A policy or procedure can be written down on paper but frankly, that is the old paradigm from the days of three-ring binders and manual paper-based systems. I know that many companies are still using such systems today but with the advent of Internet based procedure management software and mobile applications, the paradigm is shifting. (more…)

Are you spending your time doing “strategic work” — the kind that adds meaning and value to your long-term goals? Successful small business owners, or SMBs, do. “But, how does a small business owner ever find the time to do strategic work?”, you ask. “That can take up as much as 80% of my day.” I’ll tell you how — by developing systems of policies, procedures, and forms for doing the tactical, daily work.

Unsuccessful small business owners struggle to prioritize their time. They’re continually fighting fires or doing the mundane tasks — going to the post office, running around their disorganized workspace, answering the phone — and getting nothing done.

Does That Sound Familiar?

If your business is based on a system of policies, procedures, and forms, it will run on its own without you having to tend to all the details all of the time. This may seem hard to believe, but it works — Fortune 500 companies have been doing this for decades. “McDonald’s” now uses a clearly defined system of policies and procedures to unify marketing, operations, and customer service worldwide — they started in 1940 with a single restaurant, in California.

“You deserve a break today.”
(McDonald’s campaign slogan, 1971)

McDonald’s is just one example of how a small business like yours can — and must — create a system of policies and procedures to ensure its success. Start by imagining that you’re creating a model for your own series of franchise locations. Every day when you go to work, take one process at a time and systematize it with the policies, procedures, and forms your employees need to do the job you want them to do.

Why Start from Scratch?

That’s where Bizmanualz MS-Word procedure templates come in. Our renowned series of policies, procedures, and forms provides hundreds of templates and guides for your accounting, finance, human resources, information technology, and other departments. Every Bizmanualz policy and procedure manual comes with a set of sample procedures, a “How To” guide to help you get started, and a sample manual for the department manager to use as a guide.

Focus Is the Key

Today, start working on your business instead of in your business. Focus on strategic work and delegate the tactical work with Bizmanualz procedure templates — you’ll realize your goals, get out of the office more, and build the successful business you set out to build.

Free Procedure Samples

Why not check out the Bizmanualz line of free procedure samples and see for yourself how you can use these powerful procedure templates in your business?

Document control is a common function within quality management systems for ISO, JCAHO, FDA, GMP, ITIL, SOX, and many other standards or regulations.  Document control has been around for decades.  In the old days it was all about controlling paper documents.  Then, along came electronic documents and a whole new world was created.  Yet, paper based systems remain today in many organizations that have yet to upgrade to more modern methods.  This leads us to make many common document control mistakes.

Do you make any of these document control mistakes?

1.       Assuming your document files are backed up on a regular basis.
Sometimes files are backed up and sometimes there not.  The only way to make sure that your files are backed up is to recover a missing file.  How long does it take? Hours or days to recover a file?  Who knows how to do it and has time to get your file?  Many assumptions are made about the backup process at any company.  Unfortunately, most people don’t test their assumptions until it is too late and they really need a file.  Products like OnPolicy archive all of your documents automatically and prevent you from deleting released documents.

2.       Saving document revision files under a new name.
Most people use MS-Word and MS-Word does not have a very good revision system.  It has a feature to “Track Changes”, which adds a lot of comments and colored text from each reviewer.  It used to have a version control feature (prior to Word 2007) that was removed.  If you are like most than you are probably saving your documents with a new name like document-name-Rev-1.  Then you have to remember to save the new version as Rev-2 or else you will overwrite your original and you will have to test your backup recovery system (see 1 above).  OnPolicy saves each file version for you, separate from the original document.

3.       Using a shared hard drive to store your documents and files.
Shared hard drives are easy to implement.  Just purchaser a network hard drive and connect it to your network.  Now everyone has access to the new hard drive space, but who has control.  Setting up access controls can be an issue.  So most people don’t have any access controls.  The result: document files get deleted, changed, renamed, or moved.  If you do not have access control then you do not have document control either.  ).  OnPolicy provides access control by department, category, and by user roles as an editor or reader to prevent unauthorized changes.

