Bizmanualz is the Internet’s Premier online source for premium quality policies and procedures manuals of all types such as accounting, human resources, ISO quality, security, disaster recovery, and more. Bizmanualz is your direct connection to a variety of prewritten MS-WORD procedure templates for industries ranging from manufacturing, non-profit, construction, software development, banking, and medical office to employee handbooks, job descriptions, business forms, and other standard operating procedures.

If you’ve been struggling with writing your own procedures or searching the Internet for samples of policies and procedures, you’ll know that procedures can be expensive to produce but even more expensive to ignore. Bizmanualz offers policies, procedures and software at a fraction of the price it would cost you to develop them yourself or hire someone else to write. This we can do because we have developed a wide range of procedures, either for customers like you or for specific consulting engagements.

Bizmanualz’s goal is to best provide you with top quality service and to help you in creating policies and procedures that allow you to take control of your business growth and maintain confidence in your organization.  At Bizmanualz you will receive quality service with a personal touch, feel free to call us Toll Free at 1-800-466-9953 with any questions you might have searching for that perfect set of standard operating procedures. There is a lot of useful information that we provide on our site but we do understand it could be overwhelming at times. Our customer service representatives are here to go over anything you might have a question with, whether it be for selecting internal controls or developing your employee handbook.

At Bizmanualz, we specialize in providing a complete set of policies and procedures covering every department in your organization. We have long established relationships with business process software vendors, policies and procedures writers, and subject matter experts to bring you a whole solution. Because we are constantly developing new procedures, we make a market for products at prices, which are simply unrivaled. Once one understands the variety of policies and procedures solutions available (different software, books, or custom produced) then one can identify or compose the procedures solution that is appropriate. Please check out the Procedure Solutions page for more information. This will present the full range of different types of procedures products you can choose from to complete your project.

What are procedures? Procedures are documents that describe business processes. Procedures are one tool we can use to train new and current employees how our processes work, and sometimes we show them how processes interact. Procedures can also help ensure a high degree of consistency in how processes operate and in the results they yield.

From "We Want Our Mummy", Columbia Pictures (1938)

Procedures are also a pain for many companies to write and maintain. Many organizations write procedures with one goal in mind — compliance. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Either there’s a compelling business reason for you to comply, like a larger organization that says they won’t do business with you unless you comply with a certain standard, such as ISO 9001. Or, there are laws with which you have to comply simply to stay in business (for instance, worker safety and food safety regulations).

Strangely, when compliance is the most important — or the only — goal, companies often forget about their procedures once they’ve implement them. Instead of monitoring and measuring, reviewing, and adjusting their performance — gradually and continually improving the process — they put the Almighty Book of Policies and Procedures in a hallowed place on the shelf and ignore it.

From "vodex.co.uk" site

Why is that? Well, here’s what some companies say about procedures:

• “Writing procedures isn’t our business”
• “It’s a cost center, not a moneymaker”
• “It takes time and money to maintain procedures”

Writing Procedures Isn’t Our Business

It’s true — your customers aren’t buying your internal procedures. What ARE they buying? Yes, they’re purchasing a product…but is it just the product or service they’re buying? Of course not.

Besides paying for goods or services, your customers are paying for the quality of your product, your ability to produce a consistently good product, and/or your ability to act on problems quickly and efficiently. They like the fact that you don’t make excuses — you just fix problems. And how do you do that without implementing effective policies and procedures, like “how to conduct an internal audit” or “how to take corrective action“? You might, if you’re lucky, but luck doesn’t guarantee your customers consistently high-quality results.

Procedure Writing Is a Cost Center

True, it costs you time and money to develop, implement, and maintain procedures. The fact that you have to research, write, review, and approve procedures can appear expensive and time consuming.

But what does it cost you NOT to have procedures? Like we said earlier, effective internal procedures are what help you gain and keep customers. Without the high quality and consistency that procedures help ensure, you risk losing your hard-earned reputation — and your hard-won customers. It’s much easier to keep a satisfied customer than it is to obtain a new one and it’s infinitely easier to keep them than it is to win them back once you’ve disappointed them.

It Takes Time and Money to Maintain Procedures

“Besides”, many companies insist, “our people know what they have to do. They don’t need procedures once they have the proper experience ‘under their belts’.” But how did your employees get that knowledge in the first place? Were they given in-depth training? Was the training consistent? Are they able to build on that knowledge?

