Procedure manuals are useful tools for a variety of employment settings. Whether employees need to know how to operate the copy machine or how to complete required health and safety training, a procedure manual can offer an overview of the steps. Want to know how to write a procedures manual? Each procedure manual from Bizmanualz is intended to be a simple, top-to-bottom guide, addressing the minimum set of.

Choose your format. There is no right or wrong way to write an SOP. However, your company probably has a number of SOPs you can refer to for formatting guidelines, outlining how they prefer it done. If that's the case, use the pre-existing SOPs as a template. If not, you have a few options: • A simple steps format. This is for routine procedures that are short, have few possible outcomes, and are fairly to the point.

Apart from the necessary documentation and safety guidelines, it's really just a bullet list of simple sentences telling the reader what to do. • A hierarchical steps format. This is usually for long procedures -- ones with more than ten steps, involving a few decisions to make, clarification and terminology. This is usually a list of main steps all with substeps in a very particular order. • A flowchart format. If the procedure is more like a map with an almost infinite number of possible outcomes, a flowchart may be your best bet.

This is the format you should opt for when results aren't always predictable. Consider your audience. There are three main factors to take into account before writing your SOP: • Your audience's prior knowledge. Are they familiar with your organization and its procedures? Do they know the terminology? Your language needs to match the knowledge and investment of the reader.

• Your audience's language abilities. Is there any chance people who don't speak your language will be 'reading' your SOP? If this is an issue, it's a good idea to include lots of annotated pictures and diagrams. • The size of your audience. If multiple people at once are reading your SOP (those in different roles), you should format the document more like a conversation in a play: user 1 completes an action, followed by user 2, and so on and so forth.

That way, each reader can see how he or she is an integral cog in the well-oiled machine. Consider your knowledge. What it boils down to is this: Are you the best person to be writing this? Do you know what the process entails? How it could go wrong? How to make it safe? If not, you may be better off handing it over to someone else.

A poorly-written -- or, what's more, inaccurate -- SOP will not only reduce productivity and lead to organizational failures, but it can also be unsafe and have adverse impacts on anything from your team to the environment. In short, it's not a risk you should take. Economic History Of Bengal Pdf more. • If this is a project you've been assigned that you feel compelled (or obligated) to complete, don't shy away from asking those who complete the procedure on a daily basis for help.

Conducting interviews is a normal part of any SOP-creating process.

>>“How to Write an Operations Manual” A procedures manual for your company protects you from trusting too much in particular employees to operate your business, serves as a guide for new trainees, and provides an emergency recovery plan. OVERVIEW [] Think of an employee who plays a crucial role in your company. What would happen if that employee quit without providing notice? Key individuals can be found in any company, but it is vital that you not become dependent on a particular person to operate your business.

Not only does an operations manual save you from relying too much on individual employees, it also serves to guide and reinforce the training of new employees and allows for the self-taught, cross training of existing employees. What’s more, if you are considering selling your business, an operations manual can reinforce — or even increase — your asking price, as it will foster a smooth transition to new management. In this Quick-Read you will find: • Tips on a functional layout for your operations manual. • What elements to include. • How to manage the project. SOLUTION [] An operations manual is a comprehensive documentation of how your company functions. If written correctly, it should guide someone unfamiliar with your company through the day-to-day procedures for operating your business.