The jaguar we are tackling right now.

Policies Procedures Processes

S

Policies, Procedures, Processes

S Many similarities exist between these three terms.

Policy

S A good example of a Policy is:

A new policy for handling sensitive mail. From: CEO Sent: Thursday, October 11, 2007 2:11 PM To: Acct., Accts payable, HR, COO Subject: New Procedure for Handling Sensitive Mail when received

Process

S A good example of a Process is:

The mail gets delivered every day. When the mail is delivered it is sorted. When the mail is sorted a determination is made regarding what to do with each piece of mail.

Procedure
S A good example of a Procedure is:
1. If ANYTHING comes in certified mail to Company, I want to see it first. 2. If I am not here for some reason, please give it to Ellen, and Ellen please

let me know about it as soon as possible.

3. The same applies to anything from an attorneys office, a served

subpoena, or other government type action.

4. The same would hold true for ANYTHING that is delivered by a courier

that appeals to have legal implications. It doesnt matter whether these items are addressed to me or not. I am the Registered Service Agent for the Company, but many times people dont look up on the state records who the RSA is for a company before sending legal documents.

For our purposes

S We are interested in both processes & procedures. S A process is a way of doing something. S A procedure is a particular way of doing something.

Next step

S We have created a folder on the N:drive titled,

Processes
S Within this folder are subfolders for each department or

area as identified by the Company.

S Please begin populating your departments folder by

copying into it the processes you already have written either on the N:drive or on your personal workstation.

Your labels

S Lists S Procedures or processes S Guidelines

S How tos
S Steps

We are interested in seeing all of these. If in doubt, put it in there and let us worry about doing the sorting.

Documentation of Relationships
Policy
The laws or regulations that govern or constrain operations

Standards
The operational definitions or acceptance criteria for products

Constrain the processes

Processes
Describes what happens within the organization to build products that conform to the standards in accordance with the policies of the organization

are implemented by

Procedures
Describes how to or step-by-step instructions that implement the process

are supported by

Training
Knowledge and skills required to use a procedure

Tools
Support needed to implement the procedures, i.e. the manual