4.       Not using document templates.
If all of your employees write procedures from scratch every time then you will end up with different styles, formats, and structures that will confuse anyone trying to use your documents.  Document templates provide a standard format.  What is even better is having access to a library of best practices that you could edit to make your own.  Bizmanualz provides standard content in MS-Word for easy editing and customization.

5.       Printing paper drafts for review.
Paper is easy to print but it is not so easy to distribute to reviewers.  Document reviewers will mark-up your paper and give it back to you.  Now you have to implement the revisions.  If you had it all online in a system like OnPolicy, then you could route your documents to your document reviewers electronically.  They could enter their changes electronically, and then you could edit them electronically.  This works even better if you have a lot of locations.

6.       Using MS-Word to distribute your final documents to employees.
Most people use MS-Word to write their policies and procedures.  But if you send the original MS-Word file to your employees, your employees could make changes that others will not know about.  OnPolicy uses PDF files to distribute your documents which allows you to maintain control over your documents and keep unauthorized changes in check.

7.       Distributing paper documents to employees.
Paper and three-ring binders have been used for decades to house and distribute policies and procedures.  But paper is a lot harder to control.  Paper gets lost.  And paper gets forgotten.  Today, everything is moving online and onto the internet.  More and more employees have computers, smart phones, or access to one during the workday.  Eliminating paper save trees, improves document control, and allows for a more effective management system.

8.       Not collecting older revisions from your employees.
It is a lot harder to retrieve outdated pieces of paper hanging around the office.  It is common to find an old employee handbook that was given to an employee on their first day – 10 years ago.  Electronic online controls ensure that only the latest, most up-to-date copy of any important document is maintained and managed in the system.

9.       Designing your own document control system.
Many organizations decide to design their own document control software.  SharePoint is the most common platform.  But SharePoint is not a document control system and unless you are a SharePoint Designer you will end up with an expensive IT project with software designed by software engineers that are not document compliance and control experts.  Many such projects eventually are abandoned.  It is a lot easier to purchase a pre-built system, designed by document control experts, then to build your own software product.

10.   Receiving document control audit findings.
The most common ISO audit finding is document control.  Procedures are not followed, controlled, backed-up appropriately, retained, or kept legible.  In just about any audit you can find a document control audit finding if you wanted to.  But, using electronic document control software will virtually eliminate any such finding.  Document control software prompts you to review, approve, release, and even read documents.  They remain legible, get backed-up, and provide the access control you need to stay in compliance.

Now you should be better prepared to prevent making these Top Ten Document Control Mistakes.  Bizmanualz new OnPolicy software will eliminate these document control mistakes.  Try OnPolicy FREE for 30-days to make managing your policies, procedures and forms easier.

1.       Assuming your document files are backed up on a regular basis.

2.       Saving document revision files under a new name.

3.       Using a shared hard drive to store your documents and files.

4.       Not using document templates.

5.       Printing paper drafts for review.

6.       Using MS-Word to distribute your final documents to employees.

7.       Distributing paper documents to employees.

8.       Not collecting older revisions from your employees.

9.       Designing your own document control system.

10.   Receiving document control audit findings.

During the “beta test” phase of developing our OnPolicy™ document management software, our beta testers have been coming up with great questions, some of which we thought we’d share with you in advance of our formal launch. For example:

1. What document formats are supported by OnPolicy™?

The OpenSource code behind OnPolicy will support many common document formats, such as:

• Microsoft Word (“.doc”, “.docx”);
• MS-Excel (“.xls”, “.xlsx”);
• Adobe Reader (“.pdf”); and
• Some limited-format and unformatted file types (“.rtf”, “.txt”).

2. Why are all of our documents converted to “.pdf” files?

In OnPolicy™, released documents are converted from their native formats to “.pdf” to lessen the likelihood that document “Readers” — personnel assigned read-only access to documents — can modify your documents.

