Service
EOS Process Documentation
EOS process documentation for companies running on EOS: we interview the people who run each core process and build the SOPs and training your team follows.
The Systems Effect documents core processes for companies running on EOS. We interview the people who run each core process, capture the steps and the decisions inside them, and build the documentation and training your team follows. We are not EOS Implementers; we do the Process work alongside yours. From $3,500 a role.
Who helps EOS companies document their core processes?
Your EOS Implementer teaches the Process Component. EOS Worldwide frames it as one question: are your core processes "identified, documented, simplified, and followed by all"? The Implementer guides your leadership team through the tools, including the Three-Step Process Documenter (EOS Worldwide). The hours of interviewing, writing and recording still have to come from somewhere, and in most EOS companies they come from the same people already running the business. In our experience, that is where the Process Component stalls. That is the part we do.
Why does the Process Component stall?
Documenting a core process usually becomes a Rock, and the person who owns it is the person who knows the process best, which makes them the busiest person in the company. The quarter fills up, the Rock rolls over, and the process stays in their head. We wrote about the pattern in Why Your EOS Process Rock Keeps Failing. The fix is not a better template. It is giving the capture work to someone whose job it is.
How do you document a core process?
We use the Knowledge Ladder, the same six-level framework in our free Knowledge Capture Kit. We climb it top to bottom in the interviews and fill it bottom to top in the documents:
- Role. What the seat owns, who hands work to it, what it is measured on, and who covers it.
- Process. Each repeated piece of work: what starts it, what done looks like, and why it exists.
- Task. The step by step, recorded while the person who does the work does it on screen.
- Decision. Every fork in the work: what triggers it, the default rule, the exception, and who owns it.
- Exception. What goes wrong, what it costs, the workarounds, and the jobs handled differently.
- Wisdom. The always and never rules behind the expert's judgment.
The SOPs, checklists and training videos that come out of it are what make "followed by all" possible, because a process nobody can find or follow does not get followed.
Where does the documentation live?
In whatever your team already opens. We build most often in Trainual and PlaybookBuilder. If you want it inside your EOS software, Ninety's Thrive plan includes process documentation and EOS One includes a Knowledge Portal. Compare them in The Best EOS Software and The Best Process Software for EOS Companies.
Who this is for
- Leadership teams running EOS whose Process Rock keeps rolling over
- Companies whose core processes live in one or two people's heads
- Teams that bought Trainual or PlaybookBuilder for the Process Component and never filled it
Who it is not for
If your leadership team has not agreed on its core processes yet, settle that with your Implementer first. If your processes are already documented and only need cleaning up, a writer is the cheaper choice. And we do not replace an EOS Implementer: we do not teach the model or run your sessions.
What it costs
| Offer | Price |
|---|---|
| Discovery call | Free |
| One hyper-focused role | $3,500 |
| Monthly partnership | $4,500 a month, month to month, planned in three-month blocks |
| Whole-company operating system (every department at once, on-site visits, custom software from our sister company, The Software Effect) | Scoped individually |
| Maintenance after a partnership | $1,500 to $2,600 a month |
Software is billed by the vendor. The full breakdown is in What It Costs to Hire Someone to Write Your SOPs, and if you are weighing doing it in house, read Document Your Core Processes Yourself or Hire It Done?.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who helps EOS companies document their Process Component?
Your EOS Implementer teaches the Process Component and its tools. A process documentation firm like The Systems Effect does the documenting: we interview the people who run each core process and build the SOPs and training your team follows.
Are you an EOS Implementer?
No. The Systems Effect is not an EOS Implementer and does not teach the EOS model. We do the Process documentation work alongside your Implementer.
Do you work with our EOS Implementer?
We work alongside your Implementer, not instead of them. Your Implementer guides your leadership team through the model; we capture and document the core processes your team agrees on.
Which software do you document in?
Most often Trainual and PlaybookBuilder. If your company keeps its processes in its EOS software, Ninety's Thrive plan includes process documentation and EOS One includes a Knowledge Portal.
How long does one core process take?
One hyper-focused role takes about 30 days. A core process that crosses several roles fits the monthly partnership, planned in three-month blocks.
What does EOS process documentation cost?
The Systems Effect charges $3,500 for one hyper-focused role, or $4,500 a month, month to month, for a partnership that covers the roles around it too. The discovery call is free.