SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Which Is Best for Documenting Your Procedures and Policies?

Last Updated on October 30, 2024 by Owen McGab Enaohwo

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Which Is Best for Documenting Your Procedures and Policies?

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Are you conflicted in choosing between SweetProcess and PowerDMS to streamline your business operations? It’s obvious you care about your business, and rightly so because sloppiness in your operations doesn’t just make you lose to the competition, it also threatens the existence of your business.

It would be a shame to suffer huge losses just because you implemented the wrong software. In this in-depth comparison between SweetProcess and PowerDMS, you’ll learn all the vital information about both software so you can make an informed decision.

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Table of Contents

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: An Overview

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Main Features

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Customer Service

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Integrations

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Documenting Processes, Procedures, and Policies

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Pricing

Why Users Prefer SweetProcess to PowerDMS

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Which Do You Prefer?

SweetProcess vs PowerDMS: An Overview

SweetProcess vs PowerDMS: An Overview

Operations are the wheels on which businesses run. A clog in those wheels hinders efficiency and productivity. As a business owner or manager, it’s your responsibility to rid your operations of any hiccups or setbacks. Hence, workflow tools such as SweetProcess and PowerDMS come in handy.

SweetProcess is a workflow management software that helps streamline business operations by standardizing and automating your policies, processes, and procedures. PowerDMS, on the other hand, is a project management software that helps you organize your workflow by systematizing and sharing work information with your team.

Both SweetProcess and PowerDMS are similar, especially in streamlining operations. As a result of this, users often consider both systems as alternatives.

Let’s highlight some common features of SweetProcess and PowerDMS.

FeaturesSweetProcessPowerDMS
Typical CustomersSmall businesses Mid-sized businesses Large businessesSmall businesses Mid-sized businesses Large businesses
Platforms SupportedWeb-based iPhone app Android appWeb-based iPhone app Android app
Customer Support ChannelsPhone Email Online self-help Video tutorialsPhone Email Live chat Video tutorials
Main Use CasesDocumentation Training Task Management Knowledge baseDocumentation Training Accreditation Engagement

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Main Features

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Main Features

For a better understanding of how SweetProcess and PowerDMS can enhance your business operations, let’s discuss the specific functions of both workflow tools.

SweetProcess Features

SweetProcess Features

Document Procedures and Processes

Documenting procedures and processes might seem like a basic task on the surface, but system-driven organizations understand that effective documentation is a game changer. The essence of documentation is to provide employees with clear and concise how-to instructions to execute their jobs. In the long run, it enhances employee efficiency.

Businesses tend to use basic tools such as Microsoft Word and Google Docs for their documentation needs in the beginning. But as co-founder at Rise25, Dr. Jeremy Weisz found out, having your documents in those systems isn’t helpful.

“They were really disorganized as far as where to find them. When you had them, they were good, but they were all over the place. Sometimes they got logged in to the spreadsheet, and sometimes they didn’t. We needed team members to follow them. They were searching in Google Drive for them, and when they didn’t have them, they were messaging us—“Where is this thing?” he laments.

Dr. Weisz explains that SweetProcess was a game-changer in solidifying his organization’s operations. Unlike Microsoft Word and Google Docs, SweetProcess is designed for standard documentation. It offers a variety of tools to ease your documentation needs.

Written texts are the first items that come to mind for documentation. You want to write your instructions so your team members can read them. While that’s okay, your processes and procedures get a lift when you incorporate other elements such as videos, images, charts, graphs, etc. into them. You aren’t just telling your workers what to do but also showing them how to do it. All these documentation elements are at your disposal in SweetProcess.

Here’s how to create procedures in SweetProcess.

Click on “Procedures” on the menu bar.

Click on “Procedures” on the menu bar.

Click on “Create Procedure” at the top right.

Click on “Create Procedure” at the top right.

Type the title of your procedure in the space and then click “Continue” at the top right.

Type the title of your procedure in the space and then click “Continue” at the top right.

Here’s how to document processes in SweetProcess.

A process is a combination of various procedures. You have to first create your procedures and then combine them into a well-defined process.

Click on “Processes” on the menu bar.

Click on “Processes” on the menu bar.

Click on “Create Process” at the top right.

Click on “Create Process” at the top right.

Type the title of your process in the space and then click “Continue” at the top right.

Type the title of your process in the space and then click “Continue” at the top right.

Click on “Add Step.”

Click on “Add Step.”

Click on “Procedure.”

Click on “Procedure.”

Select the procedure you want to add from the drop-down menu. You can add as many procedures that make up the process.