3. Where are our documents stored?

All documents are stored in a “SAS 70 Type II Certified” data center, which is also one of the largest colocation facilities in the central United States.

4. How do we know we’re the only ones who have access to our company’s documents?

We’re using all available means to reasonably secure your data, including:

• Dedicated servers;
• Encryption;
• Firewalls;
• Periodic backups; and
• Password protection.

5. Can I set different access levels for different users?

OnPolicy™ Administrators can create users and assign them roles (e.g., Reader, Editor). Roles define responsibilities and accessibility of documentation and features.

6. Can documents be deleted?

• You can upload, download, and delete documents from your account at any time. Your documents are also backed up regularly.  But, as per document control, released documents can only be deleted after their retention date.

7. Can documents be recovered?

• Deleted documents are retrievable for an agreed-on period of time for as long as your OnPolicy™ account remains active.
• Note that recovery time depends, in part, on the number and size of files to be recovered.

If you have other questions about OnPolicy™ software-as-a-service document management, please:

• Visit our OnPolicy™ website, http://www.onpolicy.com;
• Call us (314-863-5079);
• Send us an email; or
• Visit the Bizmanualz web site, http://www.bizmanualz.com.

We’re happy to be of service.

Information technology is changing the way business operates and increasing the need for consistent computer usage, security, and clear policies. Establishing policies and procedures for Information Technology (IT) management issues like:

• Information security;
• Computer usage;
• Network management; and
• IT policy

is now easier than ever using MS-Word templates available in the Computer and Network Policies, Procedures and Forms manual.  The IT manual enables business owners, IT managers, and IT departments to use customizable prewritten documents to protect and control their IT assets.

Easy IT Standards Compliance

Today’s business owners, Chief Information Officers (CIO), Chief Operating Officers (COO) and business leaders are required to comply with various federal regulations and international IT standards (e.g., Sarbanes-Oxley, COBIT, ITIL, ISO 27000, ISO 20000). To meet these regulations, companies must demonstrate adequate internal controls of business records, information security, and quality management through effective use of policies and procedures and/or associated document compliance management software.

Computers and IT are important parts of business operations, routinely storing and circulating volumes of information between various business processes.  Many business functions necessitate the use of computer systems and networks. Since businesses and computer systems are increasingly interconnected, the need for controls such as IT policy, information security and computer usage guidelines become equally important.

The “Computer & Network Policies, Procedures, and Forms” manual addresses critical IT management issues and is an invaluable resource for any IT manager or IT department.  It complements our highly successful Accounting Policies, Procedures, and Forms Manual and, when combined, both publications provide a complete compliance solution.

Facilitate IT Management

The Computer & Network (or the IT) Manual provides a framework upon which a company of any size can improve the capabilities of their current IT system, systematically forecast IT needs and budgets, facilitate IT asset management, and resolve IT security issues.

By addressing core IT management issues, this manual helps many small and medium size companies that don’t have an experienced CIO leading the way to formulate best practices and optimal standards to establish a formal IT policy. This is the first publication to identify and provide the guidance and the tools for business leaders to accurately and efficiently determine the hardware, software, training, and security requirements of the organization.

Easy MS-Word Customization

The Computer and Network Policies, Procedures, and Forms Manual discusses strategic IT management issues including IT security, control of computer and network assets, and includes a section on creating your own information systems manual along with a computer and IT security policy guide.  Since all this content is available in editable MS-Word files, you can easily edit and customize the manual to create your own IT policy and corresponding procedures.  View a free sample from the manual today.

Without fail, any employer, health care provider, or safety expert will tell you proper — and regular — training is the best, most cost-effective way to prevent injuries and death in the workplace.

But what do most businesses cut when tightening their belts? The training budget, of course (see “Recommended Reading”, below). Increasing — and improving — training is commonly cited as the best way to rein in safety related expenses like:

• Medical care for the injured;
• Down time;
• Hiring and training temporary workers;
• The monetary and psychosocial costs to the family of the injured worker;
• Potential lawsuits;

and probably a few others.  My point is that an ounce of prevention, adjusted for inflation, must be worth a metric ton or more of cure. The organization that slashes its training budget to save a few pennies in the short term will likely come to regret that action in the long run.