Besides, business circumstances change (look at the recession we still seem to be going through). Customers’ needs change over time. Regulations are added all the time — some don’t affect you but others have a great impact on your business. Are you accounting for these types of change in your procedures?

In short, maintaining your procedures will cost you something but not maintaining them will cost your company a great deal more. You run the risk of falling behind your competition, falling to the back end of the technology curve, or falling out of compliance if you’re not looking at your procedures as “living documents”. If you’re not continually looking to improve the way you do things, you run the risk of stunting your company’s growth.

To sum up, you really should develop, implement, and maintain business procedures because it’s just plain good business and not just because somebody’s making you.

What do you think? Can an organization’s growth be held back because of poor or nonexistent procedures?

* * * * * * *

If you find your company is having trouble developing effective, meaningful procedures, check out our full line of business policies and procedures. They’ll make your policies-and-procedures journey easier to start and make it easier for you to stay on the right path.

Why DO we write procedures? Anyone? (“Because we HAVE to!”)

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.”

There are many reasons why procedures become too complex.  Many revolve around “too much”, “too many”, or “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”  Reducing the complexity of your procedure is simple.  Keep it simple.  Less is more.  Don’t go into long explanations, use industry- or profession-specific terminology, or try to dispense too much information. Remember — complexity is one of the enemies of consistency and quality. Keep it simple.

How do you know if your procedures are too complex? Here are the top ten signs:

1. Your procedures are too long.  This is possibly the most common kind of complexity. If your procedures are 30 pages in length, they’re too long.  It is very difficult to follow a 30-page procedure (try it).

The fewer the pages, the better. This forces you to simplify your procedures — to make them more concise. If you have a 30-page procedure, try breaking it into three 10-page procedures.  See if you can simplify each ten-page procedure — maybe eliminate or repurpose the information into work instructions, training material, or pictures.  Pictures are a great substitute for excess verbiage and should reduce your document size.

2. Your procedures have too many steps. If your procedure contains — let’s say, 27 — steps, it has too many. Follow the “rule of seven” — use no more than seven steps to describe a process.  No more than seven activities to describe a procedure.  Use no more than seven tasks to describe an activity, and no more than seven lines to a paragraph.  Break information into chunks that can be easily understood and followed.

3. Your procedures reference too many other documents. If you have to keep flipping between documents, it’s difficult to follow the main procedure (and easy to derail your train of thought). If your procedures reference multiple documents, this leads to straying from the main path.

4. Your procedures contain too much terminology. Industry jargon needs to be defined in the procedure.  Does everyone really know how the “takt time” on your value stream map is used to improve your OEE? Instead of assuming they know, define your terms or use them in such a context that your readers can infer what you mean.

5. Your procedures involve too many people. If your procedure requires a lot of different individuals, you probably have too many handoffs. The more information and materials are handled, the greater the likelihood of a breakdown in the process. Therefore, you have an opportunity to simplify the process.  Break your procedure into several discrete procedures and focus the responsibility on fewer people in each procedure.

6. Your procedures involve too many reviews. Do you really need as many reviews, meetings, or inspections as your procedure calls for?  Can you combine, eliminate, or substitute a review with another element? Individuals can do self-inspections with checklists.  A lot of reviews make for a complex process.  Simplify.

7. Your procedures cover a long period of time. Delays allow for interruptions.  Eliminate them.  Reorganize the procedure into time-based elements that can be easily followed.

8. Your procedures encompass asynchronous activities. Loosely related activities that occur in their own time frame are hard to coordinate. Tie the activities together with milestones — have them share start times or end times. Synchronize them.

9. Your procedures leave out important information. This is the opposite of using jargon, or giving too much information. By leaving out bits of necessary information for the sake of saving time or space, you increase the risk of process failure. The reader does not know what they do not know. Economize and keep it simple, but don’t omit important information.

10. Your procedures use too many big words and long sentences. The average person reads at a ninth-grade level.  Using too many “big college words” and stuffing a lot of information into long sentences or paragraphs introduces unnecessary complexity. Use smaller words, shorter sentences, and shorter paragraphs. Remember the Rule of Seven (above).

