Do you have experienced people who know the details that never made it into the manual?
They know which check needs particular attention, how to recognise an early sign of trouble and what to explain to someone learning the job. Others rely on that knowledge every day.
But when those colleagues leave, retire or are unavailable, how much of their experience can someone else draw on?
You cannot replace years of experience overnight. You can capture more of what people know and make it easier to pass on.
Digital work instructions help you turn practical knowledge into clear steps, photographs, videos and checks. Others can then use that guidance while doing the job, with less reliance on the right person being available to explain it.
When recruitment is difficult, this gives you a practical way to retain knowledge, support training and keep work consistent.
How can digital work instructions help solve a skills shortage?
Digital work instructions guide people through a task using on-screen steps and supporting information.
Their value starts with the knowledge you put into them. By working with experienced colleagues, you can document an agreed method, explain important checks and show what a satisfactory result looks like.
That guidance becomes available to others during training and everyday work. It can support new starters, people learning additional tasks and experienced staff who need a reminder.
You still need appropriate qualifications, supervision and judgement. Digital instructions help you share practical expertise and make it easier to apply.
Turn individual experience into knowledge others can use
Some of your most useful working knowledge lives in people’s heads.
An experienced colleague may spot something unusual straight away or understand why a particular step matters. Your procedure might describe the action without explaining that context.
To capture it, work through the task together. Ask them to explain what they look for and what they would tell someone doing it for the first time.
Useful questions include:
- What do people usually find difficult here?
- What tells you that the result is right?
- Which warning signs should someone look for?
- When should they stop and ask for help?
- What do you wish someone had explained when you started?
Turn their answers into guidance at the relevant step. A photograph can show acceptable wear. A short video can demonstrate a technique. A clear instruction can explain when a result needs further attention.
Review the guidance against your approved process. Then test it with someone less familiar with the task to find out what still needs explaining.
Involve the people whose experience makes the difference
Capturing knowledge works best when experienced people help shape the instructions.
Give them time to demonstrate the task, explain their reasoning and review how you have presented it. This recognises their contribution and helps preserve details that someone unfamiliar with the work could overlook.
It also gives them a chance to resolve differences between the written procedure and what happens in practice.
“There’s a lot of the older generation in Welsh Water, and WorkfloPlus is helping to secure their input into the future.” Cerys Middle, Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water
You do not need to wait until someone announces their retirement. Capturing knowledge during everyday work gives you time to test, improve and share it.
Pass that knowledge on through consistent training
Once you have captured an agreed approach, you can use it as a shared foundation for training.
New starters receive the same core instructions, reference images and checks, whoever supports them. Trainers can focus on demonstrating techniques, explaining the reasoning and observing how someone performs.
For an equipment inspection, that might mean showing where to look, how to assess the condition and when to raise a concern. The learner can then refer to the same guidance while practising.
This helps you pass on the reasoning behind a task as well as its sequence.
You can also capture answers, practical checks and sign-offs to document what training covered. Use that information alongside observation and your assessment process to decide where further support is needed.
Keep guidance available after training
Someone may understand a task during a demonstration but still need a reminder when carrying it out later.
They might need to check a setting, compare a component or confirm what an acceptable result looks like. Clear guidance gives them somewhere to turn without having to remember every detail immediately.
Digital work instructions make that information available during the activity.
For example, an installation procedure could show which checks to complete before a connection becomes difficult to access. A maintenance instruction could explain the reading required and what to do if it falls outside the accepted range.
The same approach helps experienced people who perform a task infrequently. Knowledge remains available when they need it.
Help more people learn additional tasks
When only one or two people know how to carry out an activity, absence or changing workloads can be difficult to manage.
Capturing their knowledge gives you a practical foundation for helping others learn.
You can use the instructions to support supervised practice, introduce unfamiliar equipment or provide a consistent reference when someone moves between sites.
This can help you build more flexibility within your existing workforce. People have a clearer route to learning additional tasks, while those supporting them have an agreed method to teach.
Keep the boundaries clear. Instructions should explain when someone needs further authorisation, supervision or specialist help.
Make the guidance easy to use during work
Knowledge is only useful if people can access it when they need it.
That could mean a tablet beside equipment or a mobile device used during a site visit. Where a task needs both hands, supported RealWear devices let people access WorkfloPlus instructions using voice control.
Choose the device around the activity, working conditions and person using it.
Keep each step focused and place images beside the instruction they explain. Include clear guidance for situations where conditions differ from what was expected.
If someone finds a problem, capturing a photograph and notes can help an experienced colleague understand it without being beside them.
Use everyday questions to improve what you share
Your first version will not capture everything. Questions during real work help you find the gaps.
If several people ask how to identify a part, add a clearer reference image. If a check causes confusion, review the wording and explain the expected result.
Completed job reports can also support those conversations. Readings, photographs and logged issues give you practical examples to discuss with the people doing the work.
Check whether the problem comes from the guidance, the equipment or a need for further training before deciding what to change.
As instructions improve, routine questions may become less frequent. Experienced colleagues can spend more time on coaching and problems that need their judgement.
How WorkfloPlus helps you capture and share experience
WorkfloPlus is Intoware’s work execution platform. It lets you turn practical knowledge and approved procedures into digital instructions that people follow during the job.
You can build clear steps, add images and videos, and include the checks experienced colleagues recommend. Version control helps you manage revisions as methods change.
If you already have an SOP, AI-assisted document import can help prepare a draft. Your experienced people still provide the context, review the content and identify what the document leaves out.
As people follow the instructions, they can capture readings, photographs, notes and signatures. They can also log issues with supporting information.
When the job is finished, that information becomes a completed report without extra admin to assemble it afterwards.
You have a way to pass on knowledge, support its use and review what happens during the work.
Begin with a task that depends on one person
Think about the activity that becomes harder when a particular colleague is unavailable.
It might be an inspection that needs their judgement, an equipment setup that generates repeated questions or an installation others rarely complete.
Work through it with them. Capture the method, the reasoning and the points where someone should ask for help.
Then ask someone learning the task to try the guidance under appropriate supervision. Their questions will show you what needs improving.
Keep the first step manageable. One useful set of instructions gives you something to test and a repeatable approach for capturing more knowledge.
Keep experience working for you
When skilled people are hard to recruit or replace, the knowledge you already have becomes even more valuable.
Capturing it helps you pass that experience on, support people as they learn and keep guidance available during everyday work.
Which task would you like to make less dependent on one person?
Book a demo to see how WorkfloPlus can help you capture that knowledge and turn it into guidance others can use.