6 Knowledge Management Trends to Watch Out in 2019

What’s behind the creation of remarkable services and products as well as behind the insights shared by people? It’s a huge collection of knowledge and information. As the enormous amount of data is being created with advanced apps, tools, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) and running on the cloud, information is spreading across various diverse platforms. Therefore, an effective knowledge management strategy is essential to harness all the data and make informed decisions.   

Knowledge is a power which fuels the successful business when properly harnessed. The digital transformation has a significant impact on knowledge management which inspires software platforms to leverage knowledge management strategies. With changing demands and business challenges, knowledge management software is continuously evolving. 

Here are six emerging knowledge management trends to look for in 2019. 

1. Integrated External Process
   Many professionals today juggle with numerous instances of software to remain on track while communicating, scheduling, coordinating projects, curating content, and handling other tasks. Thanks to social intranet software which eliminates the need for multiple application login. 
   
   
2. Content Creation and Management
   Content is an essential tool for marketing which is used by companies to keep pace with the increasing demand for information. It is all about collecting information and disseminating that information in a structured way to people. With knowledge management software, anyone can organize tag, and share the created content. 
   
   
3. Increased User Engagement
   From controlling to cultivation, this great shift in knowledge management enables different teams to share information and ideas organically. This active contribution of employees to their company helps to create more efficient and productive work culture. Knowledge base software permissions are becoming more comprehensive and adaptive to promote this engagement.
   
   
4. Segmentation of Information into Multiple Spaces
   Information assets are organized, shared, and refined in your knowledge management system. Overloaded information is hard to manage by businesses, especially during the rapid growth stage. Fortunately, knowledge management software allows you to document your information into multiple community spaces.
   
   
5. Automatic and Consistent Updates 
   As new challenges and solutions continue to emerge, it becomes critical for companies to get updates automatically and consistently. Social intranet software suites are rolling updates and improving with each update to help boost your business productivity. 
   
   
6. Improved Customization 
   As Knowledge Management Software is evolving, it is providing more customized software solutions that fit in your specific business requirements. This helps you to scale your solution to match your company’s growth.  

Get Expert Help to Complete Your Procedure Manuals Project

There’s another reason your project for developing a company procedure manual or for bringing your ancient policies and procedures manuals up to date might be stalled and stuck on the back burner. As we began in our earlier post 5 Ways to Finally Get Your Procedure Manuals Done, sometimes projects bog down because the task at hand is unfamiliar to you and your team lacks experience and confidence.

Differences of opinion among team members on how to go about the process of writing policies and procedures can cause gridlock. You can’t get “buy in” to move the project forward because the team lacks consensus on the best way to proceed.

If any of these situations seem familiar, maybe the answer is to seek help from a third party expert who can offer your team best practices, advice and tricks of the trade that will break the gridlock and propel you towards your goals. If you want to jumpstart a stalled project, save yourself time and money, and get yourself or your team moving forward in the right direction, consider signing up for some procedure writing training, individual consulting, or educational webinars.

As hard as it might be to believe, there actually are professionals with many years of experience who know the best ways to go about writing policies and procedures who can help you, as well as books, blogs, and webinars available. [Ahem . . . COMPROSE Policy and Procedure Pros who write this blog have decades of experience with all types of policies and procedures, work instructions, operations manuals, training guides and more.]

In addition to reading this blog for opinions and tips on writing Policies and Procedures that deliver more value, check out our webinar series, particularly our How to Create User-friendly Procedures webinar. Just follow the link to download a datasheet.

Source:https://www.comprose.com/get-expert-help-to-complete-your-procedure-manuals-project/

What are the Best Knowledge Management Practices Businesses Use?

Knowledge management is a system integrated by organizations using KM software which help employees access, share and modify business knowledge and information. Since knowledge is important to boost productivity and efficiency, it is critical for businesses to manage their knowledge process effectively. 

Most organizations make use of their knowledge management in different forms. In this post, we will discuss the best knowledge management practices applied by companies from diverse sectors for the smooth functioning of their business and employee support teams including IT, HR, and finance. 

1. Content Management System (CMS)
   One of the great ways to organize and use knowledge management is by implementing CMS. Content management systems like Bloomfire and SharePoint enable every individual and collaborative teams to access, update, and publish information on a firm intranet.


2. Chatbots 
   A chatbot is a smart knowledge management practice used by many companies in various sectors. Chatbots respond to employee queries and requests for information using AI and machine learning. 
   
   
   By using Chatbot, employees don’t have to dig around in chat history or document system for seeking information. They can pose any concern and chatbot will filter its knowledge base to provide the best information possible.


3. Cross-Training Programs
   Training programs including mentoring and shadowing allow employees to enhance business knowledge in a work environment. The new employees can shadow experienced staff by watching their work. Cross-training programs implemented in the companies using knowledge management software help ease the training process of new hires.


4. Social Networking Tools
   Workplace, Slack and other social networking tools help boost team collaborations, interactions and productive communications in a shared space. That’s not all! These tools store historical conversations which allow employees to search and retrieve archived information. This proved to be an excellent knowledge management practice.


