The most often quoted answer seems to be, “The manager does things right - the leader does the right things.” What exactly does that mean - “doing the right thing”?  Does that mean history tells us whether the leader did the right thing? Can someone be a leader even if they end up on the losing side?

A leader is one who knows that though the risk of failure may be great, they don’t give up on themselves or others. Leaders are people of exceptional character who are capable of bringing others through a crisis. All leaders share certain qualities or characteristics, including:

1. Self-respect and respect for others. If you don’t have a healthy self-respect, you won’t respect others. If you don’t respect others, they will not respect you. You can’t lead people who don’t respect you.

2. The ability to communicate effectively. Leaders say what they mean and mean exactly what they say. Effective communicators are far more persuasive than those who don’t communicate well.

3. Integrity and character. Leaders are not swayed by unsubstantiated opinions or unfounded rumors. Fame, power, or material gain don’t motivate them. Leaders have integrity, that strength of character that resists assault.

4. Having a vision, a mission (or a purpose), a sense of direction, and a clear set of goals. Moreover, they know that their job isn’t done when one set of goals is reached. Leaders know that life is a journey.

5. Being grounded. Leaders have a vision of what the world around them ought to be, but they are also pragmatic. Things will not always go smoothly, but leaders understand that and have the presence of mind to deal with that.

6. Courage. Fear is a powerful motivator; it causes many of us to turn away from our goals when our belief in ourselves and our cause isn’t strong. Leaders aren’t fearless — leaders make a conscious choice to act in spite of their fear.

7. Persistence, commitment, and dedication. It’s like they always say: “Winners don’t quit, and quitters don’t win.”  Nothing worth having comes easily. When setbacks crop up, leaders don’t flag because they always have their eyes on the prize.

8. Humility. Leaders aren’t self-promoting or self-aggrandizing. They don’t take all the credit. They give credit to others and refuse it for themselves.

9. A sense of responsibility. Leaders are willing to bear the ultimate responsibility for their undertakings. They don’t point the finger of blame when things go awry.

10. Decisiveness. When action is called for, real leaders don’t waffle. Knowing that a window of opportunity exists (”the time to act is now”), they act quickly and effectively, based on the best available information.

Most importantly, leaders have these characteristics in balance. Some may tell you there is one characteristic more important than the rest. They’ll say something like, “Oh, you have to have that ‘vision thing’ above all else.” Not true - people won’t follow someone who has vision without courage or humility, for example.

What about you? What do you think are the most important qualities in a leader? Who do you consider a leader and why?

Thanks so much for your time.

A good place to start is the NetTop20 directory of Ezine Directories. Directories I found include:

• Ezine Listings;
• The Ezine Directory;
• Ezine Articles;
• New List (Ezine Universe);
• Best Ezines; and
• Jogena’s eZine Directory.

Now we’ll just sit back and watch the Internet traffic roll in…right?

What do you think? Do ezine directories work? Are they worth the investment of time (and money)? Have you any firsthand experience with them?

“What? Me worry?”
Alfred E. Newman

Crisis Management Is a Response…

The economic crisis has occurred and whether it was through our fault or not, we have to get it under control and fix it quickly as possible — that’s what crisis management is. Depending on the nature and extent of a problem, it may take considerable resources to fix. As we’ve seen, our current economic crisis has used up an enormous amount of resources and promises to swallow up many more before we even come close to a solution.

Unfortunately, it looks like many companies — but especially small-to-medium businesses – will simply have to do their best to ride out the economic storm. Too much is beyond their knowledge or control.

…Whereas Risk Management Is Strategic

Many people have laid the lion’s share of the blame for the economic crisis on the financial sector, or on government policies. Certainly they weren’t the only causes, however. Companies in every sector took unnecessary risks and didn’t implement a system of effective controls and oversight. Good risk management practices existed but they weren’t followed.

Risk management consists of identifying potential threats, assessing their likelihood and their impact (if they were to occur), and taking the necessary steps to eliminate or minimize risks. There are risks we’ll always be powerless to avoid or control (severe weather, earthquake, etc.), but we can cope with them — and many others — better simply by implementing effective risk management systems.

Management Philosophy

There is a management philosophy, mirrored by ISO 9001, that merely correcting a problem isn’t as good as identifying its root cause and taking steps to make sure the problem doesn’t recur. That’s called “taking corrective action“.

