A work instruction often explains the expected path beautifully and says little about the first exception. The person following it then has to guess precisely when the process becomes unfamiliar.
Choose one common mismatch: a required field is absent, a reference cannot be found or an attachment has the wrong format. State how the user recognises it and what they should do next. Keep the example within the real procedure rather than inventing authority the role does not have.
A fictional instruction might say: “If the reference is missing, stop this step and return the request using the missing-information template. Do not create a new reference yourself.” That supplies a boundary as well as an action.
Include the destination for unresolved cases and the information needed for a useful handover. Avoid requiring a full screenshot if a short error description is sufficient and the screen may contain personal data.
Test the instruction with a harmless training example. Ask a colleague to follow the exception path without prompting, then note where they hesitate. Make clear that the exercise uses sample information.
An exception paragraph does not need to anticipate every possible failure. Covering one frequent, consequential mismatch can make an instruction substantially more usable while keeping the main path readable.
Image: an editorial illustration, not a documentary photograph.