In 2024, we passed our 15-year mark in business. This milestone felt like more than just a number; it was a new stage for Scriptorium. We are well past the fledgling business and entering an age of maturity. We have a stable team and a well-developed roster of clients. Jaclyn and I have learned a great deal about running a business and a team. Some we have learned from the experts, and some we have figured out through experience.
Reaching this stage has inspired our 2025 word of the year: effectiveness. Though the word may seem mundane to some, we are proud of what it means for Scriptorium. Continual improvement is not about flashy changes but about the ongoing work of improving how we do business through incremental change. This process will make us more effective for our team and more effective for our clients.
Developing Our Team
We have a great team that is only getting better. We have seen so much positive change in 2024. Looking forward, we want to continue to reflect on the skills of our team to clearly define roles through professional development and mentorship. This will ensure consistent quality for our clients and maximize our team member’s skills and passions.
Building Partnerships
We have always worked with collaborators, but this year we are looking at developing long-term relationships with people and companies who have complementary skills. The great thing about a good partnership is that together we can add more depth to our projects and develop industry-specific expertise. This serves both partners and our clients.
We are excited to share more about these partnerships soon!
Fine-Tuning Internal Processes
To keep our team running smoothly, we keep fine-tuning our internal processes. This is something that we excel at. Working with so many clients across a wide range of industries, government, and not-for-profit, we can see how process changes and differs for each organization.
We don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. We have worked with hundreds of clients over the years, and we get a front-row seat whenever we support them as they build and refine their processes. This wide array of approaches gives us insight into finding the right processes for our team and our clients.
Ineffective processes can slow down work or lead projects in circles. We know that good processes make us more effective with our client’s time by understanding what they need and finding the right solution.
Evolving Services to Be Responsive to Client Needs
If you ask us what we do, the short story is that we are technical writers. But what that means and what that encompasses has evolved over the years.
When we started the shift from print documentation to digital, the promise was that documentation would shrink in volume and be easier to manage. Instead, we talk to a lot of people who are overwhelmed. They know that they need documentation and that they need to organize it, but they don’t know where to start and so, they often don’t start.
We can provide strategic, custom approaches for documenting procedures that often only exist in the minds of SMEs, creating processes, templates, and guides for clients to use (or Scriptorium to use on behalf of clients) moving forward. We help our clients take one step at a time by creating priorities and making small wins. These lead to big wins in time and reduce stress.
Document management has always been a consideration, but we have noticed that clients are focusing on this more and more. It is one thing to have a document and another to make it accessible to the whole team. Documents aren’t effective if you can’t find them. Creating and administering SharePoint and Google Drive document libraries so clients can find their documentation has become a high-priority service.
In the past, we have occasionally created documents in multiple languages. This year, we’ve evolved into developing a Spanish/English team who can provide translations for our clients. Using a combination of AI and bilingual writers, we create effective translations for clients who need to work in both languages. Being able to work in both languages enables us to maintain the consistency and quality for our clients.
Looking Forward to 2025
Effectiveness feels like a solid foundation for 2025. It’s about doing what we do well and finding ways to do it even better. It’s about paying attention to our clients and being responsive to their needs. It’s about collaborating with our team and partners to complement our strengths and build our expertise and services together.
Perhaps 2025 is the year you are ready to tackle some of your big documentation challenges, whether it is starting from scratch, refreshing outdated documents, or organizing the documents you already have. If it is, we are ready and able to make this year a productive and more organized year. Contact us so we can create a specific plan for your organization.
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