Do you need help with your playbook?

Have you written up your playbook yet?

Hello,

This is a rare weekday email from me.

Usually, I only send my newsletter on Sundays, but I wanted to check in and share some additional ideas about playbooks.

Earlier this week, I sent an email with some thoughts on how you can get started creating a playbook to help the people you hire learn how to do your job.

Do you need some additional help moving forward with your playbook?

Scroll down for some additional thoughts that I hope will help you.

-Mike

Have you stalled out somewhere?

There is a good chance you will hit a wall at some point in the playbook documentation process. This can be a great time to change tactics.

If you were writing down your thoughts, switch it up and try dictation.

If you are suffering from writer’s block, go back and edit whatever you have so far; this might spark some additional thoughts.

Still stuck? Just go to work like you always do, but keep a notepad by your side and jot something down each time you work on a new task. You can even snap a picture of this notepad daily and pull the text from the photo using your smartphone. Paste that into a document and keep going.

Refining your playbook

Once you have your initial notes and outlines for your playbook, it’s time to refine them. Take your rough list of tasks and processes and organize them into categories.

Are there related tasks that could be grouped under broader sections like “Client Management” or “Content Creation”? This structure will help make your playbook more navigable and user-friendly.

Then, flesh out each task with additional details. 

• What tools do you use to do this task? 

• Are there specific templates or resources that are essential to the process? 

• What are the common pitfalls, and how do you avoid them? 

The more context you can provide, the more valuable your playbook will be to anyone using it.

Embrace the imperfection

Remember, your playbook doesn’t need to be a perfect document. It’s a living, breathing resource that will evolve as your role changes and your processes improve. The most important thing is to start. 

Get those initial thoughts down on paper (or digital text), and don’t worry if they are not comprehensive or polished. You can continuously refine and expand it later.

Ultimately, creating a playbook is about capturing and making your knowledge accessible. Whether for new team members, preparing for a promotion, or simply trying to streamline your work, documenting your processes will pay off in ways you might not even anticipate. 

So, set a goal, pick a method, and take that first step. Your future self — and your team — will be grateful.