Bellcore Manual Of Construction Procedures Manual
Issue 5, September 2011 Blue Book - Manual of Construction Procedures Table of Contents SR-1421 vii Telcordia Technologies, Inc. — Enterprise License Restrictions. See restrictions on title page. Telcordia strictly prohibits the unauthorized distribution, download, or sale of this copyrighted material. Table of Contents 1 General. Issue 5, September 2011 Blue Book - Manual of Construction Procedures Table of Contents SR-1421 vii Telcordia Technologies, Inc. — Enterprise License Restrictions. See restrictions on title page. Telcordia strictly prohibits the unauthorized distribution, download, or sale of this copyrighted material. Table of Contents 1 General.
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Procedure manuals are useful tools for a variety of employment settings. Whether employees need to know how to operate the copy machine or how to complete required health and safety training, a procedure manual can offer an overview of the steps. Many employers design combined “policy and procedure” manuals, but it is important to recognize the distinction: policies reflect rules, while procedures reflect processes and how to complete them. In putting together an effective procedure manual, it is essential to focus on the procedure itself and provide the information that will be more useful to employees for accomplishing it.
Construction Procedures Manual
Qualities
A procedure manual should be simple to read and use. A procedure manual that requires its own procedure manual just to read it is not much use to any employee. Additionally, the procedure manual should be consistent in all elements, including style, design and information. A procedure manual is designed to assist others in completing a certain task, so it should be written with the readers in mind. The processes that are described should be clear and logical, so that all readers can follow the procedure without difficulty.
Features
Procedure manuals will vary in specific features, based on the type of information that is detailed. For the most part, however, effective procedure manuals are those that have clear and consistent formatting so that readers know how to follow the material. Paragraphs should begin and end without confusion, and readers should not have to wonder where one step ends and another begins. In describing steps, writers should use strong action verbs to ensure that readers know exactly what to do, and they should offer explanations and options where appropriate. Any icons, images or graphs/charts should be obvious to understand and simple to follow.
Writing Style
The writing style for a procedure manual should rely on clear and concise language. All procedural information should be accurate, and any acronyms should be clarified with an explanation in parenthesis--for instance, the 'Food and Drug Administration (FDA).' In procedure manuals that will be in circulation for some time, avoid using specific information that might become outdated quickly. Technical language and jargon that will be unfamiliar to most should be avoided.
Design
The design of the procedure manual will depend largely on the type of procedure that is being outlined, but some design recommendations apply for all procedure manuals. A good procedure manual uses a great deal of white space. That is to say, the manual is not overloaded with print but rather offers plenty of indentation and paragraph breaks to avoid scaring off the reader. Effective procedure manuals also have clear headings and sub-headings, as well as any other appropriate labels and outlining for many points.
Responsibilities
Those responsible for writing procedure manuals are also responsible for reviewing them periodically. If material becomes irrelevant, it should be removed or updated. If the information is not effective in helping employees, the manual should be revised and improved. A procedure manual is only as useful as the work it enables readers to accomplish, and if the manual fails to do that, the writer has the responsibility to change it.
References (3)
About the Author
Kristie Lorette started writing professionally in 1996. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in marketing and multinational business from Florida State University and a Master of Business Administration from Nova Southeastern University. Her work has appeared online at Bill Savings, Money Smart Life and Mortgage Loan.
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