A comprehensive library that contains hundreds of policies and procedures, along with hundreds of supporting reports, forms, and job descriptions – Over 1,000 documents in all.  A library where all of the procedures have the same format.  A library of editable MS Word templates that you could easily change if you wanted to change them.

The procedures make complete “how to” guides for just about every business function you can think of, which are arranged in various company departments throughout the library. Then, in each department, there is a department manual which goes into detail about that business category.

Your Policies and Procedures Are Ready…

Yes, it is possible, and you too could have access to just such a policies and procedures library. All you have to do is look through the Bizmanualz collection of Policies and Procedures Manuals.  Find the department manual you need and the next thing you know… Your policies and procedures are ready!

Select from

• Accounting Policies
• Financial Procedures
• HR – Human Resources Employee Manual
• IT – Information Technology Procedures
• Sales & Marketing Policy
• ISO Quality Manual
• Security Plans
• Disaster Management
• or a business sampler that contains a little bit of everything.

Choose any one of the finest policies and procedures manuals available, developed by Bizmanualz.  Your satisfaction is guaranteed.  All of the Bizmanualz MS Word templates are instantly downloadable for your immediate use.  Start today… Your policies and procedures are ready!

Document management software is for managing paper documents. Find them, retrieve them, and print them out. With policies and procedures management, we are managing electronic documents, which are just files. A procedure does not have to be paper.

A procedure could be an audio file, a video file, or a Visio flow chart, process map, or graphical job aid. No standard requires paper based systems. Standards such as FDA, ISO, Sarbanes-Oxley, or Joint Commission require procedures but nothing says a procedure must be written down on paper. They just have to be controlled. Yet, we are so used to written procedures and we have written so many of them that it is hard to get away from paper-based thinking.

Will The Next Generation Want To Read Paper?

The next generation is growing up with the iPhone, iPad, and the internet. They are used to graphical interfaces, video games, social media, and mobile applications that are interactive, colorful, and intuitive. Compare these with paper polices and procedure and they instantly think—boring, old school, antique. Paper is so yesterday. Remember the paperless office? Perhaps it’s here. In the future, you will read your paper on your iPad. Search for instant information on your iPhone. And expect a graphical interface for your information. Will your policies and procedures be ready?

What Will Your Policies And Procedures Look Like In The Future?

I am not talking about paper documents. I am talking about electronic files instead of document files. Electronic procedures can incorporate videos, or audio. Spreadsheets can be controlled and released too. Any type of electronic file can be used as a procedure. Electronic files are more platform independent too. Video and audio can be played back easily on mobile devices.

Bizmanualz new OnPolicy procedures management software makes procedure management easy. Any type of procedure can be controlled and released to any user in their original electronic format. Electronic documents are perfect for expense report spreadsheet templates, Word templates for business letters, PowerPoint presentations, logo graphics and brand standards or instances where you need to control the starting point for a document. Of course you can also release video or audio work instructions. Basically any electronic document can be controlled and released, which makes company templates easy to distribute.”

Once you realize that electronic policies and procedures do not require paper, then the whole world of policies and procedures changes. Give it a try, but you will need OnPolicy Procedures Management Software to control your work.

The New OnPolicy Procedures Library incorporates 960 business documents into a single toolbox of helpful “how-to” procedures for the day to day management of any business.  These best practices for the efficient management of any business or company will help your business improve productivity, build operational consistency, and prepare for compliance.

Every department is covered with a brief introduction into how the department function works, a department management manual, and detailed department policies, procedures, and forms. Every procedure acts as a “how-to” guide to specific job functions with supporting materials included for: job descriptions, legal agreements, checklists, reports, logs, and letters.

Plus other important documents include:

policies procedures manuals

• ISO 9001 Quality Manual
• Employee Handbook
• IT security
• Embezzlement Prevention
• Internet Marketing
• Disaster Recovery
• Security Planning
• Business Management Guide

Procedures cover all of your important business functions for:

• Hiring employees
• Collecting accounts receivable
• Implementing computer security
• Orchestrating sales
• Raising capital
• Controlling costs

The OnPolicy Procedures Library stands heads and shoulders above the rest because it’s a “teaching” business library. The procedures make complete “how to” guides for just about every business function you can think of, which are arranged in various company departments throughout the library. Then, in each department, there is a department manual which goes into detail about that business category.

For example, the section on Accounting starts off with the core accounting cycles for cash, assets, and revenue. Management responsibilities, job descriptions, and daily reports are covered with clear explanations of who does what, when. The policies and procedures are great for compliance but the reports, forms and job descriptions provide a complete package that can help any business build the consistency and repeatability needed for success.