That philosophy also says that making sure a problem doesn’t happen again isn’t as good as preventing it from happening in the first place (aka, “preventive action“). It follows, then, that risk management is markedly preferable to crisis management. This is not to say you shouldn’t prepare to manage crises (after all, the best-laid risk management plans aren’t going to prevent every crisis…like they say, “Stuff happens”) but that crisis management should be your fall-back position.

Comments, anyone?

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

Well, that’s one reason, though it’s not the best one. (”What do you mean, ‘not the best one’? The law says we need written procedures to be in compliance. If we’re not in compliance, we lose business.”)

Believe it or not, there are many excellent reasons to write procedures, and complying with regulations or standards, while it may seem the most important reason (because of the potential for fines and other penalties), is actually pretty far down the list. The best reasons for writing procedures include:

1. Documenting and analyzing process results in order to improve the process (in other words, you know if a process is getting better or worse by taking measurements and comparing them);
2. Communicating how you measure the effectiveness of a process (i.e., what your expectations are for the process (pieces per hour, zero defects, etc.));
3. Decreasing process error rates (moving the process closer to Six Sigma performance level);
4. Making it easier to replicate a process (that is, regardless of who’s working at it or when, the process remains the same);
5. Retaining and transferring valuable knowledge;
6. Documenting — and sharing — risks, hazards, and “lessons learned”;
7. Reducing the time you need to train (or retrain) workers;
8. Improving the consistency of process results (another way to put it is “your customers don’t like surprises”);
9. Simplifying access to — and understanding what is — important information; and
10. Solidifying the foundation for your company’s growth.

So, what do you think? Did I miss something? Do you know any other reason why written procedures make sense?

Like I say when someone wishes me good luck, “I hope it doesn’t come down to luck…but I won’t turn it down if it comes my way.”

Bizmanualz On-line 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 On-line 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

A few people have wondered about working online, asking, “Why would I want an online policy application that Bizmanualz hosts and maintains, rather than a policy application installed locally?”

#1 - It Costs Less

The Bizmanualz online solution spreads the cost of hardware and software across many customers, so you receive one low monthly fee for editors/authors and nothing for read-only access. If your company wants its own policy server, it wouldn’t enjoy the cost-sharing advantages and it would incur the entire cost of purchasing and maintaining the needed infrastructure.

Some still insist on an in-house installation because it gives them greater control. However, the business world, in general, is moving away from local software and toward hosted software services, software-as-a-service (SaaS), and cloud solutions.  Companies don’t want to pay for software and hardware, especially when it sits idle much of the time. The great thing about software-as-a-service is that pricing reflects what you actually use.

#2 - You Get a Policy Management Solution Now

In large organizations, defining policty management application requirements and allocating resources to buy or build are fraught with political obstacles. Gaining buy-in from all stakeholders takes time. It’s easier for stakeholders to agree on what they need from a policy management software application when they can try it out first.

Because SaaS policy management solutions can be turned on instantly and require no installation, they offer an immediate solution. Users can then define their needs in terms of what the SaaS policy management solutions solutions does or does not do.  You can then offer cost-benefit trade-offs in response to specific user needs.

Meeting user needs is not always possible at an acceptable level of investment. But by establishing good communications with your SaaS policy management solutions vendor, you may better understand the trade-offs and even influence the vendor’s development plans. As the polciy manager who uses the system, it’s easier for you to get a vendor to add the exact policy management features you need than for your company to allocate scarce resources. Under a SaaS model, new policy software features and upgrades are part of the value delivered for your subscription fee.

#3 - Continual SaaS Upgrades and Improvements

While large organizations have business analysts collecting user needs and defining what a policy management software application should do for them, smaller companies often do not. Often that role in an SMB is filled on an as-needed basis by an IT manager, and conflicting priorities may require redeployment of resources right after the software launches.

Software-as-a-service vendors on the other hand live or die by how well they support and improve their product. They must deliver value and ever-improved features and performance in exchange so that customers feel good about their monthly subscription fees.

Under the licensed server approach, improvements often come in annual or longer installation cycles with renewal fees attached. It could be a year or longer before you get upgrades. Furthermore, the cost of upgrading often means putting it off, which means you could fall behind companies that can afford to upgrade. Under the SaaS model, you get upgrades continually and you don’t pay any more for them.