Your Procedures Are Too Complex If They:

1. Are too long with too many pages;
2. Have too many steps, activities, or tasks;
3. Reference too many documents, work instructions, or forms;
4. Contain too much jargon, industry terminology, or slang;
5. Involve too many people, jobs descriptions, or managers;
6. Involve too many review steps, meetings, or inspections;
7. Cover a long period of time;
8. Discuss a series of asynchronous activities;
9. Leave out important information, pictures, or explanations; or
10. Use too many big words, long sentences, and long paragraphs.

So, are some of your procedures too complex? What is the most complicated procedure you have ever had to work with?

It’s at times like these — when the business world is still unsettled after several years of turmoil and prevailing wisdom doesn’t see a quick end to the situation for any of us — that we tend to forget about the far horizon and concentrate on what’s directly in front of us. It’s only natural. Who can think about next year when you’re worried about next month?

This isn’t the time to be taking shortcuts, though. Take them and they will catch up with you. For instance, you have to train or retrain employees as the business contracts. You absolutely need well-developed, accurate, and up-to-the-minute policies and procedures.

If your policies and procedures are incomplete, inconsistent, or outdated, your people don’t get adequate training, steps are missed, and customer dissatisfaction grows. You fall further behind your competition, and even drop out of the race.

To be effective, your business procedures have to be easy to understand, easy to follow, and easy to update. To ensure that your procedures are effective and error-free, keep the following points in mind:

CLARITY – Write your procedures so they’re easy to read (or view) and easy to follow.

CORRECTNESS – Your procedures must be grammatically and syntactically correct. If they’re written procedures, there should be no spelling errors. If you plan on audio or video procedures, be sure the speaker pronounces words correctly, speaks clearly, and uses a style acceptable to the intended audience.

CONSISTENCY – This is not simply a matter of “look and feel”, or of references, terms, and resources. Those are all important, but what we’re really talking about is consistent actions and consistent results. This is especially true when training personnel on procedures that are new to them. If you assign the procedure to two people who’ve just been trained and you get two different results, it may be your procedure’s at fault.

COMPLETENESS – For obvious reasons, your procedures cannot have any gaps in information, logic, or design. Incomplete information and instructions mean you won’t get the results you’re looking for.

CONTEXT – Procedures must accurately and appropriately describe the activity to be performed and they must not exist in a vacuum. There is no such thing as a stand-alone procedure — all procedures affect, and are affected by, other procedures so it’s best if you put a procedure in context. From where do its inputs come and where do its outputs go?

CONTROL – Your procedures have to incorporate feedback loops and process controls to be effective. Get familiar with the Plan-Do-Check-Act Cycle if you’re not already. (Think you are? Maybe, but a refresher certainly won’t do you any harm. Complacency is the enemy.)

COMPLIANCE – Every procedure is written to ensure compliance with something — user needs (stated and implied), regulations, company requirements, and other. Address all requirements, not just some, in your procedures.

Pay careful attention to these seven keys when writing your policies and procedures and get the results you want!

We’ve already discussed writing policies and procedures and reviewing them. Now let’s talk about doing something with them.

Too many companies look at procedure documentation as a necessary evil. They look at business as a number of tasks and events; sometimes those events and tasks are connected, but many times they’re not. In these cases, the process – and the procedure that’s supposed to describe it – are two different things. In other words, there’s “what we say” and there’s “what we do”.

You’ll enjoy greater success if you look at your business procedures like you look at everything else you do — as an opportunity for improvement. To make sure you do, always keep the following concepts in mind:

1. Be sure your process objectives are reasonable. As I’ve often said and will continue to say because it bears repeating — nothing does more harm than having unreasonable expectations.

2. Be sure that as you’re developing your procedures, you have all stakeholders involved from start to finish. Do you know who the stakeholders are? Yes, the customers are, ultimately, but there are others.

3. Be sure that everyone — not just the people who are responsible for executing your policies and procedure, but those at both ends of the process, too — understands the importance of the procedure to the success of the company and have bought into that.

4. Train people on the procedure before you officially implement it. Do as many “dry runs” as are necessary; once is never enough.

5. Execute the procedure faithfully. Don’t do only those parts of the procedure that make sense to you. Don’t take shortcuts.

