Writing Procedures

by | Oct 31, 2018 | An Organised Office, Uncategorized

Procedures

Procedures…

Procedures are a must have in every business. I happen to love writing them. It is so easy with all our current technology to write procedures for our business. And it is so important to keep track of how to do all the different tasks that our businesses require us to do.

So we are getting closer to Christmas and at this time of year, I always find there are things that we do in our business that only happen once a year. For example, sending out business Christmas cards or organising gifts for our clients.

If you have a procedure for this, you can easily order your branded cards. You would know exactly how to generate your list with names and addresses to send everything out to clients.

It is especially important to have procedures for the tasks you do less frequently. Here are some other good examples:
• Preparing your accounts 4 times a year for your BAS
• Doing your tax return once a year
• Team Strategy meetings 3 or 4 times a year

Make sure these are well documented, so you know what worked and what didn’t.

Using Video procedures

Recording procedures on Zoom or Snagit can save a lot of time. Watching a how-to video is easy and you can pause and play while you are actioning the task. It is also easy to share with your audience.

Writing a procedure…7 easy steps.

Where to start? Think about who is going to read this document? Write it as though they will be reading it.

  1. Write a clear heading and save the document with the same name so you can find it easily next time you need it.
  2. Write a purpose for this procedure. Talk about what it will be used for and when and who might use it.
  3. Write a rough draft of the procedure as you know it.
  4. Go back and action the task while writing the details down. It needs to be a step by step guide.
  5. Include screenshots along the way to help make it clear. You can take photos of the process or just use a tool, like the Microsoft Snipping Tool, to show the screen you are talking about.
  6. It is easy to add an arrow or other symbols to your screen shot or image to bring attention to a specific area. For example, “click here for…” with an arror pointing to the button you would be clicking.
  7. Make sure your notes are easily understood. Ask someone to test your procedure to make sure it works.

How do you store your procedures?

Once you have written it, what do you do with it? How do you save or store it? Electronically or Printable?

The answer to this question is it really depends on what the procedure is used for. For example, if you have an instruction on how to use your coffee machine you would print it, laminate it, and stick it on the wall behind the coffee machine for everyone to see. If you are writing a procedure on how to run the payroll in your cloud accounting package e.g. Xero, then you would keep it with the other accounts related procedures in an accessible electronic format.

Gone are the days of printing out all procedures and having them in a folder on a bookcase. These days most people are in favour of a paper free electronic office. Yes, there is a risk of losing electronic files. All electronic files should always be backed up. Check your backup system to make sure you never lose any of your files. If you’re unsure, please talk to your IT management company for more information.

For more information on electronic offices Vs offices with paper please call one of our friendly VA’s to discuss your Organising options. And for help writing these procedures please contact us. You don’t have to do all of this on your own. We are here to help.