5. Document Management Systems
   Companies are extensively using document management systems like Box and Google Drive to store business document and data on the Cloud. These systems allow the companies to control access permission and share the data in an efficient way. 

Generally, these tools are embedded with the systems which allow adding metadata and tagging files to make the information easily accessible for everyone. This is yet another knowledge management practice that companies are using for streamlining their business process.

If you are new to the business and haven’t started making smart use of Knowledge Management System, start including knowledge management software to your business for efficient business workflow. 

Are Your P&Ps GOOD or Bad? Here’s the Definitive Test

Many companies have heated internal debates on this question: “Are our written policies and procedures (P&Ps) good or bad? “ How do you know?

Some people measure quality based on whether P&Ps exist and are physically accessible to staff, whether they are grammatically correct, or how they look. Criticisms range from “Our P&Ps are too long” “We don’t have enough pictures” “We need different fonts.” “Playscript format is best” “No, a flowchart is the answer.” “We don’t need details.” “We need much more detail.” and on and on.

When it comes judging to the quality of your policy and procedures manuals, it’s all a matter of opinion, right? Wrong! In this post, we show you how to tell OBJECTIVELY if your corporate policies and procedures are “good” or not.

The definitive test is how you answer this questions: Are we getting the PERFORMANCE results we want?

The term “Performance results” is a little broad, so we’ve broken it down into 7 specific areas relating to operations and training. If you answer YES to just one question, your standard operating procedures are either missing in action or need fixing and you are not getting the return you should for the time, money, and effort you’re spending on writing policies and procedures.

Diagnosis Checklist

1. Training Difficulties
   Does it take too long to get new employees productive? Do supervisors spend too much time answering the same questions? Is training inconsistent? (How are you training your people?)


2. Inefficiencies, Slowness
   Does it take too long to: Perform routine tasks? Open new locations? Take a business concept and “franchise” it? Implement major changes? Roll-out new systems? Launch new products?


3. Errors, Waste (Quality Control)
   Are people making too many errors? Do you have difficulty controlling the quality of service, products without a lot of labor and oversight.


4. Knowledge Retention
   Are there areas where you would be at significant risk or project failure if your STAR performer or consultant left today? Are best practices in peoples’ heads? Are your “experts” overwhelmed by people constantly asking them for help?


5. Inconsistency / One-offs
   Are work processes inconsistent? Is there a significant variance in how one person performs a job vs. another person? Do people often re-invent the wheel?


6. Fire-fighting
   Are managers spending too much time fighting fires, dealing with mundane issues, instead of mentoring employees and focusing on innovation?


7. Regulatory Compliance / Liability Risk
   Are there areas of exposure? High risks? Are Board Members signing off on policies they aren’t reading and don’t fully understand?

Anyone of these issues by itself is serious. The financial impact could be costing you tens of thousands of dollars (or could possibly even you out of business).

A “good” P&P system is the most efficient and least costly way to alleviate these problems, so if you still have them, whatever you’re doing (or not doing) isn’t working. Here’s the bottom line.

If people are USING your corporate Policy and Procedure manuals and achieving the expected results with minimal supervision, then you get an A+. If you have operations, quality, and training costs under control and down to a science, then whatever you are doing is working. If you have a systematic and sustainable way to transfer the best practices of your star performers then BRAVO.

That’s the true test of whether P&Ps are GOOD or not. Nothing else really matters.

Through our Operations Mapping approach and Zavanta software, COMPROSE helps our clients design their policy and procedure systems that meet this test. 

Source: https://www.comprose.com/are-your-pps-good-or-bad-heres-the-definitive-test/

How to Implement an Effective Knowledge Management Program?

A successful knowledge management system in an organization helps employees utilize the knowledge to increase productivity, improve work quality, and ensure consistency in deliverables. Many companies are capitalizing on knowledge management software for data mining, document management, community forums, and blogging. However, they don’t consider defining their objectives and the ways to manage their knowledge assets for achieving long-term goals.

To develop an effective knowledge management program, an organization must consider certain essential elements like people, technology, structure, processes, and culture. An organization must determine the ways to boost the efficiency of staff, to create best practices for recognizing, regulating and dispersing accurate knowledge, to select tools for automating knowledge management, to transform business structure for promoting awareness, and to establish a knowledge-based culture.

Here is a step-by-step process of building an effective knowledge management system in your company.

1. Identifying Knowledge Management Needs
   The first step is to identify what type of knowledge you need to document for developing and executing a successful business strategy. You can establish both long-term and short-term program objectives to facilitate the business drivers.


2. Determine the Knowledge Assets
   The management must identify and plan to get maximum returns out of competitors, government agencies, technology, suppliers, processes, products and other knowledge assets of their organization.


3. Analyze the Type of Content
   You may conduct cross-functional research to gather qualitative insights on problems that customers are facing. This will help you decide what type of content needs to be included in the knowledge management program.


4. Define the Process and Structure
   Knowing how knowledge is gathered, categorized, managed, and disseminated will help organizations utilize the full potential of their knowledge management system. A high-end knowledge management process will help in an effective management of your company’s knowledge assets.


