Does Writing Procedures Demonstrate Control?

I believe that there is a misconception among many people that procedures are the most important method of creating internal control.  Then lots of procedures are written – documenting process after process, whether for processes on the manufacturing floor or in the office (as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires for Financial and Accounting processes).

The problem is that poorly written and unused procedures provide very poor control, if any.  How can a procedure that few people know about, and even fewer people use, provide control?  It doesn’t.

However, well-written procedures that are also well communicated can be an important element in achieving consistent results (the typical goal of process control).  But it is not the only way, and procedures are really best if used in conjunction with other control methods.

What if, along with procedures (or even in lieu of procedures) you conduct thorough and regular training for those involved in the process (and create training records to provide evidence of the training).  And you also create SMART objectives for the process, and create records of key process results that align with the process objectives, along with visual tracking of results against objectives.

Wouldn’t proper training of personnel and tracking of actual process results against desired results (objectives) demonstrate control better than an unused procedure sitting in a drawer somewhere?

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