They might cut the training budget and still get incredibly lucky. ”But…you’ve got to ask yourself a question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do you…?!“¹

* * * * * * *

Recommended Reading

• Beller, Justin, “Cutting Training in a Down Economy Is Not a Smart Move”, PinPoint Performance Solutions (10 Feb 2009), http://www.pinpointperformance.net/?q=blogs/justin_beller/cutting_training_down_economy_not_smart_move.
• Mitchell, Tia, “Jacksonville Mayor Cuts Library’s Travel and Training Budgets”, Florida Times-Union (26 Aug 2010), http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2010-08-26/story/peyton-eliminates-library%E2%80%99s-travel-and-training-budgets.
• O’Leonard, Karen, “Another Year of Training Budget Cuts”, Bersin & Assoc. (12 Jan 2010), http://www.bersin.com/blog/post/2010/01/Another-Year-of-Budget-Cuts.aspx.
• Somers, Johanna, “Difficult Budget Forces Cuts in City Travel and Training”, Columbia Missourian (19 Sept 2010), http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2010/09/19/city-travel-and-training-budget-cuts/.
• Thomas, Daniel, “Training Budgets Cut By More Than Half Of Employers, Says CIPD”, Personnel Today (13 April 2010), http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2010/04/13/55220/training-budgets-cut-by-more-than-half-of-employers-says.html.
• Weil, Michael, “Downsizing Training Budgets?”, Contracting Business-dot-com (1 March 2009), http://contractingbusiness.com/columnists/weil/downsizing_training_budgets/.

Footnotes

1 “Dirty Harry” (1971).

Customers demand consistency — they need it to make informed purchase decisions.  We’ll start with an example: Let’s say you run a restaurant.  At your restaurant, you have a different chef every day. Each chef makes the menu according to their preferences.

If your menu changes every day — if there’s a high degree of variability — most customers will be put off. Some people like variety and go out of their way for it, but most of us are creatures of habit. We find something we like and we stick with it; we go where we know what we’re getting. If we don’t know what to expect from you, you may not be in business for long.

It’s generally not good business to let your employees make your products any way they want, whether your product is hamburgers, tires, or remote data backup. Too much variation, or inconsistency, in your product will hurt your business.

Consistency with quality means value, and value means happy customers. Happy customers will return, and they’ll tell their friends. who will tell their friends, and they’ll grow your business.

If yours is like most companies in these difficult times, you’re struggling. Every employee reacts to their own problems and can’t be bothered with others. Furthermore, no one has the time or “luxury” to look ahead, let alone ensure consistency in the here-and-now.  The result is a decline in quality, revenues, morale, and…the number of employees.

You can do something about this! Work towards improving consistency in your work first.  Good management looks ahead, plans for the future, defines the “product”, and develops measurable objectives, active job descriptions, and clearly defined policies and procedures.

Consistency equals quality, doesn’t it? Not necessarily. You can make a consistently bad product, which obviously isn’t good for your business.  You need to make a consistently good product, which ISO 9001 — specifically, a quality management system designed around the ISO 9001 quality standard — can help you produce.

Quality management works toward delivering a consistent product, inside and out. Unless everyone in your business is doing everything they can to deliver a consistent product internally, you won’t see consistency in your finished products. Be a leader and deliver consistent products consistently. If you deliver high quality consistently, everything else takes care of itself.

Today, even the smallest companies are quickly becoming very complicated workplaces.  As a business leader, you must cope with rising taxes, increasing regulations, growing competition, a struggling economy, increasing technological complexity, and even the mounting threat of violence and fraud in your workplace.  The consequences?  The old rules of growing a business aren’t effective and the new rules are more complex than ever.