#4 - No Unnecessary Technology Investment

For many companies, installed policy servers just don’t make sense anymore. Big, expensive server hardware and software has to be in place to run your policy procedure management software, but the necessary platform is underused. That is, policy management as a category of software demands little in the way of computing power. Unless yours is a vast organization with intensive policy compliance needs, your investment would sit idle most of the time and you’d end up paying for power you didn’t need.

It makes sense to spread the fixed costs across many companies, and get someone else (Bizmanualz) to take care of all that computing power for you, and that is the advantage of SaaS policy management.

#5 - SaaS Monthly Fees are Cheaper and Easier to Budget

Under a dedicated-server approach, IT departments typically pay annual license and maintenance fees of about 20% to 40% of the up-front software license fees. So our SaaS (on-line) policy solution is actually much cheaper to maintain from IT’s perspective. And because Bizmanualz online fully supports the SaaS solution, your IT department doesn’t have to allocate technical time and talent to maintain a dedicated solution.

SaaS enables you to share most of the costs of the hardware and software across all the provider’s (Bizmanualz’s) customers, while protecting your data. As a matter of fact, policy managers and finance professionals (to name two) who use our policy software are commonly surprised when they approach their IT department heads and find that initiatives are underway to identify SaaS or cloud applications like the Bizmanualz policy management system.

Remote hosting is becoming more common. If you approach IT management with a SaaS option, they may consider you to be a real forward-thinking user!

#6 - Compliance with SAS 70 Type II

Some companies like SaaS as a concept but they don’t want their data to reside outside their firewall. Our hosting is fully compliant and audited to SAS 70 Type II standards. Conforming to Type II standards means your data are fully protected. Has your in-house IT department met the SAS 70 standard?

#7 - Polciy workflow Compliance for editors but users don’t have to do anything differently.

While it is true that draft policy and procedure files are stored on our secure server outside your firewall, your company can store “released” documents on your in-house server. In that way, you could use our workflow management tools and still publish the released files to a location behind your firewall. Authors and editors gain policy workflow and compliance tools, and the majority of employees don’t have to change the way they access released documents. They would simply read the released policy documents as they have been doing in your Intranet or SharePoint, and released documents would reside within your firewall.

Our editing module stores Bizmanualz policies and procedures templates, as well as any changes you make or any other documents that you upload. Most customers tell us that their compliance policies and procedures are not considered sensitive documents. There should be no reason to upload sensitive documents. For most customers, released files are published to a secure web site that your employees - or anyone you want - can access them.

With the trade-offs in mind, the online SaaS policy management approach works for most customers. Furthermore, we can customize a solution for you. Just email sales@bizmanualz.com. Sign up for a free trial and see for yourself.

“Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.”
Anon.

We sense that the way we go about developing policies and procedures isn’t producing satisfactory results, yet we keep at it. We can’t afford to continue doing what we’ve been doing if we’re to remain competitive.

Now we proceed with the ten-step program for developing procedures:

1. Understand the process – walk through it (literally) and map it out. See for yourself where the bottlenecks are. Determine where your resources are going to waste, not value. If an activity doesn’t add value, customers won’t pay for it.
2. Estimate the resources you need to craft the procedure (people, time, etc.). Set your goals and milestones.
3. Now, document (author) the process.  For the best effect, combine pictures and words: either is good but together, they’re great!
4. Once you author the procedure, have the process “doers” and their manager review it.  Note: Here is where a document management system can improve your review process.
5. Based on the results of the procedure review, revise the procedure.
6. Repeat #4 and #5 once. Resist the urge to keep “tweaking” documents before releasing them – there is no such thing as a perfect procedure.
7. Next, have other interested parties review the procedure (for example, the managers of the processes immediately before and after the process in question).
8. Revise the procedure one last time, if necessary.
9. Gain final approval of the procedure from top management. In the case of a small business (or SMB), that might be the owner, the president, your chief financial officer, and others.  Top management needs to be involved because every process – hence, every procedure – is a reflection of the company’s vision, mission, and objectives.
10. Once the procedure is approved, release it to the company.  Releasing a procedure involves:

• Announcing the procedure to the entire company;
• Circulating it, or making sure it’s readily accessible to employees;
• Training the doers – those responsible for carrying out the procedure, and their managers; and
• Explaining the procedure to those who may be affected indirectly (for example, one process forward and one back).