The ease in documenting procedures and processes in SweetProcess isn’t obtainable in PowerDMS. PowerDMS focuses more on policy management, and it doesn’t offer many tools and guidance on how to create effective procedures and processes.

Manage Tasks and Collaborations

One would think that, since you hired your employees to work, they would do just that with little or no supervision. But that’s hardly the case. Most of the time, you need to supervise workers if you want to get the best results.

It’s common practice for work teams to neglect their duties, spending working hours on self-gratifying activities at the organization’s expense. It’s in your best interest to have a handle on how your employees engage with their responsibilities for accountability.

As an employer or manager, you can’t possibly keep an eye on your workers around the clock. Even if you could, it would be a waste of valuable time. SweetProcess can help. You can use it to assign tasks to your team and monitor how they execute such tasks.

Instead of delegating tasks to your employees and not knowing if they are performing the tasks, you can see whether they are working. This is a great tool for team collaboration and accountability as everyone’s activities are visible to you.

Here’s how to manage tasks in SweetProcess.

Click on “Tasks” on the menu bar at the top.

Click on “Tasks” on the menu bar at the top.

Click on “Assign Task” at the top right.

Click on “Assign Task” at the top right.

Select a task from your existing procedures or processes.

Select a task from your existing procedures or processes.

Click on “Select Teammate” to choose the employee you are assigning the task.

Click on “Select Teammate” to choose the employee you are assigning the task.

Build Private or Public Knowledge Base

Employee performance boils down to their knowledge capacity. An employee who is well-informed about work duties will be more efficient than their colleague with less information. The disparity in knowledge among employees causes tribal knowledge which is an operational challenge. 

Your business operations suffer when the only workers who are knowledgeable about certain tasks are indisposed. SweetProcess helps you overcome this by creating a private or public knowledge base. You simply transfer the knowledge in your employees’ heads into the system. No one will have a monopoly on information.

Have you ever thought of what will happen if your most efficient employees decide to leave your organization today? They’ll walk away with all the valuable information that your other employees lack. This was one of the greatest fears of Peter Nelson, president of Marc Nelson Oil Products. As Peter reveals, losing his skilled workers was a huge setback because their knowledge wasn’t documented.

“I have some people here that have been here longer than twenty years, so they really know the business, and not everything is written down. It isn’t written down in a precise, clearly defined manner and so when somebody leaves, it’s painful.”

Fortunately, Peter was able to overcome that fear by creating a public knowledge base in SweetProcess.

Here’s how to create a private or public knowledge base in SweetProcess.

Click on “More” and then “Knowledge Bases” on the menu bar at the top right.

Click on “More” and then “Knowledge Bases” on the menu bar at the top right.

Click on “Create Knowledge Base” on the top right.

Click on “Create Knowledge Base” on the top right.

Type the title of your knowledge base in the empty field.

Type the title of your knowledge base in the empty field.

Document and Implement Policies

A society without laws is a breeding ground for all kinds of vices. It’s only a matter of time before things get out of hand. The same can be said about organizations without policies. In the absence of rules and regulations to work by, employees may engage in all sorts of unacceptable behaviors that could send the business into oblivion.

Documenting business policies isn’t a luxury but a primary need. Organizations that fail to understand this concept suffer severe consequences, especially as they are less likely to comply with regulatory standards.

In today’s highly vigilant society, non-compliance is a serious issue with damaging consequences for even the largest and most prominent companies. SweetProcess takes the burden of non-compliance off of organizations by giving them the resources to document policies regarding their operations. Employees have all policy-related information at their disposal in the system, reducing their chances of taking actions that jeopardize their operations and pit them against regulatory authorities.

Here’s how to document a policy in SweetProcess.

Click on “More” on the menu bar at the top and select “Policies” in the drop-down menu.

Click on “More” on the menu bar at the top and select “Policies” in the drop-down menu.

Click on “Create Policy” at the top right.

Click on “Create Policy” at the top right.

Type the title of your policy in the empty field.

Type the title of your policy in the empty field.

Features of PowerDMS

Features of PowerDMS

Policy Management

As the bar for regulatory standards rises higher, businesses must take the necessary measures to comply or risk facing sanctions. It’s a more pressing need when competitors meet such requirements. You will be shooting yourself in the foot by lacking an essential criterion to compete favorably.

PowerDMS offers a policy management system that allows you to not only document your policies in line with regulatory standards but also update your documents to conform with the latest developments. When employees are guided by a set of policies readily available at their disposal in the system, it drastically reduces non-compliance errors and promotes accountability among your team.

