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In his new book Secrets of Success With Procedures , Jack Nicholas, Jr., BS, MBA, P.E., CMRP, CRL, internationally recognized expert in business operations and maintenance reliability and a decorated US Navy veteran and naval engineer, shares his experiences on the importance of written procedures to operations success. read more... about Zavanta Software Principles Highlighted in New Book "Secrets of Success with Procedures"
Thursday, February 3, 2022One of the key elements to making policies and standard operating procedures actually useful is to share your SOPs with your employees. While this sounds obvious, a lot of organizations create old-fashioned SOP documents and employee handbooks only to store them in a binder somewhere that lives in a file drawer with the extra pens and post-its and only gets dusted off for the odd training or to add an update no one reads. read more... about Share Your SOPS How You Need To, When You Need To
Wednesday, March 3, 2021Two common mistakes people make when writing policies and procedures involve opposite sides of the same coin—Not enough detail or Too much detail. Some policies and procedures fail because they are so vague and generic that people can’t use them. Other policies and procedures are so long-winded and complex that people can’t follow or understand them. read more... about What’s the Right Level of Detail for Procedures and Work Instructions?
Wednesday, March 3, 2021Organizations that integrate clear P&Ps into everyday life realize improved quality, reduced training / turnover costs, and a more empowered workforce. (Results like: 75% error reduction, 50% reduction in employee onboarding time are NOT uncommon) So, the potential value is there, but there’s strong evidence that most organizations never achieve it, especially when many employees readily admit that they don’t trust or read “the official P&P manual”. read more... about 7 Proven Tips For Bringing Your Policy and Procedure Communication Into The 21st Century
Wednesday, March 3, 2021This question comes up a lot in our Zavanta implementation sessions: Why not just list the steps for how to do a task? Clearly, the actions (steps) are the major part of any SOP, but not the only information that makes a good SOP. If you adopt a “just the steps” approach you are missing a lot of important information. read more... about SOPs -- Why Not Just the Steps?
Monday, August 8, 2022If, your answer be “Yes” then goeth to step 17a, but if no goeth to the next step wherefore you can prepare to move to step 17b. If “maybe” then henceforth see HR Procedure 127.5 line 7 …. While this might be slightly exaggerated, it is not all that far off from the kind of content I see on a regular basis: Documents that are hard to follow, hard to read, and pages and pages long. read more... about If Your Procedures Sound Like Shakespeare, You Might Want to Reconsider
Wednesday, March 3, 2021When you are writing policies and procedures, job aids, and work instructions, clarity should always be your first consideration. Remember that people in your organization turn to the company procedures manuals and new employee orientation training guides for two main reasons: 1) they have no idea how to perform a task or 2) they are having difficulty with a tricky task and need to confirm the exact steps. read more... about Tip – Every Word Counts. Even the Little Ones
Wednesday, March 3, 2021In an earlier post, we recommended that you keep this mantra in mind when writing policies and procedures for your organization: Time is money and people are busy! Your colleagues don’t get paid for plowing through long-winded prose in your company procedures manual. Cut to the chase and keep sentences short. read more... about Tip -- Keep Sentences Short
Wednesday, March 3, 2021Nothing happens on a Hollywood movie set until the Director hollers Action! The same is true when it comes to procedures. Have you ever tried to follow a written procedure and work instruction and not been able to figure out what you are supposed to DO? It’s the actions that you want people to perform that make everything happen. read more... about Tip: In Steps Use Powerful Verbs that Show Action
Wednesday, March 3, 2021Complexity and heavy regulatory oversight make developing effective policies and procedures in banking a special challenge. Here are 5 tips for making sure your bank’s Policies and Procedure system delivers value and will get used. 1. Avoid the temptation to buy pre-written boilerplate material without making it your own. read more... about 5 Tips for Ensuring Effective Policies and Procedures in Banking
Wednesday, March 3, 2021Many companies have heated internal debates on this question: “Are our written policies and procedures (P&Ps) good or bad? “ How do you know? Some people measure quality based on whether P&Ps exist and are physically accessible to staff, whether they are grammatically correct, or how they look. read more... about Are Your P&Ps GOOD or Bad? Here’s the Definitive Test
Wednesday, March 3, 2021We frequently see the same common errors companies make when writing policies and procedures. Mixing up policies and procedures information all in the same document is one of the biggest mistakes that can really keep your policies and procedures from getting read and used. TIP: For best results, keep policy information separate from the how tos so you focus on the specific information employees are looking for. read more... about Avoiding Common Pitfalls: Don’t mix up Policies and Procedures (How tos)
Monday, August 1, 2022As we mentioned in an earlier post 4 Key Elements To Good Procedures , the audience is first element you should keep in mind for writing policies and procedures that your colleagues and employees WANT to read. As you draft the text, continually ask what your employee readers need to know and how they want to see information presented. read more... about For Better Procedures Choose the Right Words
Wednesday, March 3, 2021Procedures exist to be read and used. The first step in writing a good procedure is to know whom it is you are writing for. As we mentioned in an earlier post 4 Key Elements To Good Procedures , the first element you should keep in mind for writing policies and procedures that your colleagues and employees WANT to read and is the audience. read more... about Key Elements To Good Procedures -- Understand Your Audience
Wednesday, March 3, 2021As we mentioned in an earlier post 4 Key Elements To Good Procedures , the second key element you should keep in mind for writing good procedures is pay attention to the order you present information in your document. If you understand the typical way readers interact with procedure documents you can arrange information more effectively and write a better procedure. read more... about Organize Procedures Around the Reader's Needs
Wednesday, March 3, 2021The answer depends on your situation and business need. There are tons of corporate policy and procedure examples on the web as well as many companies that sell pre-written company procedure manuals. However, most are Employee Manuals, not Operations Manuals and there is a difference. (See Previous Post: How are Employee Manuals and Operations Manuals Different ) Most pre-written content is focused on policy, not procedure. read more... about Should I Buy Boilerplate Policy and Procedure Manuals?
Wednesday, March 3, 2021