These business policies and procedures are designed to assist busy managers by providing a framework for standard operating procedures.  The software allows you to easily edit any and all documents in MS-Word or OpenOffice.  For more information go to: OnPolicy Procedures Library.

1. Extra inventory needed while you wait for your restocking order that is in transit from your chosen low-wage manufacturer. Remember, it is travelling slowly over the ocean a long distance away.
2. Extra “safety stock” inventory to protect you from supply chain interruptions caused by a host of unkown transit risks (pirates, weather, port delays, power disruptions, etc).
3. Unplanned expediting costs (overnight, overseas delivery) of critical parts that will definitely happen but will not be proposed in the initial cost justification for going overseas.
4. Extra long travel by management and engineers to fix problems, perform supplier audits, and develop business relationships within your supply chain.
5. Communication and time delays caused be managing information hand-offs, feedback, and the overall flow of information. Time is money…
6. Reallocation of overhead to the remaining assets or cost structures that are left behind, which raises those costs and makes the remaining operations the target of the next outsourcing project.
7. Warranty claims, scrapped product and lost business due to quality problems, delivery of different goods than what was ordered, and customers growing impatient with off-shore goods.
8. Lost market share (in the low wage country and later worldwide) due to your new supplier learning your business, your products (including manufacturing), and ultimately competing with you in the market (regardless of what you think your legal agreement may say to the contrary).
9. Currency volatility or rising prices (inflation) in the low wage country, which means your low wage choice will not be low wage forever.
10. Political risk, government laws and regulation changes, or tariffs and duties imposed because of unemployment, trade deficits, or increasing nationalism in either the low wage country or your own.

I think that once you calculate all of your hidden costs associated with your Total Cost of Ownership you may find that low wage labor costs are not the whole story. You may want to rethink your strategy of moving your operations off-shore.

1. Visionary.  Leaders are able to create a vision of a positive future, which begins the process of getting buy-in from the team.  A leader without a vision is not a leader all, they are called a manager.
2. Strategic.  A good leader understands how to capitalize on the assets of the organization in order to create a successful vision.
3. Competent.  Leaders know their business.  They know the market and they know their customers.  This enables them to set a vision and strategy based on knowing, not guessing.
4. Perceptive.  Leaders notices the details, which can be strung together to make the strategy.  Leaders pay attention to the details and ensure that those details don’t fall through the cracks during implementation.
5. Articulate.  Leadership requires communicating the strategy in order to accomplish the vision.  A leader must be a good communicator, must give speeches, and must motivate the group towards the vision.  Leaders get buy-in to ensure results.
6. Passionate.  In order to lead others, one must truly believe in and care about the strategy and vision.  Nobody wants to follow a half-hearted leader.
7. Assertive.  A leader must overcome many obstacles and objections when trying to lead.  Maintaining ones position requires sticking to your beliefs.
8. Dedicated.  Leading means making a commitment to the cause.  Leaders lead by example and are the first to act on the strategy they are espousing.
9. Adaptive. Continuous improvement applies to leaders as well as processes.  A good leader knows when to accommodate others to achieve a greater good.
10. Decisive.  Making decisions is what a leader does.  Decisions may not always be liked but leaders make them anyway to keep the organization moving forward.

Top Ten Qualities of an Effective Business Leader

1. Visionary
2. Strategic
3. Perceptive
4. Competent
5. Articulate
6. Passionate
7. Assertive
8. Dedicated
9. Adaptive
10. Decisive

What are your top ten traits of an effective business leader?

• ISO 9000 contains the definitions and terminology used by the ISO 9001 standard.
• ISO 9001 contains the actual QMS requirements used for certification or registration audits.
• ISO 9004 is a set of guidelines that can be used to develop a quality management systems.

Although,  the three documents make up the ISO 9000 set, the main one that everyone concerns themselves with is the ISO 9001 standard itself.  About every seven years a new ISO 9000 set is released.  The release date is then added to each set to complete the naming convention.  So, ISO 9001:2008 is the full name of the standard and the current release used for ISO registration.

What is the difference between ISO 9001, 9002 and 9003?

We no longer use ISO 9002 or ISO 9003.  These names were used in the older ISO 9000:1994 standard that was obsoleted by the ISO 9000:2000 version, which in turn, was obsoleted by the latest ISO 9001:2008 version.  This may sound confusing but ISO rules require the standards to be reviewed and updated periodically to stay current with technological and market developments.  We don’t expect the next update until ISO 9001:2015.

