Desk procedures are the most personal layer of documentation: instead of "how does the company process payroll," it's "how does Maria specifically process payroll, including the three systems she checks in a particular order and the one report she exports every Friday." They matter most for roles with a lot of tacit routine and no backup — the person who'd be hardest to replace on short notice. Because they cover routine software tasks, a Guidyy recording is often faster to produce a full set of desk procedures than writing them from memory.
Glossary
What are Desk Procedures?
Desk procedures (or desktop procedures) document exactly how one specific person does their job — written for their eventual replacement, not the whole team.
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Desk procedures vs SOP
An SOP documents the company-standard way to do a task. Desk procedures document how one specific person does their job today, including their personal shortcuts and the order they do things in.
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Who should have desk procedures written
Anyone whose sudden absence would create a real gap — often someone in finance, ops, or admin whose routine has never been fully documented because they've always just handled it.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to document desk procedures for one role?+
With screen recording, usually one to two hours covering the person's core weekly and monthly tasks — far less than the days it takes to write it up from memory afterward.
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