“Proceduralization” is a term coined by harm reductionist Haley Coles to describe the process of creating and, critically, writing down exact protocols for a variety of different tasks and services. These are step-by-step written instructions for how to do everything in the space, from passing out supplies to cleaning the restroom.

The front-end labor on system building is not insignificant, but the time, energy, and effort that this will save is invaluable, especially in any escalated situation where having procedures in accessible, documented places will make everything go much more smoothly.

One tip that long-term harm reduction leaders have for this is to make it a part of weekly meetings and to delegate responsibility for proceduralizing different tasks to the person most familiar with those tasks.