5. Implementing a Knowledge Management Program
   The program can be established through knowledge assets and by making situations that need the emergence of a learning organization. Converting a raw information into knowledge can be highly useful to achieve business goals. Moreover, emergent conditions make individuals’ knowledge available for business purpose.


6. Storage, Utilization & Distribution of Knowledge 
   A well-defined knowledge management system includes knowledge repositories to preserve and acquire knowledge, to utilize knowledge for making business decisions, and a collective knowledge access to all the members of the organization.


7. Measuring Knowledge Management System
   How will you check the effectiveness of investment in Knowledge Management Software and the significance of knowledge management program? You need to measure the impact of a program on organizational performance and forge techniques for improving the system. 

5 Ways to Finally Get Your Procedure Manuals Done

We’re amazed at the number of people who really want to develop better standard operating procedures for their organization, who clearly understand the benefits of standardized procedures and who even have management mandates and funded projects to develop or update their policies and procedure manuals. But–despite all that–never manage to actually do anything about it. They have good intentions. They hold meetings. They discuss requirements. Sometimes, they even open up the word processor. But that’s as far as they get. Momentum grinds to a halt. Years can go by with no usable results.

If this sounds familiar, maybe you need some better strategies to get back on track.

Here is a list of 5 Simple Strategies that work to break the logjam and finally get your procedure manuals to project off the drawing board and across the finish line.

1. Start Small
   Don’t try to do everything at once–you’ll get overwhelmed. Instead, pick just one key task or operating process. Develop just that content and then publish it and start getting feedback. You’ll get a quick win. Then go on to the next area, and the next, piece by piece in bite-size chunks.
   
   
2. Divide and Conquer
   Many hands make light work. To cover a lot of ground rapidly, involve a large pool of subject experts to contribute first drafts. Then edit their work. Each person has only a small part to do, but the combined effort gives fast results.
   
   
3. Set Goals
   There’s nothing like a deadline to provoke action. If your CEO demands that the Operations Manual be done by October, you’ll figure out a way to get it done. So, if you’re stalled because there is no external deadline, set one and stick to it.
   
   
4. Learn from the Experts
   Sometimes projects bog down because the task is new and your team lacks experience and confidence. Consulting a third-party expert can often jumpstart your momentum. Consider a staff training or enrolling your team in some educational webinars.
   
   
5. Get the Right Tools
   If your project is stalled, the problem might be that you lack the right system. Traditional word processors and general-purpose software have proven cumbersome, ineffective and costly for creating and updating effective corporate Policy and Procedure manuals. Investigate if there are better tools for your needs. COMPROSE invented Zavanta software to provide a faster, better way to get high-quality results.

Source: https://www.comprose.com/5-ways-to-finally-get-your-procedure-manuals-done/

4 Critical Features of Knowledge Management System

Over the past decade, the internet has witnessed a substantial growth by empowering itself with various social innovations. These innovations encourage people to collaborate in novel ways, enable them to deal with problems, and empower them to be more competitive. This eases our access to advanced research and improves our ability to create a compelling and meaningful content. As a result, organizations tend to believe the fact that the best knowledge transfer and retention systems are both online and collaborative. 

Knowledge management is a process of gathering, obtaining, creating, and using knowledge by the organizations to gain a competitive edge for growth and prosperity in a globalized economy. However, choosing an effective knowledge management system is both a critical and difficult task. With a countless knowledge management software and systems persisting in the market, each one has its unique features. 

Nevertheless, we will unveil some key features that ideal knowledge management software must possess. 

1. Easy Accessibility 
   One of the major problems faced by companies in the past was that their knowledge management systems have simple features and were optimized for limited web browsers which causes a challenging working environment. Your knowledge management software must be well-optimized for users working on different platforms like mobile phones, desktop computers, tablets, etc.
   
   
2. Integration with Other Applications
   The knowledge management system must have an interface with other applications including Enterprise Resource Management (ERM), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and Enterprise Content Management (ECM). This will allow businesses to integrate the required information without looking across multiple software applications.
   
   
3. Personalized Approach 
   A tailored knowledge system in an organization enables the staff to customize and configure user-interface based on their individual preferences. With a personalized feature in knowledge management software, the information can be accessed on any hardware platform such as desktop, smartphone, laptop, or tablet, as well as on both the private and public networks.
   
   
4. Facilitate Interactive Communication 
   A smooth communication among employees is a must-have feature of the knowledge management system that supports both internal and external communication. Features like discussion forums, workgroups, instant messaging, blogs, chat rooms as well as hosting and recording online business meetings are highly effective in sharing information, growing their networks and connecting with the knowledge experts. 

These team-based features accelerate project-team activities including document management, decision-making, process tracking, and meeting schedules.

Whether you want a functional level or an enterprise level Knowledge Management Software for your business, evaluate these knowledge management features to leverage the maximum benefits of each feature differently. 

SOPs for Process Improvement? Absolutely!

Recently an Executive coach we’ve been working with commented about how our Operations Mapping method – linking processes to detailed standard operating procedures, work instructions, and policies — is a perfect fit for improving organizational performance, process improvement and re-engineering applications. We agree. Our clients do too.

