How should a newly hired operations manager audit and clean up a company's messy documentation?

A new operations manager should start by inventorying all existing documentation across every platform (Google Drive, Notion, Confluence, SharePoint, shared folders), then categorize each document as current, outdated, or duplicate. Focus the first 90 days on fixing the top 10 most-used processes rather than trying to rewrite everything at once.

What does the 90-day documentation audit look like?

Timeframe	Action	Outcome
Week 1-2	Inventory all docs across all platforms	Complete list of what exists and where
Week 3-4	Interview each team lead about their processes	Map which docs are used, ignored, or missing
Week 5-6	Categorize every doc (current/outdated/duplicate)	Clear triage of what to keep, update, or delete
Week 7-8	Re-document the top 10 most critical processes	High-impact SOPs are accurate and accessible
Week 9-10	Consolidate into one platform	Single source of truth established
Week 11-12	Set ownership and review schedules	Ongoing maintenance system in place

How do you decide what to fix first?

Prioritize based on two factors: frequency of use and risk of failure.

1. High frequency + high risk — Fix immediately (e.g., customer onboarding, order fulfillment)
2. High frequency + low risk — Fix next (e.g., internal meeting agendas, report templates)
3. Low frequency + high risk — Document thoroughly (e.g., incident response, compliance audits)
4. Low frequency + low risk — Deprioritize or delete (e.g., one-time project docs)

The biggest mistake new ops managers make is trying to document everything from scratch. Instead, re-record the top 10 workflows using Glyde, which generates accurate SOPs in minutes. Save the comprehensive documentation overhaul for after the critical processes are covered.

Delete documents that are clearly outdated. An inaccurate SOP is worse than no SOP because people follow the wrong steps with confidence.

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This answer is part of our guide to standard operating procedures.