Keep Procedures Fresh and Meaningful

As we said in step #6, perfect procedures don’t exist. The business environment changes, your company changes, and your procedures need to reflect that. Once you’ve released a procedure, there are two more things you must do:

11. Conduct a periodic procedure review. You review a procedure when something really big comes up that has a direct impact (a new or revised regulation, an audit finding, a new owner, etc.), correct? Oftentimes, nothing comes up – or we don’t notice when they do. That’s why we need to routinely review procedures (a rule of thumb is to review annually).

12. After the review, revise the procedure (if needed), review it, approve it, and release it.

What about you? Have any questions or comments? What do you – or would you – do differently? Do you have a system for writing and managing procedures – one you’d like to share with us?

People may feel like it’s a good start, as Hayward seems to have become a greater liability than an asset to the oil giant. However, one grand, symbolic gesture — one more sacrificial lamb — doesn’t get to the root of the problem. We have much further to go. Hayward is at the top of the company but the failures that led to the oil catastrophe have not nearly been all his or his company’s doing.

BP’s failure was part of a systemic failure: there is plenty of blame to go around. Rather than blame everybody (which helps no one), we have to correct the system in which this fiasco occurred or devise a new system.

Where to start?  We might take care of the problem this way:

• Compile lessons learned and share them with the industry.
• Rewrite industry (and other) standards to put a greater emphasis on safety.
• Enforce existing regulations before writing new ones.
• When writing a new bill (and this goes to any bill, not just those dealing with oil and gas), the legislature cannot be allowed to hide laws by combining them, related or not. One bill for one issue.
• Spend money on enforcement (i.e., hire qualified people, train them well, and pay them what they’re worth).
• Break up the MMS and organizations like it. The Materials Management Service has been responsible for gathering rights fees, etc., and they’ve been responsible for enforcing oil-and-gas-related statutes and requirements. Often, these two work at cross-purposes: as we saw, the MMS didn’t want to enforce laws that might put the brakes on revenue. Those functions have to be kept separate so there’s no confusion about what’s important.
• Restore “reinvestment in the company” as a business tenet. Paying out profits to shareholders and executives while infrastructure and technology lag isn’t sustainable.
• Fine anyone or any organization that misled anybody at any point (misinformation, late or no information, deflecting blame, covering up problems, etc.). This alone could raise enough money to put the issue behind us.
• Get the world on the same standards. It’s too easy for a company to say, “We don’t like the tax laws here, so we’re moving offshore” or “It’s cheaper to operate “over there”, so we’re going over there.” Artificially low wages and taxes, as well as lax standards and enforcement, relocates the problems and potentially intensifies them. Relocating a problem doesn’t solve it and it can create more.
• Accept responsibility. Management can certainly do its share but so can the rest of us. We need to find our collective moral compass and use it all the time.

Do you have any suggestions or ideas for preventing a recurrence of this unfortunate situation? What would your corrective or preventive actions be? Should compliance with ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 be required of all oil and gas companies (and their subcontractors)? Should policies and procedures be transparent?

Thanks for your time.

Our customers cite ‘organizational improvement’ as their main reason why they purchase policies and procedures. From many conversations we have gleaned that customers want to implement a system for continuous improvement and compliance. In a system, procedures are continuously reviewed, revised, and updated. New issues need to be identified, now procedures written. Old procedures need to be replaced by new procedures.

To remain compliant with your industry standards, government regulations, and quality requirements such as ISO, document changes must be managed and traceable through the document management cycle: DRAFT | REVIEW | APPROVE | RELEASE. This cycle is the heart of compliant document work flow.

So Bizmanualz is currently testing an on-line document management software for driving document management and compliance. Because the software is available as an on-line service, organizations of any size can manage and share their policies, procedures, work instructions and other operating documents.

During this test period, Bizmanualz is providing a few customers with access to a prototype of our new document management software. The customers are providing feedback which is helping us improve the first release of the product which will take place soon (If you are interested in testing the software, please read this post. Also, see our frequently asked questions (FAQ), or call us at (314) 863-5079.)

For more background on how document management software can help you, please see our blog.

Walking Through Bizmanualz On-Line

In our pre-release testing program, we’re asking testers to perform common operations, such as logging in, setting up users (assigning permissions, etc.), loading documents, and organizing them. The work flow starts with drafting documents and includes reviewing, revising, approving, and releasing documents.