Yet, some people resist this idea.
The resistance may be linked to the misconception that standardized procedures are useless paperwork or at best are expensive door stops (if I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard that… ) (“Bad” SOPs do make good doorstops—especially if they are in white binders!) Thinking about SOPs only in terms of “documenting” and record keeping instead of looking at SOP development as an exercise in examining and understanding how your business works is old-fashioned thinking.

It may also be semantics. We recently worked with a client to develop a “process map” for automating one of their core processes. At the beginning, the client was adamant about not wanting to get into SOPs or procedural “details.” They thought they only needed to look at the “Big Picture.” However, the high-level process map ended up being very complex because the client kept adding more and more detail as they thought through the processes they needed to make automation decisions.

Surprisingly, it was the discussions about the detailed procedures the client started out not wanting to consider that revealed the fact that some managers had no clue what was really going on! And that was the biggest problem they were facing.

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are often overlooked as a key element of Process improvement (process re-engineering). Process re-engineering typically needs to go beyond what’s on a high-level process map. And it's not always just about process automation. “People-based” operations can be improved through re-engineering too.

Mapping out your “as is” processes and SOPs is the first step in any process improvement initiative because it makes your “people operations” visible. You can’t improve what you can’t see.

To learn more about how you can build accountability into your organization and streamline operations, see operations mapping on the COMPROSE site.
Source: https://www.comprose.com/sops-for-process-improvement-absolutely/

How to Train Your Staff Using SOP Software?

Do you have an efficient staff who clearly know what is expected of them and how to perform a specific task? If not, it is important to provide them a training using SOP software. Staff education is a critical factor for standardizing and smooth functioning of a business process. Though it can be a little time consuming but the end result makes it a worthwhile task.

The purpose of Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) is to document and streamline smooth communication and operational process of your business, from macro tasks to daily ongoing duties. Many organizations develop SOP culture to reduce your time and cost invested in a given task and to enhance quality and profits. Therefore, providing a practical training to your staff is crucial for your business growth.

These smart tips will help you educate your staff using SOP software for the smooth functioning of your business.

• Preparing Training Documents and Modules
  Whether you want to hire new employees or want to train the current ones, having these training documents prepared or accessed via SOP software really helps. This will guide the internal staff to understand and fulfill the standardized expectations of your business. These documents enable employees to work independently on their tasks without seeking any supervision from management.
  
  
  Additionally, having a written training material which can be accessed by staff for seeking information eliminates the chances of any miscommunication and confusion. Circulate a single document with all the internal employees where all the changes are made to avoid any chaos among staff and management.
  
  
• Create Checklists of Tasks for Employees
  Prepare checklists using SOP software for staff and ask them to complete on a daily basis. The checklist may describe the procedure or steps employees need to follow for a specific task or may define the tasks they need to complete as a daily target. When staff members clearly understand what is expected from them, this will promote smooth training sessions and workflow.
  
  
  Moreover, it is unrealistic to always keep a check on your staff for their tasks. This is where checklists help to improve the efficiency of your business. SOP software checklists not only encourage better communication but also help management prioritize and delegate important tasks.

These useful tips clearly indicate that Standard Operating Procedure Software allows management and staff members to be on the same page, let everyone do their job productively, and prevent any mistakes or miscommunication among them. In short, having a standard operating procedure is extremely vital for a business to run smoothly.

How to Train Your Staff Using SOP Software?

Do you have an efficient staff who clearly know what is expected of them and how to perform a specific task? If not, it is important to provide them a training using SOP software. Staff education is a critical factor for standardizing and smooth functioning of a business process. Though it can be a little time consuming but the end result makes it a worthwhile task.

The purpose of Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs) is to document and streamline smooth communication and operational process of your business, from macro tasks to daily ongoing duties. Many organizations develop SOP culture to reduce your time and cost invested in a given task and to enhance quality and profits. Therefore, providing a practical training to your staff is crucial for your business growth. 

These smart tips will help you educate your staff using SOP software for the smooth functioning of your business.

• Preparing Training Documents and Modules
  Whether you want to hire new employees or want to train the current ones, having these training documents prepared or accessed via SOP software really helps. This will guide the internal staff to understand and fulfill the standardized expectations of your business. These documents enable employees to work independently on their tasks without seeking any supervision from management.
  
  Additionally, having a written training material which can be accessed by staff for seeking information eliminates the chances of any miscommunication and confusion. Circulate a single document with all the internal employees where all the changes are made to avoid any chaos among staff and management.


• Create Checklists of Tasks for Employees
  Prepare checklists using SOP software for staff and ask them to complete on a daily basis. The checklist may describe the procedure or steps employees need to follow for a specific task or may define the tasks they need to complete as a daily target. When staff members clearly understand what is expected from them, this will promote smooth training sessions and workflow.
  
  Moreover, it is unrealistic to always keep a check on your staff for their tasks. This is where checklists help to improve the efficiency of your business. SOP software checklists not only encourage better communication but also help management prioritize and delegate important tasks.

