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One of the subjects which is covered in our book “Vocational Success” is the subject “Methods and Procedures”. This is an important topic for the following reasons.
At the heart of all businesses, no matter how small or large, there is a procedure that is followed. At the conclusion of this procedure a product or services is provided to a client/customer. Doing this procedure well is critical to the success of our business and to achieving good customer relations. Even though in a small business we “remember” how to do things it is still important to actually write the procedures that you use down in a procedures manual.
The reasons for having a written methods and procedures manual are many. They are essential for all sizes of business. In a small operation if the business owner becomes incapacitated, the procedure can serve as the information needed for a substitute to provide the required functions and allow the business to continue operations.
A written procedure documents how things are done now. Proposed new ways of doing things can be compared against present practice to see which approach is better. The differences between the present method and the proposed method can be quantified and a cost or savings attributed to each.
The ability to quantify both present and proposed practices are important to the enterprise because the only way productivity can be improved is through better methods and procedures. As improved methods and procedures are developed, they need to be incorporated into the methods and procedures manual also.
A well prepared methods and procedures manual will list all procedures that are performed. It will describe each specific task and mention it in the sequence in which it is performed. A person who is unfamiliar with the function should be able to perform the function with the procedure manual as a guide.
A methods and procedures manual can use sub-categories to describe the tasks of a particular job as compared to those tasks associated with another job. The procedures manual should contain descriptions of all housekeeping functions which need to be performed. This information should include all tasks to be performed and provide estimates of the required time to perform them.
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