Procedure manual = training manual | Evernote for ever | Keyboard or mouse?

Your procedure manual is your training manual

Why would you want a procedure manual? Because you like folders on the shelf collecting dust? Because a business is meant to have one? Not good reasons. My answer is that your procedure manual is your training manual for team members. It is what cuts the cost of staff turnover.

Learning styles: videos are popular

People learn in different ways. I personally like to learn by reading. I think I’m in the minority. Most people seem to prefer videos. Therefore, for most people, an effective procedure manual needs videos.

Videos are more expensive than just writing the instructions, but, if that is what it takes for team members to be able to learn some things without someone showing them, then it may be worth the investment.

Videos are much cheaper than they used to be. For example you can use a slide presentation. Use office software to record voice with each slide, or video editing software like
Camtasia to record voice with the slides and make a video. For computer operations you can record yourself demonstrating something and use screen recording software to make the video. Here are some free screen recorders.

Sometimes you need a video of a person doing something. This needs a bit of planning and rehearsal, but it does not have to be an expensive professional job. You can do a pretty good job with a phone. It might need some editing but, when it’s done, that training video can be used many times. Good editing software makes it easy, and my favourite is
Camtasia. You can also edit on your device. Here are reviews of the available Android video editors and Mac video editors

Note: If you are making videos yourself, make sure you check that they clearly cover, explain and demonstrate the points you want to communicate. Get team members to review them and give feedback.

Your intranet procedure manual

The next step is to create an intranet-based (internal website) procedure manual, aiming in the end for it to be a full guide to working in your business. Embed your videos in pages of the manual and include supporting text as required. This is where we come in. We can help you design your media-rich procedure manual. To find out more, request a free consultation using this form.

Evernote for ever!

The stand-out new tool for me over the last couple of years is Evernote. It is a simple concept: a set of notebooks each containing a set of notes. The notes use a rich text format. In a note you can format the text, add links, embed picures, embed PDFs, link to other notes. The notebooks reside on your hard drive but are also synchronised to a cloud service. You can collaborate with others by sharing a notebook.

You can view any note or notebook on the Web using a link. A very impressive feature is that it searches all images for text, reads it and adds it to its search database. The picture below, shows notebooks, notes and a single note with an image with handwritten text. You can immediately find this text using Evernote Search.

Image showing Evernote screen with notebooks, notes and a single note with handwriting on it, which Evernote can read.

For a small business, apart from its extreme usefulness as a super shared notebook, there is nothing to stop you using Evernote for a procedure manual. It does have some limitations, but they are not show-stoppers for the smaller business. We have been using Evernote for a while and already used it to create a reference library and a quality control manual for a client.

Did I mention that it is free software (with paid versions that are more feature-rich)? We have applied to become Evernote Certified Consultants. If you’d like to discuss how you can use Evenote in your business, please contact us.

The mouse makes it easy but it slows me down.

This almost forgotten diagram shows the safest position for using a keyboard.

Also, for me, compared with the keyboard, it increases the risk of repetitive strain injury.

I’m saying ‘me’ here because I searched for evidence and found contradictions. It all seems obvious to me but I often share the minority view. I think the reality is that for frequently performed or repetitive actions the keyboard is better and for infrequently performed actions there are arguments on both sides.

Think for a moment. You have a keyboard at ergonomic height with a wrist rest. What muscles are you using to type? As far as I can determine in my own body, I’m using nothing above the elbow. How do you save a document? Press CTRL+S, using two fingers.

Let’s contrast this with the mouse. What muscles are you using? I regularly use muscles right up to my shoulder. How do you save a document? Using your arm you move the mouse to the Save icon. Then you use your wrist to finely position the mouse and a finger to do the click.

Which involves less physical work? Which is quicker? For me, the keyboard wins hands down (word play intended).

It may take some mental effort to memorise keystrokes for commands, but for frequently performed actions it will help you to work faster. Most good software has keyboard shortcuts. Why not invest some time in speeding up your work? Here are some collections of common keyboard shortcuts. There are lots. Don’t be overwhelmed. For a start, just pick a few for your most common simple operations. Learn more as you progress.

By |2016-11-24T11:42:02+11:00June 7th, 2016|Documentation methods, Documentation software, Information design, Occupational health and safety, Procedures manuals, Productivity in documentation, Training media, Word tips|0 Comments
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Creative thought – Navigation styles – Tables

Attention and creativity

image illustrating creative thoughtCan you be creative in something without putting your attention on it? I know I can’t.

We only have so many units of attention. If something outside is always claiming them then how can we have the space to be creative?

Left to my own devices I eat the same food and follow the same routine every day. My wife thinks I am boring or strange, or probably both. Why do I do it? Answer: To free my mind for creative thought!

A good business is a mixture of art and science. Creative thought is something a business owner needs time and space to do. If you have to keep on reinventing the wheel and keep being interrupted by team members who don’t know what to do, how can you work on growing the business?

