Documenting Work Processes

This workshop is for you if you need to write an effective procedures manual for your work group, department, or organization, and want a simple, step-by-step approach that you can use to get going right now.

You’ll learn the process that we’ve developed over the past 20 years writing more than 200 procedures manuals for all kinds of organizations (see Clients). It’s a practical, let’s-get-on-with-it workshop for people who need to start producing now and don’t want a lot of theory.

Why do I need a manual?

You probably already know why you need a manual, but here are 5 good reasons if you need to convince others:

• Establish a standard step-by-step process for key work tasks so that everyone does it the same way
• Help eliminate procedural mistakes and omissions that are costing your organization time and money
• Provide a detailed reference document that others can use when someone leaves (wins the lottery or gets hit by a bus)
• Make your operations transparent so that others can see and understand what you’re doing
• Provide a document that managers and auditors can use to verify that you’re doing things appropriately and are complying with applicable laws and regulations

What will I learn?

This workshop will teach you everything you need to know to create an effective task-based procedures manual, including:

Planning

• Planning your manual and figuring out what it should cover
• Outlining and prototyping so others can see what you’re planning
• Using the specially designed outline / progress report template
• Organizing information into a consistent hierarchy of procedures and tasks
• Establishing an organization-specific style sheet of writing conventions
• Estimating how much time it’s going to take
• Scheduling the project
• Getting sign-off on your plan

Drafting

• Interviewing subject matter experts
• Drafting procedures using the specially designed procedures template
• Capturing screen shots and using photographs
• Using Word styles to format your procedures
• Writing in plain English that everyone can understand
• Deciding what to include and what not to include
• Using bolding, italicizing, and underlining for emphasis
• Capitalizing appropriately
• Inserting cross-references and hyperlinks
• Editing and proofreading your work

Review and Approvals

• Reviewing procedures with subject matter experts and others
• Reviewing procedures with other stakeholders
• Getting final approval and sign-off

Distribution and Maintenance

• Deciding whether to publish in print, online, or both
• Modularizing for easy maintenance
• Making procedures accessible within your organization
• Using the specially designed manual front-end template to add a title page and table of contents and combine your procedures into a single printable file
• Establishing a change control process for your manual
• Revising procedures when they go out of date
• Using the specially designed revision register template to track revisions to your manual

What Word templates will I get?

You’ll get the templates that we use when we write manuals for our clients. We’ll email them to you when you sign up for the course:

Outline/progress report template – Use this template to create an outline of the chapters and procedures you plan to include in your manual. Once you get going, it becomes a great tool for tracking and reporting your progress.

Procedure template – Use this template each time you write a new procedure. Start by customizing it for your organization and manual. Then use it each time you write a procedure. Comes will all the styles you need for formatting procedures quickly and easily.

Manual front-end template – Use this template if you need to put all your procedures together into a single Word file so you can print the manual easily. Includes a title page, table of contents, glossary, and other front and back sections.

Revision register template – Once your manual is finished, use this template to track and report on revisions so you can keep your manual current for years to come.

All of the templates include detailed instructions.