Let’s look at the facts:

• Regulations affecting small businesses are up 36% over the past five years alone. Business owners must contend with an alphabet soup of regulations: OSHA, FMLA, FLSA, HIPAA, FCRA, ADA, ERISA, ECOA, FDCP, FCBA, IRCA, TILA, EPPA, ADEA, and so on.
• Competition is intensifying at an accelerating pace. By century’s end, America’s share of world gross domestic product declined to roughly 20% from a high of 40% at the end of World War II. Customers now demand ever-improving quality (ISO 9001), innovation, pricing, and just-in-time delivery — demands that stress smaller businesses that are already running flat out.
• As recent as ten years ago, few small businesses used accounting software or had a local area network and most certainly did not have email or a website. Today, this is common. But now, so are issues of acceptable Internet use, information security, training, or software piracy.
• One in twenty workers are physically assaulted, one in six workers are sexually harassed, and one in three workers are verbally abused in the work force, each year. Now add the events of 9/11 and there is a heightened sense of fear in business today. But, OSHA requires that all businesses with employees, large and small, provide a safe and healthy workplace.

Many agree that the business world has undergone a clear and definite paradigm shift. Now, with the wealth of opportunities that accompany a globalizing economy, there arises not only an accompanying proliferation of hazards but also an expanding universe of compliance and detail. The longer a small business lives, the greater the complexity.

And this phenomenon taxes small businesses, which are typically resource constrained, more than large ones.  In sum, for small businesses today there is much more to gain, much more to keep track of and comply with, and much more to lose, than ever before.

So, how is a business owner to keep up with all the details? Bizmanualz® Policies & Procedures provides business leaders with example procedure templates that help you:

• Comply with government regulations;
• Certify your quality to ISO 9001;
• Reduce or eliminate uncollectible receivables;
• Prevent theft or embezzlement;
• Optimize inventory;
• Reduce employee liability; and
• Prepare your business for a disaster.

Utilizing just one single concept from Bizmanualz can reduce waste, fraud, and abuse and add real money to your business’s bottom line.

Every month, business leaders share their stories with us about satisfying their auditors with new controls, of increased earnings found in their business, and how much time they saved using Bizmanualz® Policies, Procedures & Forms Manuals, all without stressing over how to write clear policies or procedures, staying late at the office to research best practices, or wondering what format to use.

There are millions of small businesses all over the world that are struggling with these issues.  If you lack the operational knowledge or are too pressed for time to focus on producing your own internal controls, you need the kind of help that Bizmanualz provides.

Bizmanualz provides the subject matter expertise gathered from a variety of sources, including books, seminars, magazine articles, and real world experience, allowing you to find a fast, easy way to reduce the complexity of running your business.  Virtually every department or topic is covered.

Bizmanualz has encapsulated the most critical and vital information into an easy-to-use set of policy and procedure templates.  Everything you need to manage your business is ready for instant download.  No other organization has the breadth and depth of content to help you quickly and easily develop a system of effective internal controls like Bizmanualz.  Download a free sample policy and procedure example to see for yourself how helpful Bizmanualz® policies, procedures, and forms can be for your business.

As an accomplished business leader, you’ll want to take advantage of this outstanding business opportunity. You’ll find a small investment in Bizmanualz® Policies & Procedures can pay tremendous dividends.

[CJA1]reports Wayne Crews, author of “10,000 Commandments: A Policymaker’s Annual Snapshot of the Federal Regulatory State” and CATO Institute scholar

We would like to thank those of you who participated in our initial round of testing Bizmanualz On-Line.

Bizmanualz OnPolicy is a software service in which quality professionals, departments heads and managers can review, approve and release controlled documentation as required by ISO and other compliance standards.

Recently Bizmanualz issued free trial and test instances of the Editor module. On Monday, August 16^th, Bizmanualz will release the Bizmanualz OnPolicy Reader module, a companion web site which automatically displays and organizes all documents released by the Editor module.

Starting Monday, log-in will occur through the Reader module. If you are currently testing the software, you will receive an email with your new link. Your old deep-link will still get you into the editor module. After Monday, we recommend that all users log in using the new link and discard their old link.

