The customer has invested time in creating training materials, including videos, internal webinars, presentations and documentation. However, retention of information is low due to the product's complexity, necessitating multiple training sessions.

 

[Data Swami]

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!

My customer is in the unique situation that he requires a large number of people for a short period during spring and early summer.

His sector and the products being sold are somewhat complex, requiring domain knowledge to correctly fulfill customer requests.

The customer has invested time in creating training materials, including videos, internal webinars, presentations and documentation. However, retention of information is low due to the product's complexity, necessitating multiple training sessions.

If its processes done on a PC then they could also take a look at Scribe too which allows whoever is skilled to go through the full process. Documents it tracks it and stores as a detailed written and video/visual SOP

 

[lmkeller14]

SOP will make this better. Also video infographics format can improve retention more.

 

[Newchodge]

SOP will make this better. Also video infographics format can improve retention more.

Surely, temporary staff cannot be expected to acquire the apparently encyclopaedic knowledge that is needed to do this job.

 

[fisicx]

Surely, temporary staff cannot be expected to acquire the apparently encyclopaedic knowledge that is needed to do this job.

This is the whole issue. They are temporary staff they will see no benefit in doing a load of reading and learning so will just sit there watching the videos but retaining little. All the well written SOPs will just be ignored.

I had a short term contract a while back and was expected to read around 6 ring binders of procedures. I just skipped to a bit in the middle of one of them and asked my supervisor a random question. Turns out they hadn’t read the manuals either.

 

[1emma19]

For smaller teams I'd have to agree, the easier approach is the most solid too.

 

[BookeepersAsit]

I run a small team in Singapore, and I usually handle repeat “how do I do X?” questions in stages.

First time, I answer it properly and make sure there’s a clear reference they can go back to (docs, notes, quick steps). Second time, I point them back to that instead of re-explaining everything. If it keeps happening, I set a simple expectation: try it first, check the resource, then come back with a more specific question if they’re still stuck.

If multiple people are asking the same thing, that’s on us. It usually means the documentation or onboarding isn’t clear enough.

The goal isn’t to shut questions down, it’s to reduce dependency over time and help people become more independent. If it’s a recurring gap, I’ll also look at things like proper tech discussions or leadership seminars to tighten up alignment and avoid repeated missed information across the team.

 

[fisicx]

@BookeepersAsit - these are procedures that work well in many instances. But the issue here in this thread is a transient set of workers only employed for a short contract. They aren’t motivated to learn as there is no benefit in doing so. By the they have built up the necessary skills and knowledge their contract will be over.

The solution is likely to be the employment of more full time staff who can be properly trained.

 

[Stuart_Walker]

@BookeepersAsit - these are procedures that work well in many instances. But the issue here in this thread is a transient set of workers only employed for a short contract. They aren’t motivated to learn as there is no benefit in doing so. By the they have built up the necessary skills and knowledge their contract will be over.

The solution is likely to be the employment of more full time staff who can be properly trained.

You need to Macdonldise it.

Make each process a set of clear and understandable steps and yes, write them down in an east to understand format.

Take each person through a step and when they are competent add another step.
But I go back to my earlier point - if you haven't got a clear and understandable how-to manual then no staff member is going to do things correctly, permanent or temporary.

 

[fisicx]

You need to Macdonldise it.

The last post from @Frans VH said the product is complex and requires multiple training sessions. For permanent staff is won’t normally be a problem. For short contract staff there isn’t the incentive to learn everything no matter how you macdonaldise it.

You can have all the how-to manuals but unless the person wants to read and retain very little will be achieved.

One possible solution is to break each operation down into to as small a step as possible and train one contractor to do that one thing. Set up a production line. But I suspect that won’t work for this product whatever it is.