A documented business system can free up your time for creative thought. Your team members will be happy, too, because they want to do their job, not be lining up for your help all the time!

For a free consultation about creating or improving your documented business system, complete and submit this form.

How do people locate information?

Somebody has given you a very big cookbook for Christmas. Your partner has requested gnocchi and pesto. How do you find the recipes?

photo of gnocchi with pesto

If you are a navigator you’ll go to the table of contents, find the section on pasta, then gnocchi, and go to the recipe. Repeat for dips and pesto.

If you are a task focuser you’ll go to the index, find gnocchi and pesto alphabetically and go those pages. On a computer you’d use search.

If you are a story teller you might start at the italian dinner parties page and follow the references or links to the right recipes.

In every business you’ll find the navigator, the task focuser and the story teller. Your procedure manual needs to cater for all three. Good procedure manual software can look after these three people almost automatically. This diagram shows where our three different team members will look:

navigation styles in a web page

For more information about our intranet-based procedure manual system that automatically provides table of contents and search, please contact us.

Tips for tables

This is my personal opinion of the best way to do tables. It goes against some traditions, mainly people’s desire to centre everything. Here is what I think:

  • Align text left and numbers right. This is how we read them.
  • If there are decimals, have the same number of decimal places for all numbers in the column.
  • Align column headings the same as the contents.
  • Put units of measure in the column heading.
  • Use centring only for images, for example, pictures or words that people might read from a distance and recognise by shape.

diagram showing good practice with tables

By |2016-11-24T11:19:57+11:00April 29th, 2016|Business owner freedom, Documentation methods, Information design, Procedures manuals, Word tips|0 Comments
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Rhetoric in work instructions | About corrective action | Word tips

Rhetoric in work instructions??

Bust of PlatoRhetoric is persuasive communication. Shouldn’t work instructions just contain the instructions? We argue that there is a place for persuasion.
Do your team members sometimes cut corners in their work? Of course they do. Why? Often it is because they don’t see the value in the step that they are skipping. You want team members who act intelligently. Well, they are doing that, saving themselves trouble and getting the job done faster for you!
Of course you put those details in for a reason, but the team may not understand that reason. Adding a persuasive element to your work instructions can motivate team members and help them understand about the details.
There are four types of persuasive instruction writing you can use:

  1. Refer to cause and effect
    Assemble the carton on the bench—protect your back.
  2. Refer to authority
    Check that there is no fuel in the tank—it is illegal to send inflammable liquids by post.
  3. Give an example or analogy
    Wrap the product in bubble wrap as if it was a carton of eggs.
  4. Refer to a policy or decision
    Attach the product label to the carton—we show our brand on all packaging.

Look at the instructions you write for team members and see if some persuasion would make the instructions more effective.
If you have challenges with team members complying with instructions, get in contact with us.

Rhetoric is the art of ruling the minds of men —Plato

 

Corrective action

The management standards like ISO 9001 refer to ‘corrective action’, but what does it mean?  It is more than just correcting something. You don’t want the problem to happen again, do you?

Here are the steps to follow:

  1. Stop the problem spreading
  2. Fix the immediate problem
  3. Find and eliminate the root cause
  4. Prevent it happening again

To illustrate, here is a story about how we dealt with the mice in our kitchen:

  1. We blocked up gaps to stop them getting into the pantry—we stopped the problem spreading.
  2. We caught all mice that were inside the house—we fixed the immediate problem.
  3. We searched behind the fridge and dishwasher, found gaps under the skirting board and blocked them—we found and removed the root cause.
  4. We made a note to always check that our house is well sealed.—we prevented it happening again.

The ‘Rolls Royce’ of corrective action systems (well, the Ford Motor Company’s system, actually) is the 8 Disciplines (8D). You can read about it here.
Things that go wrong can be costly, so make sure you get the the bottom of the problem. We have a system that uses free software to track your issues and tasks.
If you’d like to discuss your issue and task management please contact us.

When you fix it, fix it so that it doesn’t happen again!

 

Microsoft Word tips

Most of my Word tips focus on persuading people to use the keyboard instead of the mouse, because it is quicker and there is less repetitive strain. Today I couldn’t resist throwing in a mouse one.  Here are your tips.  To:

  • Select a whole:
    • Sentence: CTRL+click anywhere in the sentence
    • Paragraph: click anywhere in the paragraph 3 times
  • Delete a whole word to the left of the insertion point: CTRL+BACKSPACE
  • Create a horizontal line under the current paragraph: – – – ENTER (three hyphens then ENTER)
By |2019-04-29T16:11:33+10:00April 25th, 2016|Documentation methods, Information design, ISO 9001, Quality management, Word tips|0 Comments
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Techniques, tips and tricks for documented business systems #2

In this issue:

5 reasons for documenting your business system

Can your business operate without you? Can team members find the instructions for every task? When you write down how your business works:

  • It is easy to train new team members. If someone is away, others can read the instructions and take over the tasks.
  • People don’t have to waste time reinventing ways to do things.  You already worked out the best way and wrote it down.
  • You can focus on expanding the business because you have less fire fighting to do.
  • Your business has a higher sale value because it runs by itself.
  • You have less rework and fewer problems to fix because you require the team to follow the instructions.