Within the reader module, editors will be required to click on an “editor module” button to get into the work flow features that they are currently using. JAVA will load as it has been doing when entering the editor module. The reader module on the other hand does not require JAVA.

Additional Release notes:

A. Only released documents appear in the reader module.
To release documents, click on the editor button in the reader module and use the work flow features.
Test software comes loaded with sample procedures and user help files. Only help files are “released” and therefore appear in the reader module. Any documents released through the Editor module will show up in their respective folders.

B. All readers and editors must have a user name and password.
To create or edit user name and password: Go to the Admin > User tab in the editor module. Enter all the required information.  Select reader and/or editor privileges when you add a user.
Current users will not have to reset their user names or passwords.
Right now as we test the software, editors will have to supply their user name and password a second time to move from the reader module to the editor module. Only one-log-in will be required of editors in the next release.

C. Single point of entry
By having editors log in through the reader module, we are providing a single point for all users to log-in. Sending editors through the reader module will give them easy access to the same view that all employees see, providing editors with an easy way to see what has been released and to see exactly what non-editor (readers) see. We will provide short-cuts to help editors move between the modules in the next release.

D. Your account will NOT lose data as a result of this transition.

E. Unlimited number of users
For now, we have removed the cap on the number of users you may create.
Go to Admin > Users and click the ‘add’ button in the editor module. Add as many users as you want.
When we begin charging for the software, a large but not unlimited number of authenticated readers will be able to log on, even at the introductory price point.

F. Two user-help documents are affected. The log-in instructions have been updated to reflect the new log-in procedure via the reader module. Also, a new use-case has been added that shows basic operation of the reader module.

New reader module home screen.

G. System will be unavailable Aug 14-15th. You may not be able to log in during the transition while we make the changes described above. Most of the changes will occur over the weekend (August 14-15). Help files will be updated in all existing instances on Monday August 16, 2010. All service will be restored by Tuesday.

H. Response time has improved. As mentioned in a previous release note, we moved the test server you are using to an off-site SAS 70 Type II compliant location. Response time has been greatly improved. Please let us know how fast the server is working for you.

Thank you again for your assistance and feedback as we move this product to market.

We will contact all existing users after the transition for a walk-through and to gather your impressions of the software and the new reader module. Free accounts are issued so that we can gain your input. We reserve the right to cancel your access if we cannot get your feedback.

Pleaes let us know if you have questions or additional comments.

sales@bizmanualz.com

I wonder how many of our clients, on receiving our policy-and-procedure manuals, have asked themselves what in heck they got themselves into. (“There’s a lot of stuff here…where do I begin?”) Well, like a lot of things, it’s probably not as difficult as it looks initially. First, you took a step in the right direction by using our templates to develop your company policies and procedures. It’s always easier to start with some of the work already done for you, rather than you having to start from scratch.

Now, how do you proceed?

Understand Why You Need Policies and Procedures

You don’t need policies and procedures merely to comply with regulations or industry standards (like ISO 9001). Sure, there’s nothing quite like the threat of fines, legal action, and the scorn of the business community to motivate you, but that’s far from the best reason. Much better reasons for developing policies and procedures include:

• Communicating your business goals and priorities;
• Standardizing processes, behavior, and results;
• Training your employees consistently; and
• Identifying acceptable and unacceptable behaviors (and encouraging or discouraging them).

Prioritize Your Needs and Set Goals and Timelines

Now that you understand “why”, you need to decide “what”.  Of the policies and procedures you could work on, you have to determine which one(s) are going to provide:

• The biggest bang for the buck;
• A quick return on your investment; and/or
• The greatest good for the greatest number.

Only you know what you need.  I can offer you suggestions (like “start with a fairly simple process”) but only you have the intimate, day-to-day knowledge of your organization. It’s your company: you decide.

So, decide which process you’re going to document first.  If you have absolutely no idea (you have no metrics and no historical basis for evaluation), try any Bizmanualz policy or procedure.  Document your initial design and development process and use it as a baseline for further development.

