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A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH: WHY YOU NEED ONE FOR TEAM PROCESSES

Reading time: about 7 min

Since 2020, more companies have had to find new ways to do business to
accommodate hybrid teams with employees working remotely and onsite. With team
members spread out in various locations, managers face the challenge of keeping
the team focused on the same goals, using the same processes, and following the
same procedures.

To keep everybody on the same page, you need to make sure that all processes,
procedures, styles, branding guidelines, etc., are well documented and up to
date. Then you need to be sure that your team has access to these documents no
matter where they are. 

For example, let’s say that the colors representing your company’s brand have
changed. These changes are communicated to the entire company, but the document
that describes and outlines the changes is only available on a server that the
marketing team can access. This makes it difficult for members of other teams to
get updated branding information they need for developing application
interfaces, user documentation, websites, etc.

You could send a copy of the updated document to the people who need it, but
then you end up with multiple copies in multiple locations. When updates are
made to the original document, those changes do not make it into the various
copies, and it is difficult to determine which document is the correct version.
So you might end up with different teams using outdated logo designs, color
schemes, fonts, and so on.

What you need is a way for everybody in your company to be able to easily access
the information they need. In other words, you need a single source of truth. 


WHAT DOES A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH MEAN?

A single source of truth (SSOT) is basically the practice of taking your
company’s data from all of its different systems and aggregating that data in
one location. The idea is to make all of your company’s data and knowledge
accessible from a common reference point.

Setting up a SSOT can help you to avoid the confusion that comes from having
multiple versions of the same document living in multiple locations. And it
ensures that all team members have easy access to the most current and
up-to-date information they need to get their work done.


WHAT A SSOT IS NOT

As you gather information and determine how to make it available to the people
who need it, it might help if you understand what a SSOT is not:

 * It’s not a tool or a specific, standardized framework that you can integrate
   into your system. 
 * It’s not a specific strategy that you might use to gain business insights and
   analytics.
 * It’s not a thing. Instead it’s more like a state of being.


HOW DOES SSOT WORK?

Placing everything in a single location makes it easier to identify duplicate
information and determine which files are correct and which can be archived or
deleted. In addition, it’s easier to identify and store previous versions so you
can access them if needed.

To do this, you need to know where all of your data is, where the data was
collected from, if the data source is reliable, and which version is the most
complete. There is not a standard procedure for setting up a SSOT, but you can
use the following as a guideline:

 * Start by gathering, selecting, and prioritizing the information that is most
   important for your employees and stakeholders. 
 * Ensure that the information is complete, valid, and comes from trusted
   sources. Do this by making sure that each piece of information has at least
   one owner that that people can contact as needed.
 * Componentize the information. Most information is written linearly, with
   intertwining and overlapping ideas. It can be difficult to understand a small
   part of linear information without its surrounding context. Componentizing
   the information means that you create chunks or building blocks that are
   independent of the surrounding context. A component of information can be
   large or small. For example, the steps you need to complete as you work
   through a process are considered as one component. Breaking up the steps into
   separate components would make no sense. 
 * Eliminate redundancy. It’s easier to identify similar or duplicate
   information when the information is independent of the surrounding context.
   Then you can decide whether the similar data is needed and should be kept.
   For example, keeping older versions of a document in case you need to revert
   to them later. In addition, you need to determine if data is obsolete and
   should be discarded.
 * Reuse data without making it redundant. Instead of copying and pasting
   information, you should reference it or link to it. For example, if you need
   to look at your documentation style guide, don’t download a copy to your hard
   drive. That creates a copy that won’t be updated the next time the official
   document in the SSOT is updated.


WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF HAVING A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH?

A SSOT gives your employees access to relevant, standardized data across the
organization. It’s like bringing together different departmental silos and
connecting them to create a clean, consolidated, organized, and secure source of
knowledge. Other single source of truth benefits include:

 * Reduces or eliminates human error such as duplicate data entries, version
   control issues, incomplete or inaccurate data, etc.
 * Improves data quality and integrity because data silos are connected.
 * Gives all stakeholders and team members role-appropriate access to real-time
   data.
 * Helps management and executives to make better and more accurate business
   decisions because they don’t have to sort through multiple data sources.
 * Keeps processes consistent across departments and multiple teams.
 * Consistency helps new team members learn processes faster making onboarding
   go more smoothly.
 * Process consistency also helps you to set up a system for identifying
   bottlenecks and areas that need to be refined or improved.
 * Ensures that all teams and stakeholders are aligned and working toward the
   same goals. 

Setting up a SSOT is critical for decision-making, addressing problems, and
communicating company-wide policies and procedures. When you can trust that your
information is accurate and current, your teams can spend less time searching
for data and more time analyzing the data.


THE KEY TO A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH FOR PROCESSES

Storing your process documents in the cloud is the easiest way to ensure that
anybody who needs them can access them at any time from any location. Even
better, you can create, manage, and collaborate on process documents in the
cloud.

As we’ve mentioned, a SSOT is not a tool, but there are several cloud-based
documentation tools you can use to create and store your process documents
(Google Drive, ONLYOFFICE, MS Word Online, etc.). It makes sense to create your
documentation with cloud-based tools and store them in the cloud because:

 * The tools can be accessed at any time and from any location.
 * Documents stored in the cloud can be accessed at any time by your team
   members no matter where they are located in the world.
 * Team members can open and collaborate on the same document without being in
   the same room or onsite at the same location.
 * Modifications and updates are made in real time, meaning that everyone always
   has access to the most current version.

You might also want to consider using visual collaboration software like
Lucidchart and Lucidspark. These applications can help you document processes
and brainstorm ideas in a visual way. Visual documents are generally easier for
people to read and understand. People also can remember and recall visual
information for a longer period of time than they can with text alone. Just like
text documents, visual documents, such as process flows, can be worked on and
updated in real time. 

Learn more about using Lucidchart to create a single source of truth. 

 



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LEARN MORE ABOUT USING LUCIDCHART TO CREATE A SINGLE SOURCE OF TRUTH.

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Related posts:

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Documenting processes for hybrid teams




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