Here is what the home page of your procedure manual could look like:

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The traditional procedure manual is too expensive

When you hear the term ‘procedure manual’, what do you think of? A folder full of hard-to-read text that a consultant has written, describing something that may or may not be what happens in your business?
Well, if you are not near a computer then it is good to have printed instructions in a folder. By the time you keep it up to date, however, it is an expensive way to go.

Here is another way to document your business:

  • All instructions available on your intranet (internal website)
  • Several ways to find information (search, table of contents, hyperlinks)
  • Written in plain language with active contribution from your team
  • Pictures, slideshows and videos embedded in intranet pages wherever needed for training
  • Easy to edit when you want to improve it


Products like PolicyGuides make it easy to do this and we can set it up for you and teach you the skills you need. For more information please contact us. go to top

Integrating your calendar and your procedure manual

Say that you manage tasks for team members using a calendar or other task management software and that you have an intranet procedure manual. When you assign a task to a team member, include a hyperlink to the task instructions. When team members view the task assignment they can follow the link to view the instructions.

If the system you use is responsive (displays well on mobile devices), team members can display the checklist on their phones.

diary-entry-update

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How to easily move paragraphs around in Microsoft® Word

If you normally use select, cut and paste, try this:

To move a paragraph up or down (change the order of paragraphs):

  1. Put the insertion point in the paragraph.
  2. Press SHIFT+ALT+UP or SHIFT+ALT+DOWN. Keep pressing it until the paragraph is in the right place.
  3. Check the results.

Here is an example:

alt shift up1

It also works for table rows

You can use the same keystrokes to move a table row up or down.

Note: If you have a table cell containing several paragraphs and you use those keystrokes, Word will move the table row up and down, not the paragraphs.

Here is a great resource of tips for using Microsoft® Word: http://wordribbon.tips.net
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Can we help you?

At QDT we LOVE procedure manuals and quality systems, and we make them easy to read and to use.  We can take charge of your project or just be designers and mentors for you and your team.  For a free consultation (conditions apply), please contact us. or complete and submit this form.

David Stephensen
QDT Management consultants
Putting you in control of your business
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By |2016-11-06T23:46:23+11:00October 14th, 2015|Documentation methods, Information design, Integrated systems, Procedures manuals, Word tips|0 Comments
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Tips for documented business systems #1

It’s been a while since we wrote an entry in our blog. We are starting back with bite-sized tips to help you with documenting your business system. We know you are busy, so we are aiming to give you just enough to digest quickly. We’d love to hear your feedback, including requests for topics.

Microsoft Word tip

To change the case of selected text, use SHIFT+F3.  Each time you press it , the selected text rotates through ALL CAPITALS to all lower case to Initial Capitals. You can also do this with the current word. Just place the insertion point in the word and use SHIFT+F3 to rotate through the cases.

Plain language

Should we ban the word should? Nothing annoys me like the word ‘should’ in work instructions. Should means that you don’t have to do something, or that you hope something will happen.  There is normally no place for this word in a work instruction. A work instruction is a list of commands to carry out a sequence of actions.  People are tempted to use should when they write the work instruction as a narrative instead of as commands. The use of narrative and the word should can make the reader uncertain. When you write work instructions, use commands, not narrative. Here is an example:

Narrative mixed with commands
IconCross (Creates doubt in the reader’s mind)		 Commands
IconTick (Best practice)
Making tea

  1. The water should be boiling.
  2. The pot should be warmed first.
  3. Put the tea in the pot.
  4. Add boiling water.
  5. The tea should be left to draw for at least three minutes.
 Making tea

  1. Boil the water.
  2. Warm the pot.
  3. Put the tea in the pot.
  4. Add boiling water.
  5. Leave the tea to draw for at least three minutes.

 The nine business areas

When we are analysing a business we normally come up with nine main business areas.  There are some overlaps, but the majority of procedures reside in one only of these areas. They also reflect a typical division of  managers in a larger business.  This could be a way for you to divide up your procedure manual.

10 Management, communication and culture
20 Site and infrastructure—including office services, records, maintenance
30 Marketing—capturing leads
40 Sales—converting leads into customers
50 Operations—what your business actually does
60 Purchasing—including inventory
70 Finance
80 Human resources
90 Safety and environment

 

By |2016-11-24T11:21:49+11:00May 8th, 2014|Business process analysis, Documentation methods, Plain language, Word tips|0 Comments
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