These useful tips clearly indicate that Standard Operating Procedure Software allows management and staff members to be on the same page, let everyone do their job productively, and prevent any mistakes or miscommunication among them. In short, having a standard operating procedure is extremely vital for a business to run smoothly. 

“Do You have Anything More Complex and Convoluted?” Said No Auditor Ever

Trying to get compliant and make your audit process smoother? Clearly outlining how things happen in your organization not only helps demonstrate compliance to auditors, it can actually help you be compliant. Creating SOPs that are accessible to your employees is an effective means to improve operations. At the same time, it creates an easy path for auditors and regulatory entities to follow.

In many cases, managing and disseminating information well is just as important as the actual policies and procedures themselves. There are three layers that any good SOP system must account for:

1. Writing
   You have to create good content, clearly written, easy to follow, in line with compliance.


2. Sharing
   You have to share compliance information throughout your organization. Employees need easy access to new and updated SOPs as they do their work.


3. Managing
   You have to manage your SOP content. You need to keep content up-to-date, and ensure that the latest version is accessible, and also retain change history and approval signoffs.

To support your goals of staying compliant: Write clearly. Share easily. Manage strategically.
Source: https://www.comprose.com/anything-complex-convoluted-said-auditor-ever/

Top 5 Main Benefits of an Online Policy Management Software

1. Automate Document Workflow  
   Centralizing and automating the document workflow is considered by many to be the most beneficial aspect of Policy and Procedure Management. The entire document workflow- form creation and import, to edit, review, publish, revise, and archive- can be automated. In a paper base environment, each of these steps creates opportunities for paper documents to be delayed, or worse, lost altogether. Once organizations discover they no longer need to manually gather and collaborate on multiple edits, reviews, etc., they will never go back.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
2. Centralize Repository of Documents 
   Are your policies, procedures, and other business-critical documents easy for all your employees to locate? Are certain documents stuck in certain files- perhaps on a desktop or filing cabinet- that could cost your employees time or access to the document altogether? Having a personalized, easy to access, an online repository of your documents- that can easily be searched- allows your employees to have the information they need when they need it.
   
   
3. Eliminate Paper Chase 
   Let’s face it, paper document management is a thing of the past. Numerous studies show that the cost of storing paper files, and implied labor cost of retrieving those files can be thousands of dollars per employee per year. Thousands. The implementation of an online policy management software might cost less than one or two employees worth of cost savings- just on the paper chase.
   
   
4. Detailed Audit Trails 
   As businesses are hit with more and more regulations, the implied risk of litigation goes up. Having a detailed audit log of the activity happening within your organization can protect against the risk of lawsuits, penalties, and fines. While protecting against a "what if" scenario is never something that will get people jumping for joy, you bet having an audit trail is of utmost importance if lawsuits, audits, or disputes were to unfortunately arise.
   
   
5. Up to Date Global View of Compliance 
   An online Policy and Procedure Management Software will allow you to know who has read, signed off on, and understood (via testing) your policies, procedures, and other business-critical documents. Not only can this information protect against litigation (see #4 above), but it can elucidate the entire organization's policy and procedure compliance. Knowing who has read, tested, and signed off on policies and procedures- and who has not- allows organizations to make critical judgments and corrections.

How to Grow Your Business Without Spiraling Out of Control

Growth is a BIG topic for today’s business leaders in organizations of all sizes, industries. If you’re already on a fast trajectory or in expansion mode, you’ve probably experienced some of the operational challenges in scaling an organization. 

Here’s what your C-level peers are telling us:

“We still operate off tribal knowledge.”

“There’s no standardization. What takes one person two hours to do might take someone else four hours.”

“It takes FOREVER to get anything done around here.”

Growing BEFORE you have the right structure, consistent processes, and an efficient way to transfer operational knowledge is a recipe for disaster. Things can get out of control and escalate quickly, especially if there are lots of people and moving parts to orchestrate. It’s difficult to make course corrections later.

Fortunately, the operations problems that are barriers to growth are avoidable. The challenge is, they are often invisible. Many organizations go for years – even decades – tolerating known operational issues without ever making significant headway. This problem finally gets attention when a major change or triggering event happens, such as expansion. Even the larger organizations suddenly find themselves in panic mode. Read more information about Knowledge Management Software click given the link.

Source: https://www.comprose.com/grow-business-without-spiraling-control/

Policies and Procedures in the News – CDC – Ebola – Anthrax

Policies and Standard Operating Procedures show up in the headlines from time to time, and rarely in celebration of polices and procedures well implemented. But recent headlines  regarding the break down of communicating safety protocols at the Center for Disease Control (CDC) have been persistent–and more than a little alarming. And what first appeared to be an isolated incident where anthrax (!) was mishandled is emerging systemic failure. From improper storage, including zip-lock bags and unlocked refrigerators to transportation issues, the lax standards have put the CDC squarely in the public eye and called to a congressional subcommittee to explain. Fortunately, at this stage it looks like no one has been infected.

While most of us are not handling and storing infectious diseases (thankfully) there is a big take away from stories like these.

1. Having a good system, complete with clear SOPs and a means for the conveying them and essential element of a well-run organization.
   
