How to document a process with video: a 6-step method

Everyone agrees in principle: company processes should be documented. In practice they rarely are, and when they are, the documentation often dates back to when the tool still had its old interface.

The reason is simple: writing a clean standard operating procedure takes time. Screenshots, annotations, layout, proofreading… A ten-step procedure easily represents an hour or two of work. Nobody finds that time.

Video changes the equation. Showing a process while doing it takes as long as the process itself. The video still has to be useful, though: short, focused and easy to find. Here's the method.

Which processes should you document with video?

Video isn't the right format for everything. It shines for processes that are easier to show than to describe:

• Software tasks: entering an order in the ERP, setting up a customer account, generating a report
• Technical tasks: diagnosing a fault, adjusting a machine, preparing a shipment
• Procedures with pitfalls: "at this step, don't confirm until you've checked X"
• Rare processes: year-end close, inventory, renewing a license. You do them once a year, so you forget them from one year to the next.

Text is still better for:

• Reference information: a contact list, a price, an address
• Short rules: "expense reports must be submitted before the 5th of the month"
• Things people skim: a twenty-page internal policy

A good rule of thumb: if you'd say "hang on, let me show you," it's a video.

Step 1: one topic, one video

The first mistake is trying to cover everything at once. "Invoicing" isn't a video topic. "Issuing a credit note for a customer who was billed twice" is.

A good process video answers a single question, the one a colleague would type into a search bar. To find it, finish the sentence: "How do I…?"

• How do I issue a credit note?
• How do I report a quality incident?
• How do I chase an order stuck with the carrier?

If your topic doesn't fit in that sentence, split it.

Step 2: prepare in two minutes, no script

Writing a word-for-word script backfires: read-aloud text sounds stiff, and you lose video's main advantage, which is explaining naturally. Minimal prep is enough:

1. Jot down the 3 to 5 key steps on a sticky note.
2. Note the main pitfall, the one that justifies the video.
3. Set up your environment: open the right tabs, close your email and notifications, use a test record or test customer if you can.

Two minutes, no more. If prep takes half an hour, you'll drop the habit after three videos.

Step 3: record in one take

Start recording and do the process for real, explaining what you're doing and, above all, why you're doing it.

A simple structure that almost always works:

1. The context, in one sentence: "This video shows how to issue a credit note when a customer was billed twice."
2. The process, step by step, at normal speed
3. The pitfall: "Careful, if you tick this box, the credit note goes straight to the customer."
4. The expected result: "You should see the credit note appear here, with the status Pending."

A few practical tips:

• Don't start over because you hesitated. An "um" or a small mistake fixed on the spot makes the video more natural, and shows how to recover from the mistake.
• Aim for 3 to 8 minutes. Going past 10 minutes is often a sign the topic should be split.
• Slow down on important clicks. Leave a second on screen before confirming, so viewers can see where you are.
• A good mic matters more than a sharp picture. A basic headset is fine, but muddy audio makes a video useless.

Step 4: title it so it gets found

A video nobody finds doesn't exist. After the content itself, the title is the most important element.

The rules:

• Start with an action verb: issue, report, set up, fix
• Use your team's words, not the software vendor's
• Keep dates and version numbers out of the title: the video is supposed to stay valid

Add a two-line description and file the video in the right folder or with the right tags. If your tool transcribes videos, as KnowVault does automatically, search also covers everything said in the video: a colleague searching for "double billing" lands on the right moment even if those words aren't in the title.

Step 5: attach what's needed

A process video often goes with a file: the Excel template, the form to fill in, the supplier's sheet. Attach it to the video instead of saying "the file is somewhere on the Drive." Viewers should have everything they need in one place.

Step 6: keep the video alive

This is the step that separates a living knowledge base from a graveyard of tutorials. Processes change: the tool gets updated, a step disappears, a rule evolves. The video has to follow.

Three simple mechanisms:

1. Let viewers flag a video that's out of date. They're the first to notice.
2. Assign the update to the author (or to someone else if they've left), as a clear task.
3. Replace, don't stack. A new version should replace the old one, not sit next to it. Two contradictory videos on the same topic are worse than none.

The good news: redoing a 5-minute video takes 5 minutes. That's exactly what makes maintenance sustainable, where an outdated wiki page stays outdated because nobody has time to rewrite it.

The most common mistakes

• The catch-all video: 45 minutes covering "the whole accounting module." Nobody watches it, nobody finds the useful part.
• The read-aloud script: monotonous, longer to prepare, and less clear than a spontaneous explanation.
• Polished editing: pointless for an internal video. Time spent editing is time not spent recording the next video.
• Documenting alone in your corner: ask the team which processes raise the most questions. Those are the ones to film first.

Get started this week

1. List the 5 questions you get asked most often.
2. Record one video per question, 5 minutes each, no script.
3. Share them, and the next time someone asks, send the link.

Within a week, you'll have saved more time than you spent recording.

If you want to see the result in a real tool, with browser-based screen recording, automatic transcription and search inside videos, KnowVault's public demo is open, no sign-up required. And the documentation walks you through recording your screen.

Further reading

• Job handover: the complete method and checklist
• Company wiki vs knowledge base: what's the difference in 2026?
• 5 signs your team needs a video knowledge base