Give the first procedure a fair evaluation.  Don’t look at your first policy-and-procedure development, point out all the flaws you can find, declare the project an abject failure, and pull the plug.

Introduce discipline into the development process by setting clear and meaningful (aka, “SMART“) goals and timelines.

Analyze Your Existing Procedure

If you already have a de facto¹ procedure in place, don’t throw it out in favor of so-called best practices that may or may not work for your firm.

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” (Anon.)

Now is as good a time as any to document your process.  Diagram it quickly in any manner and medium with which you’re comfortable. Simple is best (“Don’t make a big production out of it!”, Mom used to say).  Next…

Compare Your Process with Bizmanualz Best Practices

Bizmanualz has already looked at many companies’ procedures, blended them together to describe “best practices”, and reasonably modeled these procedures on the Deming, or “Plan-Do-Check-Act”, cycle. You may find that your procedure already looks very much like the PDCA model:

• You develop a set of objectives and a plan (process) for realizing those objectives;
• You implement the plan and immediately start collecting process data (in-process, end-of-process, etc.);
• You routinely analyze the data, to see if the process is performing in line with expectations; and
• You make changes to the process (procedure) in order to improve it and improve your results.

If that’s the case, you don’t have far to go at all. Next…

Make Our Procedure Your Procedure

Make the obvious and necessary changes to the Bizmanualz policy and/or procedure.  We wrote them generally, like ISO standards, so they’d have the widest possible application.  Any resemblance between our procedure and your process is coincidental; that is, you’ll have to customize our procedures – make them your procedures.  For example:

• Change every instance of “Bizmanualz” or “the company” to your company;
• Where you have an existing form (e.g., purchase order, customer order, invoice), use it – and make sure field names, etc., on the form and in the procedure agree;
• Change job titles in the “Responsibilities” section and in the procedure itself to reflect your circumstances;
• Change diagrams² as needed;
• Add visual aids – they add impact and meaning and they complement verbal descriptions very well (especially when they come from your office, your shop floor, your staff, etc.); and
• Leave out what you don’t need.  An entire procedure or just part of one — if it doesn’t apply to your situation, delete it.  Make your policies and procedures simple and direct.

Verify and Validate the Procedure

The people responsible for implementing the procedure have to put it to the test.  Oh, you could write a procedure and thrust it on an unsuspecting workforce but until it’s subjected to “real world” conditions, the results you see may not be the ones you want or expect.

And there’s more to it than procedure verification and validation. Some people call it “getting buy-in”. Whatever you call it, recognize that your employees are stakeholders in the company. They have a vested interest in the company, too – if it does well, they do well. So, keep them in the loop on matters that directly affect them, to ensure their understanding and cooperation.

Even if they’re not directly impacted by the procedure in question, keep all employees informed of this — and most — company matters.

Implement the Procedure

Now, publish the tested-and-verified procedure.  Distribute the procedure to those responsible for executing it, analyzing it, and training employees.  NOTE: A document management system, or DMS, will help you address publication and distribution, as well as improve document control.

Hold a training session on the procedure – make sure trainees are not only capable of doing the work, but that they understand the process and the objectives, as well.  Finally, execute the process.  Collect the data from measuring devices and routinely analyze it.  Look for anomalies and trends in the data, evaluate the process, and aim for continual improvement.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s just that simple! Any questions?

NOTES

¹Just because you haven’t documented it doesn’t mean you don’t have an effective process in place.  Example: my wife and I came to a quick understanding some time ago that I would clean tubs, showers, and toilets and balance the checkbook. It’s very effective, plus there’s no point in documenting such processes because (a) they’re easy and (b) she won’t ever do them.

²We’ve been using Microsoft Visio to build diagrams. Unfortunately, Visio is not automatically included with any version of MS-Office, so far as we know. There are many alternatives to Visio, though – any search engine will help you find them – so your organization need not be constrained by a lack of Visio³.

³No, that’s not a typo.