   
2. Taking a step back from time to time to assess and look at the bigger picture is a worthwhile exercise It can help identify gaps and places for improvement.
   
   
3. Understanding the importance of compliance to your business can help you identify ways to integrate it into daily practice and help create streamlined operations that meet both regulatory and business goals.

Zavanta software is specifically designed to make writing GOOD procedures fast and easy! If you’re unfamiliar with it, check it out. For more information about Policies and Procedures Software Visit our website. 

Source: https://www.comprose.com/policies-procedures-in-the-news/

Standard Operating Procedures: Straight jacket or Lifeline?

You can divide most people into two categories when it comes to standard operating procedures: those who see them as a lifeline for effective operations  and those who see them as a negative force, a straight jacket constraining creativity and innovation. How do you achieve the positive results SOPs provide and turn around the negative perceptions?

When writing policies and procedures to standardize operations, it’s critical to understand the connection between Good People and Good Systems. Good systems support good performance and drive outcomes. They represent best practices and allow Good People to excel. Good systems eliminate waste and guesswork and free people up to perform at their best. Formal policies and standard operating procedures are simply the WAY you communicate good systems to good people.

The concept of systemization and standardizing operations is often massively misunderstood among people with a negative view of SOPs. Many managers think that systemization means “automation” and that it applies to machines not people. But that’s a major mistake that overlooks that the most important system component of all IS people. Human activity is the very core of any organization’s system of operations. Your organization’s real “system” is defined not by machines and technology but by

• the specific tasks individuals perform,

• the interaction and hand offs between groups,

• the flow of work and information,

• the policies and standards applied, and

• the divisions of responsibility, accountability, and authority.

While specific “functions” may often be automated, your organization’s actual system of work consists overwhelmingly of human activity. Standard operating procedures exist to help Good People perform better—NOT to tie their hands and shut down their minds. When writing policies and procedures, keep the bigger purpose in mind—you are trying to help good people get better results. This simple attitude shift will help guide you to develop more effective, user-friendly policies and procedures that people will view as a life line.

We’ll have more to say on this topic in future posts.

Through our Operations Mapping approach and Zavanta software, COMPROSE helps our clients design SOPs and policy and procedure systems employees trust and use.

Source : https://www.comprose.com/standard-operating-procedures-straight-jacket-or-lifeline/

What’s the Right Level of Detail for Procedures and Work Instructions?

Two common mistakes people make when writing policies and procedures involve opposite sides of the same coin—Not enough detail or Too much detail.  Some policies and procedures fail because they are so vague and generic that people can’t use them.  Other policies and procedures are so long-winded and complex that people can’t follow or understand them.

If your goal is writing policies and procedures that get read and used, you need to find the right balance between conciseness and completeness. “Completeness” doesn’t have to do with how long the policy or procedure is. The best test for completeness is how usable the information is. Does the document contain enough information so the reader can perform the task safely and correctly—but no more than the task requires?

You can tell that you have included the right level of detail when the least experienced, trained user can safely perform the procedure as written without needing to ask questions.

To achieve this balance, writers should focus on the “Need to Know” information and leave out the “Nice to know” information. “Need to know” means just the information required to safely and efficiently perform the task.

So, what if one person’s “Nice to Know” information is another person’s “Need to Know” information? What do you do then?  You can get the best of all worlds and get the most value from your Operations Manuals, or Policy Manual by designing your content to provide DRILL DOWN access so each reader can access the level of detail he or she needs at a given time.

Operations Mapping techniques and Zavanta software are specifically designed to help you achieve the right level of detail in your content and allow easy drill down for maximum effectiveness.

Source: https://www.comprose.com/whats-right-level-detail-procedures-work-instructions/

4 Essential Tips for Ensuring Policy and Procedure Compliance

For over 30 years COMPROSE has worked with organizations across all industries — commercial banks, credit unions, hospitals, labs, government agencies, non-profits – just to name a few.  Although specific regulatory and certification requirements may differ, all industries share the pain of creating and managing policies and procedures required for regulatory compliance.

If you are outside the compliance world, you may be shocked to learn that many organizations have entire departments dedicated just to compliance. In these organizations a large chunk of budget and staff time is spent just on getting documents reviewed and approved.

No one WE know has ever said “Hooray, it’s time to review this year’s compliance policies and procedures!”

It may not be possible to transform policy and procedure compliance into something that’s on everyone’s “favorite to do list,” but there are steps you can take that will make the job easier and less painful.

Below are 4 proven tips that can help you tame the compliance monster and keep the regulators happy.

# 1. Focus on Quality Content.

If you’ve ever read any of our articles or blog posts, you already know that we truly believe that content quality trumps everything else. Unfortunately, content usability is something that’s difficult for many organizations to get right.

But the effort and focus on it is well worth it.

Employees who have access to clear policies and procedures perform better than those who don’t.

But here’s something most people don’t think about … Better content makes your Reviewers’ and Approvers’ lives easier too!

Why do most managers require constant nagging and put off reviews until the last minute?  Why do employees invent ways to “check off the box” on content they’ve never really read or understand?

