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“If you want to achieve greater levels of success, you must develop the systems to handle it in ADVANCE! One of my laws is that success will NEVER expand beyond what you are able to handle.”

—Phil Humbert

 
     


How to Write A Desk Top Procedure and Training Manual, E-book.
Only $24.95

Produce Reliable, Consistent And Accountable Employee Results!

A desktop procedure manual describes in detail each basic task and procedure needed to accomplish a specific job effectively and accurately. It assures consistency of task performance and allows you to make employees accountable for reliable results.

A Critical Training Tool That Saves You Time And Money.

Using a well written procedure manual as a training tool, l you will have new employees up and running effectively in half the time and with fewer costly mistakes. Best of all you will never fear turnover again!

Step-By-Step Methods And Examples

How to Write A Desk Top Procedure and Training Manual provides you with step-by-step methods and examples for creating your own desktop manuals. Using the example of a well constructed, job description as a kind of table of contents, you have a ready-made outline of tasks to begin documenting the job. The best way to create a manual is to have the person in the job create documentation over time as they do the tasks.

See the table of contents and some sample pages below.

Table of Contents

• Foundations for Good Employee Performance and Behavior
• How to Write Job Descriptions that Promote Excellence
• Sample Service Supervisor Description
• Sample Ad for Service Supervisor
• Job Description Outline (work sheet)
• Sample Receptionist/Secretary Job Description
• How To Write an effective Desk Top Procedures/Training Manual
• Sample Receptionist/Secretary Desk Top Procedures/Training Manual
• Using Job Descriptions and Checklists To Temporarily Fill In For Procedure Manuals
• Sample Office Manager Job Description
• Sample Checklists and Forms Created From Office Managers Job Description
• Appendix
• The Easy Way To Document & Train Computer programs
*********************************************************

USING JOB DESCRIPTIONS AND CHECKLISTS TO TEMPORARILY FILL IN FOR PROCEDURE MANUALS

In my many years of work with business owners and managers I have found that 80% of their personnel problems are actually systems, procedures and training problems. When job descriptions, procedure manuals and adequate training are properly in place most of their complaints about employees go away. But what do you do if you don't have these things in place? Where do you start?

You start with your own and your key personnel's job descriptions. Forget about who likes or currently does what. Design job descriptions by what needs to be done to run the business, broken down into logical task categories. You now have a beginning job description outline for each area. If you have only a few employees’ responsibilities will often be combined. I recommend reading The E Myth Revisited, by Michael Gerber.

Eventually each task will have to have a procedure written for it like the ones in the preceding manual, but for the time being define each task as clearly as possible. The job description for an office manager of an optical office, checklists and Incident Report Form which follow will give you an idea of how to begin to put this together. Go through each job description and begin to create procedures manuals for each functional area.

In the following job description the opening, closing and customer service sections will be duplicated, with a little adaptation, for each staff members job description. Other areas will be extracted and enhanced for specific staff jobs. The office manager is responsible to see that it all gets done but, who will do what must be defined and assigned with specific accountabilities.

As procedures are developed and put into writing everyone in the office will have to be retrained on the procedure AS IT IS NOW WRITTEN. Each person doing specific tasks the same way is critical for consistence and quality assurance.
Writing and discussing a new procedure is not enough. It must also be demonstrated. Each employee must practice doing the task in the new way as part of the retraining or they will most likely continue to do the task the way they always have.

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Copyright (c) 2004, by Joan Bolmer, all rights reserved. Contact Joan Bolmer by e-mail at joan@bolmer.com or telephone 281.293.8864. Website: http://www.bolmer.com. Permission is granted to reproduce, copy or distribute this article so long as this copyright notice and full information about contacting the author is attached.