6. As you’re executing, be sure to monitor & measure the process. You can’t improve a procedure if you don’t have data.

7. Do something with your data — don’t just look at them and say, “Oh, that’s interesting.” What is so interesting about the data? Do you see outliers and trends in the data? Do they make you want to take action? Do you know what’s normal and what isn’t? Continually reevaluate your objectives.

8. Review your procedures periodically. Things are not always what they seem. Different people see things differently. Don’t wait for problems to occur — assume they will and head them off.

9. Revise and retrain. No procedure should be considered “set in stone”. Internal and external forces are continually changing. Either you see change as a normal part of doing business or you don’t see it until it’s too late. If you’re ready for change, it’s much easier to deal with. Revise procedures and retrain continually, in small increments.

10. Always think proactively. What’s better, to be active or passive in the business world? (It’s a rhetorical question — we all know active is better, right?)

Don’t sit on your laurels. Just because you’ve implemented your procedures doesn’t mean it’s time to sit back and take it easy. (Well, maybe you can for a moment, but don’t get too comfortable.) The business world, like time, waits for no one.

Much has been made of procedure writing, both here at Bizmanualz and around the Internet, but very little is said about an equally important part of the design and development process — procedure review.

Many problems with procedures that crop up after they’ve been implemented are traceable to inadequate or no review. Let’s say a procedure as written describes an ideal process, performed under ideal conditions (i.e., real-world conditions aren’t taken into account). If this isn’t caught in a procedure review, the end product will meet requirements only through luck. Luck being notoriously unreliable, inconsistent, and uncontrollable, you’re clearly better off with a review.

Why do you review anything? To ensure the accuracy and completeness of whatever it is you’re reviewing and to make sure everyone has the same understanding of the policy, process, or situation. In short, to ensure effective communication, which will lead you to the desired outcome.

Effective communication is a big reason why the international quality standard, ISO 9001, mandates design and development reviews (clause 7.3.4).  If you don’t review, you risk missing any number of product requirements, both stated and unstated, and you risk losing customers.

Need another reason to review policies and procedures? No one is perfect and no process is perfect. No one will write the perfect procedure the first time, every time.

Furthermore, no one — NO ONE! — can multitask. Your technical writer wears several other hats, right? That person is bound to temporarily lose focus on the policy or procedure they’re writing when other projects and other managers are continually demanding that their stuff is mission critical, “…so drop everything and work on this.” (Now, where was I?)

We all agree, then, that policies and procedures have to be reviewed, right? So, how’s it done? Well, one method that works is based on speech evaluations as done by Toastmasters. For a Toastmaster, learning how to evaluate a speech – or a written document – is as critical as learning how to give a speech or write one.

Objectives

Always start with the objectives or requirements. Were they clearly communicated to the technical writer? Did he/she understand them? Do you? Were the objectives prioritized and categorized? Were they SMART objectives?

Review

Did the technical writer achieve the stated objectives/requirements? (Have a list of the objectives in front of you as you review the document.)

Also, list some important, yet unstated, objectives. For example, correct spelling and good grammar are often taken for granted. Don’t make that mistake. Make up a checklist for often overlooked items, like “Are important terms defined?” and “Is ‘active voice’ used?”

Did the tech writer go beyond the stated objectives? For example:

The procedure mentions a packaging machine that a first-time reader may not be familiar with. The tech writer includes a long shot (photo) of the machine and a closeup of the control panel. The pictures aren’t a requirement; furthermore, they (and additional photos) push the document beyond the stated requirement of “six pages, maximum”.

Which is the SMARTer objective, user understanding or document length?

Reward

In your review, whether its written or oral, be sure to lead with those aspects of the procedure where objectives were met or exceeded. If critical objectives were not, consider possible explanations for that (the writer’s level of experience, competing projects, the amount of information provided them, clarity of the objectives, etc.).

The point is not to let the writer “off the hook” (or to find a hook to hang them on). It’s about encouraging the writer – praising what they did well and asking them to do better. Tell them, “Here’s what you did well.”

Don’t be vague or insincere, either. Don’t fish for compliments — you’re not helping them by telling them that their capitalization was great, or they had all the commas in the right places.

Be truthful, be specific, and give them something to build on.

