Importance of Documenting Your Procedures

I just sat in on the tail end of a presentation from Gail Nikol, President of Unique Business Solutions (www.ubsassociates.com) who spoke about the importance of documenting all of your processes and procedures. As many business owners already know, a procedure guide or standard operating procedure (SOP) manual, can help in so many ways- like when an employee leaves the company or simply goes on vacation. The problem is, about 80% of the companies don't have the manual because it takes time and effort. Here are a couple of things that I found particularly interesting in Gail's presentation: - The importance of an employee exit checklist. Things like changing passwords could have huge implications. - The only way you could ever get a project like this (creating a procedure guide) is with the help of your staff. Of course, some staff might think you are trying to get rid of them. To avoid this, tell all employees you will need their help (I can't imagine that your staff will think that everyone is getting fired).