Since the IOS is an international organization, it would have a different acronym in different languages.  Hence, the ‘ISO’ in English versus the ‘IOS’ in Swiss or the ‘OIN’ in French (Organisation internationale de normalisation).

The ISO standards are not named after an acronym.  ISO comes from the Greek word ‘isos’ for equal.  All ISO standards use the name ISO to mean ‘isos’ and not to mean an acronym.  So now, no matter the country or language that ISO is used in, the ISO standards are always pronounced the same.  It is not an I.S.O. standard as many people think.  It is an ISO standard. ISO is one word.  No pauses.

The blog content comes from our training classes, consulting practice, and the policies and procedures manuals themselves.  Over the years we have written about a wide range of topics.  People still ask questions and we are still answering them every month.

Below are some of the top questions regarding quality management systems.

1. What’s the Difference Between Policies and Procedures?
2. Are Procedures the Same as Work Instructions?
3. What’s the Difference between Corrective Action and Preventive Action?
4. What’s the Difference Between Verification and Validation?
5. What is a Lean ISO 9001 Quality Management System?
6. What Procedures Should You Write?
7. What is Continuous Improvement?
8. What is a Process Map?
9. How Are PDCA Cycles Used Inside ISO 9001?
10. Why Policies and Procedures Don’t Work.

If you have any questions about ISO 9000, quality, lean six sigma, or management systems design, ask them below and I will be happy to answer them in an upcoming blog post.

PoliciesProcedures.com, our companion website provides hundreds of example policy and procedure templates to choose from.  Launched in July, 2008, the site offers procedure templates in easily editable Microsoft Word format. You can instantly download the the right procedure(s) and immediately start editing in Microsoft Word. Each policy procedure documents is taken from the Bizmanualz Policies and Procedures Library.

Writing policy and procedure documents can be a whole lot easier with a sample in front of you.  So give it a try and make your life easier with downloadable procedure samples.

What’s A Policy?

A policy communicates an organization’s principles.  Companies have many different types of policies.  In marketing there is a pricing policy on how customers will be charged for their products.  Accounting will have an accounting policy on how reimbursement is issued, depreciation is booked, or purchase decisions are made.  Your policy on quality (a quality policy) is a required element of an ISO 9001 quality management system.

Company policy is used to influence decisions that employees must make.  We use company policy as a guide to company decision making.  Unfortunately, company policy is also used to make rules (think about an employee policy from your Employee Handbook) like a no smoking policy, policy against drinking, or policies for how to dress on the job. Employee policy is focused on office rules that are used to support your management principles.

Procedure Policy

But a company policy can also be seen as a mission statement, as part of a business procedure (think an accounting policy and procedure manual).  A policy in a procedure acts as a mini-mission statement containing the customer of the policy, it’s purpose, and a key performance indicator (KPI) to communicate how users know the procedure is working.

An example Accounts Receivable Procedure Policy:

Accounts Receivable personnel shall ensure that all outstanding customer invoices are paid in a timely manner.

In the Accounts Receivable policy you see the customer is the Accounts Receivable personnel. The purpose is to ensure outstanding customer invoices are paid and the KPI is a timely manner. The procedure needs to define what timely manner means.  A timely manner could be 30 days today (net 30) and 20 days next quarter (net 20), which provides a process improvement objective of 33%.

What’s A Procedure?

Company procedures assist companies in building consistency between each and every employee.  Procedures define a series of steps, actions, or methods to be followed as a consistent and repetitive approach to accomplish an end result.  Company procedure answers the “how” questions as in “how do you collect receivables.”

An example Accounts Receivable Procedure:

1. Send the first notice-invoice immediately (same day) as the sale.
2. Produce a receivables aging report.
3. Send a second notice to all invoices outstanding for 30 days.
4. Call all invoices outstanding for 45 days.
5. Send a third notice to all invoices outstanding for 60 days.
6. Call all invoices outstanding for 75 days.
7. Send all invoices outstanding for 90 days to collections.

A procedure could be something as simple as a checklist.  The goal of a procedure is to provide consistency.  Using simple checklists is the easiest way to begin to get consistency in your business.

The Difference between Policy and Procedure

A policy communicates an organization’s principles.  A company procedure assists companies in building consistency.  The main difference between a policy and procedure is that the policy communicates a direction whereas a procedure communicates the steps you take in the direction.  Company policy answers the “what” and your company procedure answers the “how” question.

You can view a free sample procedure at our samples section.