http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Documentation/Policies-and-Procedures A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Documentation and Policies and Procedures in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Documentation/Policies-and-Procedures http://tc.eserver.org/35532.html http://tc.eserver.org/35532.html I saw this question posed in a discussion on LinkedIn, and thought that it deserved an answer from an IT Process Automation (ITPA) perspective. One respondent to the question stated it well: "The answer is simple, if there is not a common bond and governance mechanism between process documentation and the technology that is executing the process, the documentation eventually atrophies and collects dust." In my days as an independent ITIL consultant, I found that training and getting personnel to use process as part of their daily routine was at least as difficult as maintaining and updating process documentation. There is a chasm between theory and practice when it comes to process execution. http://tc.eserver.org/35491.html http://tc.eserver.org/35491.html Documentation is important, from the end users to the developers, if you want your project to self sustain, if you want to ease the life of other people, and if you want your project to live a long and prosperous life. People were not in your head (and are not in your head) when you wrote that strange thing. 1-2 years from now you could be working for another company, what would be of other people who are trying to understand what you wrote? How would people easily understand how things work in a complex environment? http://tc.eserver.org/33851.html http://tc.eserver.org/33851.html Most people, including P&P practitioners, define P&P on a micro level, primarily because they have not considered other perspectives. Here are three perspectives about policies and procedures by which you can think, speak, and act in today’s workplace. http://tc.eserver.org/33854.html http://tc.eserver.org/33854.html What’s causing the buzz of interest in P&P? Here are five trends that contribute to the growing popularity. http://tc.eserver.org/33855.html http://tc.eserver.org/33855.html For many years, employee retirement was considered a normal part of attrition. Today, however, that attrition is becoming a major concern in organizations. In the United States alone, the so-called “baby boomer” generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) has already begun retiring. This concern is one for which policies and procedures (P&P) communication is being called to the rescue. http://tc.eserver.org/33858.html http://tc.eserver.org/33858.html Increasing competition, generational differences, widespread social awareness, and customer demand for higher quality products and services make it necessary to ensure that the right protections are in place. Other reasons for the increased attention include the numerous reports of corporate scandals and corruption, along with ensuing legislative regulations in today’s global economy. This article describes some of the specific causes. http://tc.eserver.org/33859.html http://tc.eserver.org/33859.html Organizations develop policies and procedures to support industry certification and compliance requirements. Unfortunately, companies often develop P&P information that is not helpful to all employees who must use the information. In fact, one study found that 40 percent of U.S. companies failed ISO certification because of problems with unclear or missing P&P documentation, resulting in wasted time, money, and effort. http://tc.eserver.org/33861.html http://tc.eserver.org/33861.html Auditing and enforcing compliance with P&P content should not be the responsibility of a P&P group or included in the job description of a P&P practitioner. However, the charter or job description may state that P&P practitioners are responsible for supporting compliance efforts. http://tc.eserver.org/33863.html http://tc.eserver.org/33863.html Should an organization maintain two sets of policies and procedure (P&P) information—one that is developed for training and another that is developed for on-going reference? http://tc.eserver.org/32540.html http://tc.eserver.org/32540.html When initiating or expanding the role of user-centered design (UCD) in an organization, consider documenting UCD best practices as they fit within existing processes and the best practice of other areas. Such documentation communicates the role and value of UCD throughout the organization in terms familiar to your organization. Because what best practices means varies from company to company, there is no single way to do this. Here are some questions to consider. http://tc.eserver.org/30811.html http://tc.eserver.org/30811.html Procedures are the meat and potatoes of technical writing. They help users get the job done. Follow these tips for writing clear and useful procedures that your users will appreciate. http://tc.eserver.org/30203.html http://tc.eserver.org/30203.html Compliance and meeting operational needs are two very important reasons for implementing a system of policies and procedures. http://tc.eserver.org/30202.html