Personnel Scheduling

Efficiency isn’t just about how well employees perform their duties but also about them showing up on time. A great service delivered behind a deadline isn’t so great. Time management is a part of an effective workflow.

PowerTime is a feature in PowerDMS that helps businesses make the most of their time through proper time scheduling. You can update your documents with digital scheduling, notify teammates about schedule changes, and communicate important information to your team for increased transparency.

Accreditation Management

Maintaining accreditation can be difficult with several requirements to tick off. First, your policies, procedures, and processes must be on par with the regulatory standards, otherwise you might not be eligible for the accreditation you desire.

Many businesses miss their accreditations due to inadequate preparations. They walk in too early, not getting all the requirements ready. The PowerDMS accreditation management solution helps you streamline your compliance documentation in preparation for your assessment. The system can reduce your accreditation preparation time by 50%, giving you and your team ample time to make a good presentation.

Community Engagement

You can only truly understand the impact of your products or services on your consumer base when you engage with them closely and collect tangible feedback. This is essential as it helps you identify areas to improve on to satisfy your audience better.

PowerEngage is an effective engagement solution deployed by organizations to foster closer ties and relationships with their audiences. It offers resources for measuring consumer satisfaction levels, collecting suggestions for improvement, and boosting their morals for cooperation.

There’s a difference between procedures and processes. A procedure is a step-by-step guide on how to execute a task while a process is a collection of several procedures needed to perform a task. PowerDMS doesn’t make a provision for you to create processes; you can only create procedures. As lighted above, you can create processes in SweetProcess, giving your team members all the procedures they need to execute a process.

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Customer Service

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Customer Service

A business is only as good as its customers’ rating. Customer satisfaction is a top priority for all businesses in theory, but many of them fail to achieve this goal.

No matter how efficient an application is, you may need the support of its manufacturers to navigate challenges. As a buyer, it’s prudent to understand the quality of service a software organization offers its customers before committing to it so you don’t get stranded.

If there’s one thing SweetProcess is known for, it must be its customer service. Thomas Parker, quality assurance and sensory coordinator at Stone & Wood Brewing Co., talks about how the SweetProcess support team has been very helpful in streamlining his organization’s operations. The team went the extra mile to make tweaks to the system to suit his company’s unique business needs.

“I have to say that the SweetProcess team has been really supportive. When we’ve had certain little features that we felt might help us out a little, they’ve been right on board in making slight tweaks—helping us rearrange the structure of how we’re using it so that it’s more accessible and easier to use,” Thomas explains.

There aren’t many software companies that offer such help to their users. It shows how much SweetProcess prioritizes its customers’ satisfaction.

As a user, you can get help with SweetProcess via phone, email, self-help guides and a web contact form.

Just like SweetProcess, PowerDMS users get the support they need to fully implement the system in their business. They can contact the support team via phone, email, and fax. But contacting the support team doesn’t guarantee customer satisfaction. How receptive is the support team?

President of MonteVista Homes, Luke Pickerill, corroborates Thomas’s claim about the SweetProcess support team being very helpful. According to Luke, they are always ready to help.

“As we started working with the software and working with the team at SweetProcess, anytime we would have a request, SweetProcess was there to help us implement and get that figured out,” Luke says.

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Integrations

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Integrations

Despite the claims of some software producers that their software are self-sufficient, the fact is, none are. The needs of a business are unlimited, and a single workflow hardly scratches the surface. There must be room to integrate other systems into the equation for maximum benefits.

In line with its commitment to offering maximum satisfaction to its customers, SweetProcess allows you to integrate more than 1,000 apps into the system. You can have all the systems you need to enhance your operations right in SweetProcess. Accessing all your workflow tools in one spot increases productivity and efficiency.

SweetProcess offers three options for integrating other apps:

API: Check out the API documentation guide here.

Webhooks: Check out the Webhooks documentation here.

Zapier: Check out the Zapier documentation guide here.

Integrating your other apps with SweetProcess is made easy via Zapier. If you aren’t familiar with coding, this is the perfect tool for you as you don’t need coding skills for the integration. 

The codeless integration process is automated to help you add and access all the tools you need for seamless business operations. In addition to increased productivity and efficiency, you can save time, improve communication and collaboration, and scale your business faster.

PowerDMS recognizes the need for multiple software to maximize business output. It allows for the integration of other apps via add-ons. The major systems you can integrate with PowerDMS include Microsoft Office, Adobe suite of tools, OneDrive, and GoogleDrive.

The owners of PowerDMS are working on an API that will allow users to integrate any apps of their choice with the system for a fee.

