1   About Readers and Manuals

Benefits of Good Manuals

Here are some general benefits of having current and usable internal manuals. Other benefits are described in the section on purpose and objectives:

Communicate the corporate philosophy – Manuals are one of the key ways management can implement its mission and vision statements. For example, if your organization wants to become more service-driven and empower employees at every level, how will it accomplish this?

Establish the roles and responsibilities of different departments and groups – Without clear delegation, departments may duplicate functions, leave important functions undone, or get into turf wars.

Reduce procedural mistakes and costly errors – Mistakes can cost a lot of money to fix and leave your organization open to legal challenges. Clear step-by-step procedures will help ensure that staff members are performing their duties with consistent accuracy.

Ensure consistency in operations – Clients like to be treated the same way each time they come to you, regardless of which office they visit. Manuals help ensure that important functions are performed the same way by all staff in all offices.

Improve efficiency and productivity – By themselves manuals won’t make operations more efficient, but the careful review of your procedures that’s required to develop a manual often uncovers hidden inefficiencies, such as unnecessary actions or out-of-date forms.

Train employees on their job functions – Your staff may not have the time to train new employees or cross-train existing employees. Well-documented procedures can improve the ease and efficiency of training.

Serve as an orientation tool – New employees need a lot of information about your organization to get them started. Without a manual, they will have to rely more heavily on staff who may be busy doing other things.

Meet legal or regulatory requirements – If your operations are closely governed by legislation, how can you ensure that you are complying with all aspects of the applicable laws? Well-documented and carefully reviewed procedures can keep you out of trouble.

Meet ISO 9000 or other industry standards – Quality standards such as ISO 9000, developed by the International Standards Organization, require that all aspects of your operations that influence the quality of your products or services be clearly documented and available to employees.