http://tc.eserver.org/30202.html Your organization needs procedures. While development and implementation can be a challenging project, there are dividends and returns on your investment if you understand why you are writing them and what you expect to achieve by documenting your processes. http://tc.eserver.org/27904.html http://tc.eserver.org/27904.html The DIN committee NA 152-06-01-05 UA, formerly called the NATG-F 1.5, has published a guideline for compiling information from component manuals, in its technical report 146. This report is a supplement to DIN EN 62079 and is meant to ensure that the requirements from the Machine Guidelines 98/37/EG Appendix I Ch. 1.7.4 are practically feasible. Plans are afoot to introduce the technical report at the international level (CEN). http://tc.eserver.org/27909.html http://tc.eserver.org/27909.html The EU directive 92/58/EWG of 24th June 1992 clearly defines the notification on occupational Safety and Health Safeguards. In Germany, this has been enforced through the regulations for trade associations BGV A 8 (formerly VBG 125) which regulate indication of occupational safety and health safeguards through prohibition signs, warnings, instructions or signs for action, rescue, fire protection and so on. At present there is no European standard that discusses the topic of 'Drafting Safety Instructions in Operating Manuals' adequately and in detail. Nonetheless, there are several sources but often containing only imprecise or too generalized requirements. Moreover, many judicial verdicts in various individual cases point to the manner of formulations in Safety Instructions. http://tc.eserver.org/27908.html http://tc.eserver.org/27908.html TCeurope, the umbrella organization of European associations for technical communication, is helping with the development of a European guideline on user education for mobile terminals and e-services. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute invited TCeurope to a joint workshop in French Sophia Antipolis, where the draft was discussed intensely. http://tc.eserver.org/24955.html http://tc.eserver.org/24955.html Worldwide Communications & Policy is a relatively new department in Federal Express, created to manage communications and produce policy and procedure (P&P) manuals for the largest division in our global company. We asked an outside consultant, JoAnn Hackos & Associates, to evaluate the existing divisional P&P manuals and conduct an audience analysis. We emerged from the process with a plan to change the existing manuals, which tried to be all things to all people, into a collection of audience-specific, task-oriented documents. http://tc.eserver.org/24717.html http://tc.eserver.org/24717.html Technical writers should be alert for opportunities to improve documentation in one technical field by using appropriate techniques from other fields. In this paper, the author presents ways of improving medical treatment procedures by using elements from engineering procedures, including introductions, safety sections, warnings, conditional (branching) statements, and notes. http://tc.eserver.org/24660.html http://tc.eserver.org/24660.html With the nation intensifying its homeland security and industry focusing on computer security, the experienced technical communicator can assist with documenting procedures. http://tc.eserver.org/24332.html http://tc.eserver.org/24332.html This paper questions the dominance of procedures in paper and online computer documentation and argues that the types of behavior and conditions demanded by stepped instructions are not consistent with typical user behavior. The authors suggest that the following hierarchy of information needs more accurately describes what users want to know when they ask, “How do I:” (a) What can I do? (b) Where can I do it? (c) What are the rules or principles? (d) What are the parts and their functions of the interface that does it? and (e) What are the steps? http://tc.eserver.org/24215.html http://tc.eserver.org/24215.html A corporation's or nonprofit's life without written procedures is fraught with dangers and pitfalls that can strike without warning and potentially wreak havoc on the organization's ability to function efficiently—or even to function at all—especially when the lone source of how-to information leaves the organization. The task of creating those procedures from scratch from what often amounts to skeleton information and secondhand sources can be tedious and frustrating but well worth the effort if it helps prevent the organization from being caught off guard in the future. When it comes to workplace procedures, it pays to be prepared. http://tc.eserver.org/23792.html http://tc.eserver.org/23792.html Information gathering can be one of the most timeconsuming and potentially frustrating experiences when writing policies and procedures. Policy and procedure writers sometimes start from scratch and must investigate and research policies and procedures before the first word is ever written. Although there are many obstacles to obtaining accurate and timely information, there are also many avenues the policy