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Documenting Processes, Procedures, and Policies

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Documenting Processes, Procedures, and Policies

The essence of documenting processes, procedures, and policies is to empower your team to be efficient. Policies guide your employees on the job requirements. Procedures show them how to execute a single task, and processes show them the various procedures they need to achieve the desired outcome. No matter how detailed these documents are, they will be ineffective if your team members can’t make use of them easily.

SweetProcess Documentation

As we pointed out earlier, SweetProcess offers several tools to create comprehensive processes, procedures, and policies. But beyond that, the system makes these documents readily available and accessible for use via the following unique features.

Searchability

If streamlining business processes, procedures, and policies was all you need to streamline your operations, systems like Microsoft Word and Google Docs can be very effective. After all, you can create tons of documents in them. But the documents you create in these systems aren’t easily searchable. This poses a big challenge, especially when you need to access files immediately.

Director of quality assurance at Belvidere Community Unit School District 100 Sarah Brenner reveals that the searchability of SweetProcess helps her team dive right into the document they need without getting overwhelmed by tons of documents.

“It’s easy for people to search. If they have a topic that they’re looking for—health, life safety, how we handle communication, or how we handle DCFS investigations—the staff can search for them to find the information. That was a big place that we liked,” Sarah says.

In addition to workers being able to search for specific documents, as a leader, you can also assign specific documents to your employees. They get to work with the documents assigned to them without going through a clutter of files.

Employee Training and Onboarding

Documenting your processes, procedures, and policies in SweetProcess is an efficient tool for employee onboarding and training. New employees can’t offer much value to your organization if they don’t have the required skills to perform tasks. In a bid to bring them up to speed, companies spend a lot of financial, human, and other resources. Sometimes, the onboarding and training process takes months. SweetProcess helps you reduce your onboarding and training process to a few weeks, and sometimes, a few hours.

Having documented your processes, procedures, and policies in SweetProcess, you simply share the documents with your new employees. They get to learn the ropes by reading the documents. If you need them to perform specific tasks immediately, they can focus on those documents, follow the instructions, and get to work.

President of Americanflat, Giorgio Piccoli, is making the most of SweetProcess for onboarding and training his employees. He says that SweetProcess empowers his employees to start working almost immediately.

“Previously, we’d have someone walk new employees through everything and do individual training but they were doing it over and over again. Now, with SweetProcess, it’s like, ‘Oh, just watch a bunch of videos.’ It’s made it a smooth integration process for sure,” he explains.

Document Version Control

Version control is a key element of documentation. Sometimes, you may have several versions of a document used for different purposes. Your inability to identify the right version of a document could lead to operational issues.

Anyone could mix up similar documents, especially when the documents aren’t properly labeled. SweetProcess takes versioning seriously, and allows you to create and identify the specific version of documents you need at each point in time. When you update a document, you can track the changes and identify the document in which you made the changes.

The chief executive officer at TechQuarters, Chris Dunning, talks about how SweetProcess helps him and his team keep track of their work with document versioning.

“SweetProcess makes it possible to have groupings in terms of having a root document and versioning. Versioning didn’t feel like it was important until we had it. We would start an instance of a process, and it’s this version. And we can track back and go, well, version 1.2 was used,” Chris points out.

Prolific business process consultant Adi Klevit, who is familiar with several business management software, is also impressed with SweetProcess’s document versioning. In her experience, SweetProcess effectively manages different versions of a document.

“You know what changes were made, so it makes it very easy to see the changes and the edits from one time to another. You can see the difference. You don’t have to read the entire procedure—you can see what was edited or added,” Adi reveals.

PowerDMS Documentation

PowerDMS offers useful tools for documenting and storing your policies and procedures in ways that are beneficial to your business operations. Let’s look at how helpful it is.

Field Training

The efficiency of field workers is an off-shoot of how much knowledge they have on the job. Their skills are tested as they engage closely with people. Any sign of incompetence is easily visible and affects the entire output.

PowerDMS helps organizations provide in-depth field training to their employees in developing training programs, standardizing field training records, analyzing field training data, and tracking performance.

With the PowerFTO, you have access to real-time data on your field performance to make an informed decision.

Managing Document Lifecycles

The documents you create won’t remain static. You’ll need to manage, change, or update them to meet specific needs in your business. PowerDMS documentation solution helps you keep up with your business policies and procedures, especially when there are new developments in your operations.

As you update old documents, the system keeps track of the changes you are making, so everyone knows the new information that’s been added. There’s also a provision to archive the documents you are no longer using, so you’ll have room to revise and distribute relevant ones.