The following “use case” illustrates work flow in our new software. Use cases like this are provided to testers so that all testers are following a similar path, which makes it easier to evaluate their responses. As the software matures, users will need less instruction and use-cases will be more general.

To log in to the Bizmanualz On-line editing module, click on a link and enter a user name and a password that you received via e-mail. When logged in, users will see the following ‘Home’ Screen (figure 1), which shows announcements posted by the administrator and other users of the system.

Figure 1: Click screen shots for larger images.

To manage a document, click on the document tab (figure 2), which is the second tab from the left. Then click on the production department folder in the left-hand navigation to show production-department documents (Bizmanualz templates that you purchase come pre-loaded and you can upload your own documents).

Figure 2

Expand the folders by clicking on the plus sign in the Department navigation on the left-hand side (figure 2) to show its contents and browse for documents in the list in the main window (figure 3).

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

The document itself may be viewed from this window by clicking on the binoculars icon, or edited by clicking on the document-edit icon. Delete the document by clicking on the delete icon, which will issue a warning before deleting the document.

Managing Document Workflow

Workflow in the Bizmanualz On-line system is essentially a three-stage process of accept/reject review, approve/reject revision, and release/obsolete revision. We will look at the basics of each step here.

This guide assumes that you have created users, and set permissions at a department level. See those use cases for full information.

Set up Document Permissions

Here we will review the optional step of setting permissions at the document level, which override department-level permissions governing access to a group of documents.

System administrators can set all permissions for themselves and all users. They can submit drafts (DRAFT), accept or reject reviews (REVIEW), approve or reject revisions (APPROVE), and release documents (RELEASE).  This cycle—Draft | Review | Approve | Release—is consistent with all document management protocols, industry standards, government regulations and quality standards.

By default, authors cannot review or release their own work. But administrators can change work flow permissions and defaults for single documents in the People tab (figure 6), overriding department or group-level permissions. If you are logged in as an administrator, you will have access to the People tab while you are on the Details view of any document.

Figure 6

In this example, the administrator has granted himself full permissions, and another employee Approver and Reviewer permissions, overriding permission defaults.

Accepting and Rejecting Reviews

Dan has permissions as an author, which means that he can ‘Submit draft’, which causes the ‘Accept Review’ and ‘Reject Review’ buttons to light up (figure 7) per the permissions he set in the previous screen.

Figure 7

E-mail Notification

Reviewers are notified by e-mail when documents are ready for them to review. E-mails are sent when the document has to be submitted for review. All users who have review privileges for the document will receive an email (Figure 8).

The document may be attached to the e-mail so you can read it right away. But documents can only be released through the system. Any revisions you make to the attachment will not be reflected in the controlled draft or released document unless you upload it to the system.  If you do that, it will cause another work flow cycle to occur on the document you have uploaded. To avoid proliferation of documents, we suggest using the attachment for reference only doing all your revisions while logged into the system.

Figure 8

In this example, the revision number is still 0.0.0.0 because the document review has not yet been accepted. Clicking on the ‘Accept Review’ button which is lit up in figure 7, will create a document revision.

If you ‘reject draft’ you get a message that prompts you to enter a reason (figure 9).

Figure 9

Approving and Rejecting Revisions

Ultimately, revisions can be released by clicking the ‘release revision’ button (figure 10). You will only be able to release the document if you have permission to do so, per the settings on the ‘People’ tab. Talk to the document author or system administrator to find out what permissions you have.

Figure 10

When you click ‘release’ you will be asked if you would like to send the document via  FTP to a server other than the Bizmanualz server (figure 11). Select ‘yes’ if you are pushing released documents to SharePoint or another local server other than Bimanualz. If you are not sure, ask your administrator or Bizmanualz.

Figure 11

When you release a document for the first time, the version number changes to 1.0.0.0, indicating that the first release of the document has been achieved (figure 12). Note that many reviews may have occurred before e the first release.

Figure 12

Unreleased documents cannot be seen by the general user population. They will only see what you released to your customized Bizmanualz web site or to your SharePoint or Intranet. Only users of the Bizmanualz On-line editing module can see the drafts.

So, what do you think? Are you ready for Bizmanualz document management software?