Policy procedures manual

Your manual houses example procedure templates that can be used as a model for new standard operating procedures. Your policies and procedures manual is your company best practices, process descriptions, and standards for how work is expected to be performed. The importance of policies and procedures cannot be underestimated for focusing your company, simplifying training, and easing your ability to scale. Need more examples? Download free policies and procedures in easy to edit Microsoft Word templates to create your own policy and procedure manual.

Front line workers gain empowerment to make effective, time-saving decisions through policies and procedures that affect their functional area. An effective policies and procedures manual provides appropriate methods for interdepartmental communication, to allow staff to work together to resolve day-to-day business problems without requiring unnecessary supervisory involvement. Therefore, all employees in your organization should be educated in Company policies and procedures and always have ready access to a policy and procedure manual.

Due to the cost of producing and maintaining a policy manual, it is not necessary to issue an individual printed manual to every employee — however, a manual should be readily available either in a designated area in each functional location or online using a policies and procedures management system.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. What Is a Policies and Procedures Manual? Categories Writing Procedure Manuals. Tags manual policies procedures. Communicating Standard Operating Procedures Procedures are really about communication. Policies and Procedures Template As your company grows, new procedures will be needed.

Who Uses a Policies Procedures Manual? What is the Goal of a Policies Procedures Manual? Properly documented manuals speed up the process of decision-making for employees and help them follow regulations concerning business guidelines.

Eventually, resulting in higher productivity. Free Template Included. Many organizations today are simplifying how their policies and procedures are communicated by putting them online using knowledge management software such as Bit. Another purpose of a polices and procedures manual is to provide a training guide for new employees and re-train current ones. These documents reduce the time and effort put into training these employees, making the onboarding process easier.

For instance, a clear work safety and health policy will assist an employer to meet those obligations imposed on the business by law and provide a safe workplace. This is the heading of the document. Make it short and ensure that users at any reading level can understand. The purpose explains why the policy exists. This includes concerns such as legal, regulatory needs, and conflicts the policy aims to avoid. This is the most important and lengthiest part.

The statements specify the main audience for the policy conditions, restrictions for applying the policy, expectations, and exclusions. This concerns which roles or departments the policy pertains to and identifies anyone who is exempt from the policy. Shows what role, department, or group must maintain the policy. Alternatively, for some policies governed by regulations, these sections list roles responsible for implementing the policy. Presents related policies, regulatory documents, procedures, forms, and guidelines for reference.

Reference any other policies or documents that support the interpretation of this policy. A table that points users to training programs, paperwork, other company documentation, telephone numbers, and sources to help carry out procedures.

So, make sure that you create a list of priority tasks, policies, and procedures. Begin with the most important ones! Keep in mind that some policies will also rely on federal law such as anti-racism policy, etc.

It should be easier for you to find pre-written policies based on current federal and state laws. Therefore, start with those. Not every task or policy in a company will need detailed instructions for carrying out. So, while scheduling which procedures to outline in detail, consider the following questions:. Begin with the bigger issues, narrowing them down into the smaller ones. For instance, instead of starting with the dress code policy, start the manual with the category of hiring processes or eligibility.

Start by writing a clear, and cohesive paragraph that quickly overviews the manual about what your staff expects from the organization, and what the organization expects from them.

Use the blueprint style to create subcategories inside the manual and use a table of contents to allow for quick reference checks. Always keep in mind that you can change the policies and procedures if something goes wrong or add new ones whenever you want. You can make amendments to the manual if you add or remove a service or position.

Your policies and procedures manual is a significant document and should be constantly revised for relevancy. Bit is a new-age documentation and knowledge management tool that provides a common workplace for managers and business owners to collaborate, document, track and share their knowledge, list policies, organize information, set procedures, and implement them together.

Once you are done documenting, you can simply export them as PDFs, Markdowns, Word files, and much more.