Corporate Culture: The Operating Procedures Guide
In my last article I mentioned a reference item that is critical in the creation of discipline within your company. This is a manual called the “Operating Procedures Guide.” If used properly it will assist you as a new manager in creating consistent performance among your teams. By following the process in this article, you will create a reference guide that will take the ambiguity out of how your team is to accomplish its normal everyday tasks. It will also allow you to cross-train your staff using a consistent format, which will create in them a greater feeling of self worth.
When you are finished with this process, don’t make the mistake that I have seen many companies make. Don’t put this guide into your office where it will never be referenced by your staff. Put a copy of this guide at every desk or workstation. This way it will be accessible whenever your staff needs to research a process.
The first part of the process will take up most of your available time. You must look at each job that is being done within your department, and give it a title. This title will be used in your guide. Watch how the person in that position is performing that particular task. Write down a step-by-step detailed description of what you have just seen. Interview each person and drill down to the specifics of how they do their job. Interview other departments to determine how the work done at this station affects their department and what changes should be considered. Remember that what is now being done at this station may not be the best way of doing the job. You as the manager must determine what will give your company the best results. What follows is an excerpt from one of the guides that I have produced that shows the final product:
Subject: Problem Resolution
Locating an order by the ship Date and tracking number
- Write down the ship date and tracking number that the customer gives you
- Go to the filing cabinet and open the customer file for their account
- Check the backs of each order that was shipped until you locate the corresponding tracking number.
- Write down the sales order number and the customers’ purchase order number.
- If required, call the customer back with this information.
As you can see in this excerpt, the language is plain and simple. The instructions are laid out in a logical progression that anyone can follow. You must always keep in mind that the person you are speaking to may not be as educated as another, and that fatigue plays a factor in how well a person performs. Keep the instructions simple and to the point. Use lengthy explanations only when absolutely required to clarify a particularly technical process. Remember, you want this guide to be something anyone can pick up and accomplish a task with no prior training, and achieve the results that you would expect of someone who performed it all the time.
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