Why I love manuals and tips for making yours
Shiny, creative projects are fun to work on and share about. But in this blog post, I want to champion something that gets very little attention but that adds a ton of value to an organization.
THE MANUAL.
When new staff join your team, when someone is called off on unexpected sick leave, or when you have a team of rotating casuals providing vacation coverage through the summer: what can provide the steady, constant guidance that’s needed to keep the office functioning without constant knocks at your door? The manual.
An operational manual outlines your departments’ functions and provides step-by-step procedures for the key tasks and responsibilities of the team. It provides an orientation to the larger organization and important information needed for continuity when people change.
It’s not glitzy or glamorous, but you will be thankful for it daily.
I’ve developed a handful of manuals in my career, and it can be a bit of a drudgery to put together, but I’m always thankful to have them. For me, it’s also a critical legacy piece to support your team and organization if and when you move on.
5 tips for developing a great operational manual:
Start by developing a table of contents. Basic things to include are: What the department does, daily/weekly/monthly responsibilities, job descriptions, key contacts, emergency plans, important policies, procedures, and forms.
Pull together existing documents that need to go into the manual.
Develop any new documents that don’t yet exist.
Pull everything together into a single document.
Ask others for review and finalize.
Most importantly: be discerning with what goes into the manual. The key is for it to contain the important info, not ALL info. A general goal is to keep it to 30 pages or under. If it gets too long, it won’t be useful.
Are you inspired to create or update your department manual?