Respond

Tell the writer exactly what you see in the procedure (ex., will the reader know who’s supposed to do what, when, and why?) Restate the objectives and indicate which were met, which were exceeded, and which weren’t met. Use a numeric scale in your review (rarely is anything “black or white”).

Beyond that, does the procedure “flow”? Did they use the PDCA model correctly? Did she or he use words, voice, style, grammar, etc., effectively? Does the story – and the message – come across clearly?

Tell them what they did well and point out specific opportunities for improvement. Hand the document back to them with another objective: you need the revision back for a “final” review by a specific date.

Remember that policy and procedure review is an integral part of a design and development process. After you’ve reviewed the document, the writer will probably have to make some changes. After the writer has revised the document, review it again.

Don’t review it to death, however. Four or more reviews of the same document should tell you that the review process has broken down…somewhere. It might be time – at least temporarily – to bring in another pair of eyes.

As a reviewer, you’re obliged to:

• Be sure that stated and unstated objectives were met;
• Be fair;
• Be consistent;
• Be thorough; and
• Point out strengths and opportunities for improvement in the document and in the process.

And as one of my favorite sports announcers (Jack Buck) used to say after every broadcast, “Thanks for your time this time. ‘Til next time — so long.”

* * * * *

For more on evaluation, see “The Three R’s of Evaluating“, by David Hobson, DTM (“Toastmasters” magazine, Nov., 2007).

You have decided you need policies and procedures, but which business policies and procedures do you need?  Assess the business impact of each of your core business processes to generating revenue or introducing risk and then rank the results.  Core business processes that greatly impact your revenue or risk are where you want to start.

The Bizmanualz CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals are designed with your core business processes in mind.  The nine business procedures manuals in the series provide your entire company with examples of the primary procedures used in writing your company procedure manuals.  How do the nine procedure manuals address the core business processes?

1. Customer Strategy & Relationships (Marketing) is a good place to start.  Most businesses talk about the customer being the most important part of any business.  Well, if your customer is so critical, have you mapped out a clear customer strategy and customer relationship process?  Do you have customer strategy procedures for developing awareness and education of your business in the marketplace?  The Bizmanualz Sales and Marketing Policies and Procedures Manual provides sample policies and procedures to help you set marketing strategy, marketing tactics, and marketing planning to cover the first part of your marketing sales funnel — awareness and education.

2. Employee Development & Satisfaction is essential to your business because your employees are the ones that talk to and develop your customers.  The Bizmanualz Human Resources Procedures Manual provides example procedures for hiring, administration (e.g., personnel records, compliance), compensation, and — the most important part – developing your employees.

The HR manual also includes a sample Employee Handbook and an HR Manager’s manual to provide a complete discussion of human resources.  Keeping employees and facilities safe is the focus of the Bizmanualz Security Procedures Manual, which includes coverage of guard force management, employee conduct, emergency operations, protection, and safety.

3. Quality, Process Improvement & Change Management is driven by competition, your desire to excel at what you do and make your customers happy.  The Bizmanualz ISO 9001 QMS Procedures Manual provides a sample quality manual, the six quality procedures required by ISO 9001, and additional supporting procedures to provide a foundation for your process improvement and change management initiatives.

4. Financial Analysis, Reporting, & Capital Management is critical to fast growth companies.  Cash is the lifeblood of your company and a fast growth company consumes cash quickly.  The Bizmanualz Financial Procedures Manual has example procedures for financial administration, raising capital, managing capital, financial statement reporting, and the internal controls necessary in a fast growth company.  A controllers manual is included to provide the direction and organization for controlling your company cash.

5. Management Responsibility addresses all of your core business processes and is integral to every area of your company.  Every manual in the “CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals” covers the management of that departmental area.  Each manual provides a departmental (functional) manager’s manual that describes the departmental organization structure, major responsibilities, departmental guidelines, ethics, policies, and – of course – the primary business processes for that department.  The Bizmanualz Business Procedures Manual provides a simple, fast, and easy way to provide immediate oversight for all of your operations.

6. Customer Acquisition (Sales) is about engaging the customer and closing the sale.  The Bizmanualz Sales and Marketing Procedure Manual contains procedures for the entire sales funnel, sales process, sales administration and sales management common to organizations that have to oversee a sales force.  The Bizmanualz Accounting Procedures Manual contains procedures for controlling cash and the revenue cycle, which is a parallel and supporting activity to the sales process.