and procedure writer can take to gather, utilize, and maintain information. http://tc.eserver.org/23793.html http://tc.eserver.org/23793.html It takes skills in three different areas to manage a company-wide policy and procedures project. First, people must be organized and motivated to participate. Executive support is critical here. And the persons actually performing the tasks must be the ones to document it. Second, the project must be clearly defined and tracked. The document creation and review process must be structured simply, to take full advantage of the documentation team’s limited time. Finally, the information published must be accurate and controlled. Work processes should be analyzed before the procedures are documented, and published procedures must be distributed to specified manual holders. http://tc.eserver.org/23155.html http://tc.eserver.org/23155.html Documentation is the foundation upon which an ISO-compliant quality system is built. Creating this documentation isn’t, however, as easy as it seems on the surface. Understanding the concept of the Standard enables writers to understand the content requirements. The structure this documentation follows will also impact the success of your registration audit. Once the documentation has been created, the control of it becomes of paramount importance. ISO requires that you control not only the documents and data you create, but also those that you receive from outside sources. Document and data control issues are one of the most common causes of registration failure! http://tc.eserver.org/22842.html http://tc.eserver.org/22842.html The IS0 9000 series of Quality Standards redefines how business will be conducted into the next century. The series is designed to measure the effectiveness of the Quality System in place, thereby ensuring both customer and company needs are always satisfied. The foundation of a robust Quality System is its documentation: problems in this area represent the largest single cause of registration failures. Quality System documentation also forms the basis upon which the 3rd party registrar builds the audit plan for your company. http://tc.eserver.org/22344.html http://tc.eserver.org/22344.html Page's book makes the first attempt to open the door to examples of tables of contents of P&P from a variety of organizations. He also makes an admirable attempt to position and show the P&P analyst/writer as more than a scribe, as a leader who adds value by formulating best P&P practices in collaboration with others for their organization. http://tc.eserver.org/20193.html http://tc.eserver.org/20193.html The world of policies and procedures has grown with technology. The trend is now to move documentation from paper to electronic media. Most companies are taking advantage of this technology andpublishing their policies and procedures on their own intranet or Local Area Network. There are things to consider before choosing a product and making this drastic change. These are: Product Functionality, ReadabilityNiewability, File Portability, and Cost. Each company’s documentation requirements and busmess strategies will ultimately determine which online documentation product to choose. http://tc.eserver.org/19893.html http://tc.eserver.org/19893.html Moving policies and procedures to a corporate web site can improve an ineffective and inefficient delivery system of paper in a three-ring binder. The advantages of online delivery outweigh the disadvantages. Using a general problem solving process, the team that produced this output included customer surveys to determine that a web site was the best way to solve existing delivery problems. The team continues to evaluate the end result, attempting to improve the delivery method. http://tc.eserver.org/19836.html http://tc.eserver.org/19836.html This session is intended for those interested in (a) policies and procedures as a subject, (b) networking with others concerned with policies and procedures, (c) learning about this PIC, (d) influencing the direction of this PIC, or (e) listening, commenting, or volunteering. The first portion of the meeting will briefly review the PIC's history, mission, membership, budget, teams, goals, and progress. The second portion will be open to discuss new business. http://tc.eserver.org/18772.html http://tc.eserver.org/18772.html As a lone writer developing policy and procedure documentation, many of us face what appear to be insurmountable hurdles in reaching our intended goal – useable documentation that accurately reflects the business’ operations. It usually begins with trying to get everyone to take the need for P & P documentation seriously. This can be followed by frustrations in getting the information required to write coherent and useful documentation. Then there is the need for standards for which no one sees the importance – ‘just a whim of the writer’. Add to this volatile mix the requirements of many international standards impacting how business is conducted, and you wonder why anyone in right mind would take up the challenges of this field of writing. But it really can be fun and a very rewarding field of endeavor.