10   Maintaining Manuals

Role of the Manual

Manuals, particularly policy and procedure manuals, must become an integral part of how an organization is managed. Senior management must use them as the reference source on policy. Staff should be held accountable for complying with the contents of the manual. New content should not be issued by memo, bulletin, letter, or verbally without following up immediately with a revision or addition to the manual. If the manual is not seen as a definitive reference source, and staff are not required to comply with it, it’s unlikely that it will get the time and resources required to keep it up.