7. Product Development must obtain requirements from sales and develop products that satisfy the customer.  Therefore, product development procedures are found in both the Bizmanualz Sales and Marketing Procedure Manual and the Bizmanualz ISO 9001 QMS Procedures Manual, which contains procedures for customer requirements, as well as the design and development of new products.

8. Product/Service Delivery The Bizmanualz Accounting Procedures Manual contains procedures for shipping, receiving, and inventory control.  But since delivery is part of ISO and quality, the Bizmanualz ISO 9001 QMS Procedures Manual also provides coverage of this critical customer facing area.

9. Accounting Management is about accounting transaction management, as opposed to finance which is focused more on raising, managing, and using cash effectively.  The Bizmanualz Accounting Procedures Manual focus is on controlling operating cash receipts, cash disbursements, inventory and assets, the revenue cycle, and general accounting administration.

10. Technology Management is about all of the technology in your company.  The Bizmanualz Computer, Network and IT Procedures Manual contains procedures for IT administration, IT asset management, IT training, technical support, IT security, IT disaster recovery, and software development.  More in-depth continuity planning coverage is provided with the Bizmanualz Disaster Recovery Procedures Manual.

Business Process Policies Procedures

The Bizmanualz CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals collection is the best overall deal — you save 45% when you buy the set, compared with purchasing all nine manuals individually.  The series covers all of the core business processes in one simple bundle.  It includes manuals for:

• Financial Policies and Procedures
• Accounting Policies and Procedures
• Computer & IT Policies and Procedures
• Human Resources Policies and Procedures
• Sales & Marketing Policies and Procedures
• ISO 9001 Quality Policies and Procedures
• Security & Disaster Policies and Procedures
• Business Policies and Procedures Sampler

Every critical area of your company is now covered with the Bizmanualz CEO Company Policies Procedures Manuals set.  Coverage is now easily at hand for Accounting, Administration, Customer Service, Disaster Management, Engineering, Environmental Management, Finance & Credit, Information Technology, Manufacturing, Personnel, Sales & Marketing, Security Operations, Shipping, Purchasing, Inventory, and ISO 9001 conformance.

What would you do if you were set in the middle of the Pacific, on a raft, with no provisions, no motor or oars, no navigational aids, and no way to contact the rest of the world?  It’s just you, the boat, and the unending blue above and below.

If you’ve ever been assigned the unenviable task of writing policies and procedures, maybe you can imagine better than your fellow workers what being cast adrift is like.  How many of you were given an office in a remote part of the building (think Milton in “Office Space”), ostensibly to keep the disruption to a minimum, and instructed to develop a set of policies and procedures for accounting, or IT, or (gasp!) the entire company?

And when they eventually pulled the plug on the project, did you feel relief that the misadventure was finally over?  That is, were you rescued, or were you left adrift, watching the circle of sharks — blame, recrimination, etc. — tighten around your little blow-up craft?

Did you feel this harrowing experience could have been avoided, or perhaps produced the desired results, if only someone had given you the tools, resources, direction, and – most of all – the guidance and support of top management before you spent the last six months marooned with Gilligan and the Skipper?

That’s exactly where our Chris Anderson is going with this month’s series of articles on the Process-Procedure Journey.  If you’ve already been to the first article, you’ll remember Chris’s description and map of the Process-Procedures Journey. I’ve reproduced the process map with one minor alteration.

Even a simple map like this might be a huge improvement over your current procedure development process.  Well, guess what?  We don’t even get this much in all but a few isolated circumstances.  (And to the lucky few who’ve gotten what they needed, please tell us what was it like.)

Like a castaway on the raft, it often seems as though we’ve been dropped into the middle of the sea without a sense of where we came from, where we’re going, or how we’re going to survive the journey, let alone get to our destination, wherever that might be.  Too often, we start our journey somewhere in the middle (Template Design or Procedure Writing) instead of at the appropriate starting point (Project Management).

For direction, advice, and tips on how to make your journey a successful one, keep on reading (or start reading) this month’s articles.  If you’d like more in-depth assistance – something tailored to your unique circumstances – please contact us or visit our web site.

Best of luck to all of you.  Smooth sailing!