What is a work instruction?
A work instruction is a short document that tells someone exactly how to perform a task, designed to be used while the work is happening. Setting up a machine, filling in a form or using one screen of a software tool are typical examples.
The reader is the person doing the task at that moment. So a work instruction spends little space on purpose and background and more on how to do it, which value goes where and where it commonly goes wrong. The overall frame lives in an SOP or in process documentation.
What is the difference between a work instruction, a procedure and a checklist?
| Document | Question it answers | Typical length | When it is used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procedure (SOP) | How does this task run from start to finish? | One to a few pages | While learning and auditing the task |
| Work instruction | How exactly is this step done? | Under a page | While doing the task |
| Checklist | Did I forget anything? | Fits on one page | When finishing or handing over |
A simple rule: if the reader wants to know what to do, write a procedure. If they want to know what to type in this field, write a work instruction. If they want to confirm they missed nothing, write a checklist.
Which tasks need a work instruction?
- Steps where a mistake is expensive or hard to undo (payments, deletions, exports).
- Steps new hires ask about most.
- Tasks done only a few times a year, so everyone forgets them.
- Tasks with several possible routes where the team should agree on one.
- Work in a software interface where fields and buttons need to be named one by one.
How do you write a work instruction in seven steps?
- Define the task in one sentence. “Issue a credit note when an invoice is canceled.” If the sentence points to more than one outcome, the instruction is too broad.
- Identify the reader and the environment. Who will use it, in which application or on which machine, with which permissions? Put prerequisites at the top.
- Capture the task as it is really done. Watch the person doing it or record the screen. The small steps people skip are the core value of the document.
- Break it into steps. Each step contains one action: click, select, type, confirm. If a step has two actions, split it.
- Add an image to every step. A screenshot for interface work, a photo for physical work. Mark the target with a ring or arrow and crop to the relevant area.
- Add warnings and error points. “This field accepts digits only.” “There is no undo after Save.” Place the warning next to the step it belongs to, not at the end of the page.
- Test and approve. Have someone who does not know the task follow the document alone. Fix where they get stuck, then publish with an owner and a revision date.
How do you write a good step sentence?
A good step sentence starts with a verb, uses the names exactly as they appear in the interface and asks for one thing. The word the reader sees on screen should be the word in the document; a different word makes the reader pause.
| Weak | Strong | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Go to the menu at the top right and set what you need. | Click the Settings icon, then open the Billing tab. | It is clear which menu and which setting. |
| Fill in the field. | Enter the 10-digit number in the Tax ID field. | It says what to type and in what format. |
| Save, wait and check. | Click Save. Wait for the message “Record created”. | Three actions became two steps with an observable result. |
What mistakes are common in work instructions?
- Over-explaining the reason. The reader is working. Leave the “why” to the procedure.
- Large, uncropped images. In a full-screen capture the button disappears. Crop to the target area.
- Changing the labels. If the app says “Send”, do not write “Submit”.
- Forgetting updates. When the interface changes, an old screenshot misleads. Name an owner for updates.
- Leaving private data in. A screenshot can contain customer names, emails or a password field. Redact it before sharing.
Where do work instructions fit in a quality system?
ISO 9001:2015 uses “documented information” in place of “documents” and “records”. Beyond what the standard names explicitly, the organization decides how much it needs for an effective system (clause 7.5.1). Work instructions are a common way to meet it, and the organization decides whether to use them. If you do, expect them to be approved, version-controlled and available where needed. For the quality side, see quality and ISO procedures.
How do you write a work instruction with Izly?
For software work, the most laborious part of a work instruction is capturing images and tying them to steps. With Izly you do the task once with the extension; every click becomes an ordered step with a screenshot that marks the clicked point.
- Edit step text, duplicate a step, drag to reorder, merge neighboring steps.
- On the image, move the marker (ring, dot or arrow), crop to the target area, draw arrows and shapes. Cropping does not change the original image.
- Add warning and tip blocks next to the step they belong to; use heading blocks to split a long instruction.
- Redact areas that show customer data or personal information by hand.
- Share the instruction by link or download it as a PDF.
Izly records work in the browser (Chrome). It cannot record physical tasks or desktop applications. For a ready-made skeleton use the work instruction template.
Frequently asked questions
Can I combine a work instruction and an SOP in one document?
For small tasks, yes: add detail to the SOP steps. If the document grows past a page or one step is complicated on its own, move that step into a separate work instruction and link to it from the SOP.
Does a work instruction need screenshots?
For interface work, in practice yes; a screenshot is far shorter than describing where a button is. For physical work a photo does the same job. Without images, step sentences must use the interface names exactly.
How many steps should a work instruction have?
There is no fixed limit. Split the instruction if it runs past a page or the steps fall into two independent tasks. What matters more than the count is that each step holds one action.
Who should approve a work instruction?
The task owner or the process manager, after someone who does not know the task has followed it successfully. In organizations with a quality system, the approval record is part of the document.
Related pages
Sources
General information, not legal advice.
Record it once and let the guide write itself
With Izly you do the task once in the browser. Clicks and screenshots become a step-by-step guide that you edit and share by link.