If you’ve ever had to dive into a 100-page document that’s incomprehensible and unreadable, you know what we’re talking about. Are you clear on what you’re signing off on?

Better content makes auditors happy and bolsters their confidence in you. Audits are easier, less costly.

Even in a world with hundreds of document management products, slick looking websites and search engines, all this technology doesn’t do any good if people don’t understand the content itself or it takes forever to get through it.

#2. Make content accessible online on any device, but don’t forget paper.

The modern way to deliver policy and procedure content is through an engaging online experience, but don’t forget that some people may need or even PREFER paper. It’s important to keep your audience in mind. The system you use should enable you to easily deliver content in the way your audience wants it — WITHOUT all the pesky reformatting.

#3. Automate, but make sure the technology doesn’t get in the way.

Utilizing a single application that handles all phases of the policy and procedure life cycle is far superior than doing these tasks manually or cobbling together multiple systems.

Automation features such as review/approval workflows can significantly save everyone time and frustration, but make sure the technology doesn’t get in the way. Tools that require extensive set up time and complex procedures to operate often die on the vine because they don’t get used. We’ve seen companies waste thousands and millions of dollars this way.

Again, think about your audience. Is a high-level Executive going to be scared off by tons of features thrown at them?

#4. Avoid re-inventing the wheel for every new law or regulation that comes along. 

We see this all the time. Over time, policy and procedure content has been cobbled together and evolves in a haphazard manner.

So, when a new law or regulation comes along, the company reinvents the wheel, starts over.

Or, one area of the company has developed content that could be re-purposed, but no one in the other departments knows about it.

You get the picture.

Everyone does their own thing. Operating this way is wasteful, error-prone, and a sure-fire way to fail an audit.

Best practice is to utilize a single system and create an information architecture that is modular, easy to change. This is best done early, at the beginning. Think of your policies and procedures as a living, breathing “system”, not the old-style static documents or a one-off project.

If you practice this approach, your policy and procedure content can simply be tweaked and changed as the regulatory environment changes.

Source: https://www.comprose.com/4-essential-tips-ensuring-policy-procedure-compliance/

All You Need to Know About Knowledge Management Software

Knowledge management (KM) software supports and promotes an integrated approach to identify, capture, evaluate, retrieve, and share information assets, with a strong focus on how to complete that task. The various assets managed by knowledge management software are text documents, images, audio and video files, and other data types. Knowledge management is used to capture, distribute and effectively use knowledge to make an organization's data and information available to the members of the organization, and its partners and customers.

To get included in the Knowledge Management category, a product should qualify the following:

1. There should be provision to provide a preconfigured open environment for users to comment, share, and reference the supported file types.

2. It should allow history, tagging, and deep search within file names and metadata

3. It should provide integration through APIs to CRM, ECM, and DAM product

4. Proper integration with internal and external information/data repositor

5. It should include social features: tagging, liking, commenting, and rating

It should support the viewing of content for multiple file types

However, many challenges are associated with knowledge management, such as identifying information that meets the "valuable" criteria. Not all information can be classified as knowledge, nor can all knowledge be considered valuable.

People are much curious about what the knowledge management is all about? It is directly related to people's knowledge and how that knowledge can be used to support business and organizational goals? It is not based on technology, but the technology is used to support knowledge management drives.

The process of knowledge management is very much organized and goal-oriented and is directly linked to the strategic goals of the business. It employs knowledge that is relevant, meaningful and practical. Knowledge management is not static but ongoing, not the least because knowledge keeps on changing and needs to be updated, revised and sometimes done away with.

A business needs an application to create, manage and share business knowledge, or if it needs to manage its business intelligence more efficiently, then knowledge management software may be just the thing for that business. Although knowledge sharing is a relatively old concept, it is only now that it is becoming a formalized business practice. Knowledge Management Software assists the process of managing and propping up the storehouse of knowledge by accessing human and organizational capital.

Writing- the Foundation of Good Policies and Procedures

I spent a lot of time thinking about writing. I spend a lot of time reading about writing. And yes, I also write about writing. It is a baseline for most of my client conversations, because without writing you can’t get to the sharing and managing part of SOPs. You need content to share and manage, so you have to write.

Learning to create clear policies and procedures is not hard. In many cases and for many clients it is taking a step back and recognizing SOPs for what they truly are- rules and instructions.

It may take a draft or two, but I have yet to meet a client who could not write SOPs. I have worked with a range of clients from CEOs to receptionists. I have worked with people for whom English was a second language. Lawyers, mechanics, accountants, shipping and receiving clerks, the list goes on and on.

 The Zavanta Database system is designed to help authors think through whatever they happen to be documenting. Often times the quickest way to get your SOPs up and running is by tapping into a wider range of authors. Let people write what they know.

This is not to say that you should open the floodgates and yell, “ready, set, write.” Actually quite the opposite, I am a big believer in strategy, having a project manager and a clear plan on what needs to be written is essential. Authoring should be a well-managed process. Authors should be clear on what they should be writing and they should be writing what they know.

