Customers and readers alike tell us how difficult it can be to keep their policies and procedures up to date. Due to the ever-increasing rate of change, your policies and procedures can get “stale” (ineffective) very fast.

One reason for this might be that your procedures are too long. If you have 35-page-long procedures — especially if that’s all text — it’s probably not fair to expect your employees to understand, let alone use, them. At that length, there’s the very real risk that your procedures are unclear, overly complicated, and just plain boring.

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It probably seems to you like every time you want to talk about compliance, everyone runs away and hides, they ignore you and hope you go away, or they fuss and moan. Compliance is a fact of business life, however. Your company must comply with:

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Officially, the worst global economic recession in several generations ended over a year ago and we are on the way back, according to the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research. Unofficially, they need to revisit their definition of “recession”, as most of us are still plagued by a tight money supply, a lethargic job market, stagnating production and a general crisis of confidence.

Some of you aren’t buying the “fear, uncertainty, and doubt“ story, though. You’re going about your business logically, methodically, and with a clear sense of direction and purpose. You’re making things happen now and you’ll be in the lead when 2011 rolls around.

For the rest of us, there are many things we could be doing to make great strides forward in the coming year. Among them are implementing or refining the following key procedures:

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Not all processes require procedure writing.  There’s a lot of overhead associated with every business procedure you write.  Therefore, the more business procedures you write, the more procedures you have to edit, implement, train, audit, and

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Over the last four weeks, we have focused our discussion on process maps. We’ve tried to answer some of the most common questions about process maps by taking a look at seven different types of process maps and how they’re used to describe processes.  A process is a structured set of activities that transforms inputs into outputs, but the way we describe a process may vary dramatically, from a text-based procedure to different forms of process maps.

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Last week, we discussed three types of Process Maps: High-Level, Low-Level and Cross Functional or “Swim Lanes” Maps.  This week we will take a closer look at Document Maps, and Activity or Value Stream Maps.

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Last week, we established how important process maps are in developing policies and procedures.  In the course of this series, we will present seven types of process maps. This week we will discuss three types: High-Level, Low-Level, and Cross Functional or “Swim Lanes” Maps.

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Start by considering what the product is that you produce as an organization and what core processes are needed to produce that product.  In the case of education, the product is learning or a change in behavior as a result of learning something.

Now look at quality in light of behavior change.  What do you design and develop that causes behavior changes.  Certainly that would include teaching methods, but also the curriculum, course length, how the day is structured, homework, grading, extracurricular activities, grade levels, meals served, etc.

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Lean approach simplifies the ISO 9001:2008 quality procedures manual and clearly points out the required QMS procedures and records.

St. Louis, MO – June 18, 2009 – Bizmanualz, Inc., a business publications, training, and consulting company based in St. Louis, MO, today announced the release of the updated ISO 9001 Policies and Procedures Manual. The company has greatly improved its product by modeling its policies and procedures on the Deming (“Plan-Do-Check-Act”) Cycle.

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Lean Visual Management System cuts through the paperwork typical of ISO 9001:2008 quality certifications.

St. Louis, MO (April 24, 2009) - Bizmanualz, Inc., a business strategy consulting and quality publishing company based in Clayton, Missouri, today announced the successful certification to ISO 9001:2008 for the design, development, realization, and delivery of its policy and procedure publications, training courses, and consulting services.  The certification demonstrates the Bizmanualz commitment to continually improve its ability to assist business owners achieve the growth they envision. 

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