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/

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.

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/

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/