The writing part of SOPs is essential, but it easy to learn and do well. After all they are simply instructions and rules. By front-loading planning, trying out a starter project and clearly defining your documentation process you can create a system that makes sense for your organization. A well-managed SOP system allows you to tap into a greater number of authors and ultimately generate useable content all the faster. For More Information about Policies and Procedures visit our website. 

All You Need to Know About Policy and Procedure Management Software

Many organizations generally struggle to keep their policies and procedures updated, organized, and easy to find. Still many of us are not aware about the term policy and procedure software.

What do you mean by a policy and procedure software?

Policies are different from procedures as these are the rules and regulations that are used by an organization to carry out business and achieve long term goals.

Whereas procedures can provide you the details to achieve the policies. In other words, they can provide you a step-by-step process of tasks that are required for each policy. They are responsible for implementing policy that makes use of procedures to ensure agreement with strategic direction, points of governance or statutory requirements.

Here we will discuss about the 6 key components of policy and procedure software:

1. Create: Various types of documents should easily load into the software.
2. Approve: The software should automate the Review and Approval cycle and there should not be any need to chase the opinion of subject matter experts.
3. Notify: When published, end users should receive notifications hence directing them towards the document.
4. Test: End users should be able to view, take a questionnaire and acknowledge document online, anywhere, anytime. All this can be done using an internet connection helping an end user to act on a document and then leave an authenticated electronic signature.
5. Reminders: The software should send or schedule automated reminders to those who have not yet acted on a document.
6. Reports: Managers should be able to check all the metrics that are related to their documents. They should be able to check who has worked on a document and posted any test score or acknowledgment comment. Last but not the least, you need to track every action within the system. 

Why do companies need policies and procedure management? Here are the four reasons:

• It encourages a true culture of continuous improvement and internal communication.
• It provides evidence of an internal control system that follows regulations and standards.
• It ensures fundamental operational processes are executed in an effective and consistent manner.
• It controls and manages risks and threats to the organization.

Organizations that integrate policy and procedure communication into their system achieve improved quality, reduced training / turnover cost and more empowered workforce. Zavanta is an all-in-one solution that is used to capture, manage and share knowledge. Employees have 24/7 access to whatever they need to do their jobs in a better manner by using high-level of policy and procedure management software.

Zavanta Software Principles Highlighted in New Book “Secrets of Success with Procedures

In his new book Secrets of Success With Procedures, Jack Nicholas, Jr., BS, MBA, P.E., CMRP, CRL, internationally recognized expert in business operations and maintenance reliability and a decorated US Navy veteran and naval engineer, shares his experiences on the importance of written procedures to operations success. Jack describes and discusses many management attributes centered on written procedures and includes a sample procedure found in Zavanta software.

Secrets of Success with Procedures is a quick, must-read for anyone involved in Policy, Process, Plans and Procedure management or for leaders wanting to make long-lasting improvements in their organization.  Jack’s extensive experience validates yet again that ‘Good Procedures = Success.’ He shows that with clearly communicated standard operating procedures, organizations can drive the outcomes they want. 

If you have thought of standard operating procedures as nice-to-have non-essentials or a “necessary evil,” see if you still think so AFTER you read Chapter 7, ‘How to Investigate Procedure Not Followed’ and the included case study entitled ’The Matchbox and the Nuclear Reactor.’ The concepts Jack presents are based on principles of human behavior supported by case studies showing just how effective and essential they are.

Source: https://goo.gl/8zgwsH

Know Why Do Organizations Need Policy and Procedure Management Software

In this ever growing, regulated, business world, the use of paper and file have become archaic as dial up modems. Organizations who take time to adopt the recent changes suffer as it becomes tough for them to adapt to the significant, increased efficiency, improved process, and reduced risk from the proper implementation of a policy and procedure software solution. Not all the policy and procedure management solutions are made equal, there are various important characteristics that any solution needs to possess so that users can stay ahead.

If your organization is not in a mood to currently employ the cloud software solution, then you need to ask yourself:

• It is getting tough to manage your important policies and procedures and as an organization you often get stuck in the review and approval process 
• Do you find it easy to track and manage the employee compliance on your important documents? 
• Do you think it is easy for you to update, replace, and distribute the newer versions of your existing policies and procedures? 

 If not, then it is the time to go for an effective policy and procedure management software solution:

1. It helps employees to retrieve their policies or procedures 
2. It will show only the most current version that is available to the end user. Also, it allows the policy and procedure managers to update and replace older versions of the policy. 
3. It helps to automate the review and the approval cycle so that the policies and procedures can be reviewed and approved by the subject matter experts before they publish it. It helps the organizations to set up groups of subject matter experts to give advice on business-critical documents. 
4. To utilize different versions of important policies and procedures. The solution should be able to automatically update the versioning and can be used by the end user, to help with the document retrieval. 
5. To establish a distribution mechanism to ensure the right people get the right policies. It helps to create groups to differentiate the members of your organization and they receive the policies, procedures and all other business critical documents. 

A proper policy and procedure management software system helps to easily use, easily scalable, contain the online repository of various business critical documents to automate the document lifestyle. of business-critical documents. Lastly, all actions on the system should be easily tracked and reported on, to provide insulation against potential litigation. Those that implement these best practices would never get