Seven Cs to Avoid Procedure Writing Errors

You do your best to make sure your organization is operating as effectively as possible. But if your policies and procedures are incomplete, outdated, or inconsistent, then they are not driving the performance improvement they should. When employees try to use incomplete or undefined procedures, waste and costly errors soon follow.

Case Study: Little Mistakes Add Up Quickly

Without knowing it, employees at a local auto parts company were having a costly problem determining when to accept customer credit. The company actually had a detailed credit application procedure, including an exhaustive error correction routine, but the procedure had one fatal flaw: it was not properly indexed.

Indexing Improves Usability

Without a way to readily locate and reference the applicable procedure in the operations manual, employees could not find it and were simply not using it at all, leading to an inconsistent process and wildly varying output. Potentially valuable customers were regularly turned away by some staff members, while others accepted bad credit risks because they were unsure of which ones to reject.

A small omission like this can add up to thousands of dollars in lost sales and good will. Even the most thorough procedures inevitably have gaps that come from being "too close" to the process or not following the basic rules of effective procedure writing.

Profit from Experience

To be effective, procedures must be action oriented, grammatically correct, and written in a consistent style and format to ensure usability. These guidelines, along with industry "best practices" that are documented in auditable criteria, can be used to improve your procedures:

  • Context. Actions must properly describe the activity to be performed.

  • Consistency. All references and terms are used the same way every time, and the procedure must ensure consistent results.

  • Completeness. There must be no information, logic, or design gaps.

  • Control. The document and its described actions demonstrate feedback and control.

  • Compliance. All actions are sufficient for their intended compliance.

  • Correctness. The document must be grammatically correct without spelling errors.

  • Clarity. Documents must be easy to read and understandable.

    Quickly Improve Your Policies and Procedures without the Hassle

    You can quickly resolve these usability problems and improve performance, and also upgrade your documentation to "best practice" standards without hassles or commitments. By beginning to improve your documents, you will be able to identify areas for improvement. And you can start today with the 7 Cs of "best practices".

    --

    You have permission to publish this article free of charge, as long as the resource box is included with the article. If you do run my article, a courtesy reply to chris@bizmanualz.com would be greatly appreciated. This article is 472 words long including box and word wrapped at 65 characters per line. Thanks for your interest.

    About The Author

    Chris Anderson has over 18 years of sales, marketing and business management experience working with business process design, software and systems engineering for over ten years - consulting with companies large and small. He is also co-author of policies and procedures manual products, assisting in the layout, process design and implementation of the information. He is currently the Managing Director of Bizmanualz, Inc. He holds a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University.

    Mail to: chris@bizmanualz.com

    Visit: http://www.bizmanualz.com

    In The News:

    • pen paper and inkwell


    cat break through


    Take The Guesswork Out Of Problem Solving

    In today's chaotic world and uncertain economic times too many... Read More

    Making Meetings Work

    We have all attended meetings that were boring, mindless and... Read More

    Project Management - Are You Done Yet

    What happens when a Project Manager asks one of his... Read More

    Which ITIL Process Should We Implement First?

    The following question is usually debated a lot amongst IT... Read More

    Get Out Of The Stone Age: Give Leadership Talks

    160 years ago, the newly invented electric telegraph carried the... Read More

    The Seven Cs: Partnership Danger Signs - Competitive, Not Complementary Action

    A series of articles exploring the seven critical areas that... Read More

    How To Use W Edwards Deming

    Human beings and the way they interact are extraordinarily Complex.... Read More

    Organisation Tips For The Mobile Executive

    Despite the fact that everyone sighs "How glamorous!", the life... Read More

    What Makes a Good Appraisal Interview?

    WHAT MAKES A GOOD APPRAISAL INTERVIEW?Here is a tip for... Read More

    Sexual Harassment Policy Guidelines Part II

    SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMPLAINT INVESTIGATION PROCEDUREEvery complaint will be thoroughly investigated.... Read More

    Overcoming the Document Tracking Challenge

    "Where did it go? It was here yesterday. Wait. Here... Read More

    Recruitment - Do You Know What Youre Looking For?

    The time will come when you'll need to interview someone... Read More

    Turnover is Not a Problem

    "Ha!" you say. "For someone to make a statement like... Read More

    Vampire Meetings and How To Slay Them

    Meetings can be like mythical vampires ? sucking the life... Read More

    Dont Let Your Measurements Mislead You

    Don't Let Your Measurements Mislead You ... Read More

    ISO 9001 2000, Getting Started on The Route To Registration

    ISO 9001 2000, Getting startedBefore starting the ISO 9001 2000... Read More

    Managers? Biggest Blunders

    Nobody's perfect, including the boss. Managers, we polled recently, acknowledged... Read More

    Knowledge Management - Leadership Behaviours Which Encourage Knowledge-Sharing

    The concept of knowledge management or knowledge sharing makes intellectual... Read More

    Performance Appraisals: Nightmares or Sweet Dreams

    Some managers think of performance appraisal meetings and recollections of... Read More

    Problem-Solving Success Tip: Measure the Right Things.

    Measure the right things. It's not enough just to measure-you... Read More

    Leadership Style: What Makes A Good Boss?

    In today's competitive environment, companies realize that a good boss... Read More

    Temporary Employees and Operational Problems; Your Use of Temps Might Reveal Warning Signs

    A recent Washington Post article, described the life of temporary... Read More

    Creativity and Innovation Management ? Hierarchies

    Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

    OJT - On The Job Training

    IntroductionManagers have two powerful ways of improving the performance and... Read More

    Dont Get Side-Tracked By The Nay-Sayers

    You, the Entrepreneur, are 'normally' a type-A individual. One who... Read More

    3 Ingredients of Highly Profitable Organizational Change

    As waves of organizational change sweep across the business landscape,... Read More

    Smart Staffing Practices: Don?t Confuse Activity with Results

    Does your hiring process consist of proven practices or just... Read More

    Getting to Consensus

    The need to get people in an organization to pull... Read More

    Turbo Charge Your Career With The Most Powerful Leadership Tool Of All: The Leadership Talk Part 3

    To develop and deliver a great Leadership Talk, you must... Read More

    Never Hire Anyone Dumber Than You Are!

    In a previous life I was a Navy Pilot. Great... Read More

    Computer Consulting 101 Hiring Tips (Part 1 of 2)

    Does your business need the services of a computer consulting... Read More

    Managing Client Relationships

    Managing Client Relationships: Even the best run organizations occasionally run... Read More

    Cheat Sheet; Understanding The MSDS and Your Obligations In The Workplace To Employees

    MSDS SHEETSMSDS stands for Material Safety Data Sheets. MSDS sheets... Read More