Formalising Methods Whilst Keeping It Informal As A Small Business Mentality

I was employed by a business because they're growing. I need some advice, because part of making changes in company processes is changing ways of thinking. I've helped introduce new frameworks but they seem to be reluctant to change their processes, which makes it difficult to do my job.

I don't want to overstep the mark or looking like I'm overruling/ignoring them

For example, my manager and I have different ideas about approaches to developing a solution. Most of our work where we have different ideas is writing data integrations. My manager is more knowledgeable about the data and underlying system, but I have more technical expertise at the scale we are working, given the new systems/architecture.

The problem is that we're a small team with work from home policy, so catch up meetings get cancelled and put off. The specifications are usually email threads, which are fine for quick fixes or small tasks, whereas I like a central written document/project plan that outlines the requirements and approach, including potential problems or limitations from the outset. Those questions may become something in an email thread, but unless there is a document/project plan then things get lost.

Generally I like standardized approaches at least to get people on the same page and understand accountability. I accept we can't know everything up front and it's easy to go off on a tangent; that's the real world. But without a base to bring everything together and focus priorities, that leads to failure or problems further down the line.