The criteria that matter
Before comparing, know what you need. To structure a business, five criteria make the difference:
- Method: does the solution tell you what to write, or leave you facing a blank page?
- Writing: who writes, and how long does it take?
- Sharing: does everyone get what concerns them, with the right access?
- Upkeep: what guarantees documents stay true?
- Daily use: does the team actually rely on it, including with its AI tools?
Shared documents (Word, Google Docs, folders)
Strengths: everyone knows how to use them, they're already in place, they cost nothing extra.
Limits: no method, no shared structure, versions multiplying. You soon don't know which document is authoritative, or whether it's current.
Best for: a very small team getting started, with a disciplined owner.
Wikis and workspaces (Notion, Confluence)
Strengths: very flexible, they let you organise information however you like, link pages and collaborate. They also offer AI features for writing or searching.
Limits: they're empty containers. They don't say what to write, in what order, or who should keep it up to date. Many wikis start with enthusiasm and go stale within months. See why company wikis fail.
Best for: a team that already has its method and someone to curate the documentation.
AI assistants (ChatGPT, Claude)
Strengths: they write fast and well, run interviews, summarise documents. For a first draft, they're unbeatable.
Limits: they only know the business through what they're given, each person gives them different context, and they don't keep an approved, shared version of the structure. They produce; they don't structure. See structuring your business with AI.
Best for: everyone, for drafting, as long as there's somewhere to store what's approved.
A consultant or a right-hand person
Strengths: method, an outside view, experience, and above all a rhythm. They move the topic forward when the urgent takes over.
Limits: cost, limited availability, and the risk that the structure stays in their deliverables rather than in the business once the engagement ends.
Best for: a business that needs a framework and momentum, or is going through a key moment (growth, succession, fundraising). See getting help.
Marcel
What it is: an AI right-hand man built to structure a business. He starts from a method (the 14-section CED strategy, the organisation, more than 100 process and document templates), interviews the people who know, writes, and keeps the approved version as the company's memory, available according to each person's role, in Marcel and in Claude or ChatGPT.
Limits: it's not a free-form wiki you organise any way you like, nor a project-management tool. And it doesn't replace the owner's decisions: it suggests, you approve or set aside. For human support, Marcel works alongside a consultant.
Best for: a small business that wants to structure with a method, without spending months on it, and wants the whole team and its AI to rely on the same base.
The comparison at a glance
| Shared docs | Wiki | AI assistant | Consultant | Marcel | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Method | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Help with writing | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Approved, shared version | Hard | Yes | No | Depends on deliverables | Yes |
| Role-based access | Partial | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Tracked upkeep | No | Depends on curation | No | During the engagement | Dated documents, flagged for recheck |
| Outside human view | No | No | No | Yes | Optional |
In practice, these solutions combine: an AI assistant to draft, a consultant for framework and rhythm, and a single place where the approved structure lives and stays current. The most important thing isn't the tool but knowing what you want to write: start with the 6-step method.