Who should write the manual?
All employees should participate in creating your policy and procedure manual. Any individual’s level of participation may vary, based on his/her knowledge, duties, skills, and availability; but, as each employee contributes something unique to the department’s operations, so they can and should contribute their unique perspective to the manual. Be sure to obtain every employee’s feedback on the readability and clarity of the manual as well as its accuracy and completeness. Do identify ONE person to “champion the cause” or otherwise coordinate the effort, but actively seek out contributions from all.
What do I put in it?
Policies and procedures can be classified as operational or administrative.
“Operational” refers to the activities conducted in your office or department to directly achieve your main objectives. Generally, these activities are specific to your operation because, after all, your unit – not another - is the one that does the things it does! Internal Audit’s operational activities, for example, include audit and consulting activities. Student Financial Aid’s operational activities include advising and processing loans and scholarships.
“Administrative” refers to the activities performed in support of your unit’s objectives. These activities are usually performed in some fashion in most units. Both Internal Audit and Student Financial Aid departments generate or keep records and reports; expend, collect and budget money; and hire and develop employees, to name just a few common administrative activities.
Because both types of activities are important to your department’s ultimate success, you should prepare and include in your manual policies and procedures for both types of activities, too. For example, your prime operating objective may be to collect revenue. You will want to include detailed instructions on how to process cash receipts, along with details of who performs each task, when they perform them, and the like. Your office may also employ several students. Although student payroll processing is handled by the payroll department and is not your operational responsibility, the payment of your students does affect your own “bottom line”. Because it’s part of your support functions, you should also include detailed instructions on the tasks involved in processing payroll for your student employees, from time collection and authorization to labor distribution report review and reconciliation.
How do I get started?
There are various starting points, depending upon your approach to the manual, how large your staff is, and the nature of your operations. But here is one idea to spark your creative juices and from which you can adjust your approach: use your PIQ/PDQ to identify those duties and responsibilities pertinent to your job. “Sort” these by business functions or transaction types or some other logical grouping.
If you have co-workers, identify each point at which you interact with one of them. Ask them to identify those duties and responsibilities pertinent to their job, and to identify each point at which they interact with you. Match those points to yours, until you’ve created a complete “picture” of all the jobs performed in your office, by all the employees in your office.
Next, write down how you perform each of those jobs. Start with an outline, or “bullet” format – just list the basic things you do, steps you make, files you keep, and the like – pertinent to each of your tasks. You can sort them into the appropriate order later. For now, make sure you’ve explained – as you would to a new trainee – what you do and what they should do to complete all aspects of that particular task. Continue doing that until you’ve described the tasks you perform to complete each duty of your job description.
Because almost all employees do things NOT listed in their job descriptions, take the time at this stage to identify what those tasks are for you. What do YOU do that isn’t listed in your job description? Now follow the procedure above to explain, in logical order, exactly how you go about performing that task.
Once you’ve completed that process for each of your tasks and your co-workers have done the same, you should all turn around and pat each other on the backs! Congratulations! You have the first draft of your “formal” policies and procedures manual.
Don’t stop there, though. Distribute a copy of the manual to each employee in your area. Ask them to read it. Ask them to identify those detailed instructions that contradict others, or to contribute information on how those instructions might have or should be changed. Ask them to jot down their suggestions for making the manual easier to read, easier to follow, easier to understand, easier to use. Encourage everyone to give some kind of feedback or commentary, and don’t let anyone get by without contributing his or her input. Solicit and collect those suggestions, then use them. Discuss those ideas with your co-workers and make modifications to your operations that seem appropriate and that will improve your efficiency and controls. Remember, as with any extended project, it is important to maintain control over due dates and timelines. Because this project may not appear to contribute directly to the bottom line, you should be diligent in completing timely drafts and revisions.
When is it finished?
A good policies and procedures manual is never truly finished. But, don’t despair now! What follows next is simply a matter of refinement. And, refinement comes from use. To remain useful tools, formal polices and procedures must be used and maintained: refer to them frequently, as when instructing student or temporary help how to assist in your office, and update them for changes you make to your operating routines. Include a written policy requiring periodic reviews and modifications of your entire policy manual. Likewise include written procedures detailing the “triggers” and methods of making those reviews and modifications. For example, you may create a policy that requires you to change common access passwords whenever staff in your office changes. You might create a procedure that calls for a checklist to be completed whenever staff changes. On the checklist could be all those tasks that must be done, including changing the passwords, when that event (a change in staffing) occurs.
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