Compliance Management

Documenting your policies in PowerDMS facilitates compliance management. A great tool for documenting the regulatory requirements in your industry, you can access all files in a central repository even while you are on the move via its mobile application.

If you don’t want your documents to be visible to everyone on your team, you can use the user or group permissions to assign different levels of access to your workers. Making changes to your documents is easier as you can use familiar tools like Microsoft Word.

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Pricing

SweetProcess vs. PowerDMS: Pricing

Pricing is one of the key elements to consider in choosing the right workflow system for your business. On the surface, it seems reasonable to pick a more affordable software over one with a higher price, but that’s not always the best solution. It’s more prudent to compare the price of software with its value proposition.

SweetProcess Pricing

SweetProcess offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.

Monthly Rate

$99 for a team with up to 20 active members. $5 for each additional active team member.

Yearly Rate

$82.50 a month for a team with up to 20 active members. $4.17 a month for each additional active member.

You get to save 16% on the yearly package.

PowerDMS Pricing

The PowerDMS pricelist isn’t available to the public. You have to request it on their website.

It helps to know the pricing of a software application you are looking at without having to go through any hassle. This is part of the user experience. SweetProcess displays its pricing for transparency, so you know what you are getting into from the beginning.

There’s no hurry to subscribe to any of the SweetProcess packages. You can first sign up for its 14-day free trial to check out the software for yourself. You have access to all the features in the system during the trial period. Use them thoroughly, and you’ll see an improvement in your operations.

What happens if you aren’t impressed with SweetProcess at the end of your trial? You can simply take a walk. Remember, there’s no credit card required.

Why Users Prefer SweetProcess to PowerDMS

Why Users Prefer SweetProcess to PowerDMS

When it comes to implementing a project management software, you need a system that’s above average—one that gives you an edge over the competition. If you ever doubt the efficiency of your workflow system, it’s an indication that you could have made a better choice.

PowerDMS may cater to some of your basic documentation needs, but when it comes down to specifics, it falls short in the following areas. Some users share their dissatisfaction with the software.

Inability to Reassign Documents

Reassigning a document you have previously signed off to someone isn’t possible on PowerDMS without republishing the document. A major problem with this deficiency is that it hinders remedial training. Sometimes, employees require additional material to help them get a grasp of a task. Having to republish the same document is redundant and time-consuming.

This isn’t a problem with SweetProcess. Once a document is live, it’s visible to authorized users. Even when you sign off a document you assigned to users, you can always reassign the same document without republishing it as long as it’s live in the system. 

Cumbersome Workflow

An effective productivity software application simplifies your workflow, not complicating it. If your employees require an explanation for the processes, procedures, and policies documented in your system, you are far away from streamlining your operations. According to one review, that’s the case with using PowerDMS.

SweetProcess is synonymous with ease of use. The technology process coordinator at Atlantic Sapphire, Stanley Kolosovskiy, testifies to this from his experience with the software. 

“SweetProcess is easy to use. Procedures can be written as well as you’d like, but if they’re not easy to use, they won’t be followed. You can really have any software and put procedures in there, but if it’s not easy to use, it won’t be implemented,” Stanley says.

Inability to Track Training Course Reports

It’s important to monitor team members’ engagement levels with their training courses so you can determine their commitment. While you can identify those who have taken assigned training courses and those who are in the process of taking the courses, you can’t identify those who haven’t started the courses yet. You can’t hold such employees accountable as there’s no way to figure that out.

SweetProcess offers a real-time dashboard report that shows you how your employees are engaging with the tasks you assign to them. In addition to seeing workers who have completed the task and those who are undergoing it, you can also see the ones who haven’t opened the document yet.

Individual Notifications

Individual notifications are essential to keep each team member in the loop on the progress of the tasks they are working on. That way, they know specific actions to take toward completing the tasks. This isn’t obtainable on PowerDMS as it makes provision for only group notifications. SweetProcess offers both individual and group notifications to users based on your preference. You can set the system to notify specific team members of the progress of tasks.

SweetProcess vs PowerDMS: Which Do You Prefer?

SweetProcess vs PowerDMS: Which Do You Prefer?

The name of the software you use is irrelevant. What’s most important is its ability to deliver great results. You have heard real people with real businesses share their experiences of using both software. Wouldn’t you rather emulate the success stories?

SweetProcess is a must-have for streamlining your business operations, and it has evidence to show for it. To prove how effective the software is, it offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card. Sign up for the trial and get first-hand experience of the software. Rest assured that it’ll clear any doubts you may have.

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