80% done is 100% awesome—a

Inside each Playbook, I have nonnegotiable checklists. “Did you pull in all reports and ensure they were easily readable for recipients?” “Did you schedule a follow-up call with all missed contacts?” “Did you update the software?”

After you have all the training videos and the high-level steps for every task listed out, the next thing you need to do is create a section called “Cadence.” (In a simple Playbook, this section may not be necessary.)

One reason entrepreneurs fear making Playbooks is because they think it will take enormous time and energy. In the past, they may have tried to create an SOP with screen grabs, explicit instructions with detailed URLs, and directions on which software to use and when. After putting in all that effort, their business changed, the role changed, or

none of these steps are too detailed. They simply capture the high-level steps involved. Each task in your Playbook should have about this level of detail for each of the steps

Talking is key. Let’s say you’re logging into the back end of your website to upload a blog, and you want the headers, fonts, et cetera to all look a certain way. Just hit Record and get going. But make sure you talk while you’re doing everything. If you explain what you’re doing while you’re doing it, it unlocks all the nuance you want captured.

Here’s my Playbook on Playbooks. First, there are four essential pieces: The Camcorder Method (the training videos) The Course (the steps involved in the process) The Cadence (how often these tasks should be completed: monthly, weekly, daily, etc.) The Checklist (the high-level items that must be completed every time) The Playbook Framework

Starting with the area that’s causing you the most pain is a great place to start with your first Playbook.

When applied to the company as a whole, Playbooks unlock scale.