Develop and document policies and procedures
So you have your business all set up and running and you couldn’t be more than happy about that. It is true, you should be happy, you have been going a long way and have done a lot of effort to get to this point. Keep up the good work !!!
You only have to make sure that things are developing in the right direction. As an organization needs some steering and control, you have to make sure that the rules that have been set by you stay the same or improve.
Do not forget that the moment you have started the business all rules were made by you, therefore you knew what and why you did certain things in a certain way. You knew all the rules that drove your business.
It gets complicated the moment you develop and are not anymore the only one involved in your organization. Imagine you have about 10 employees, at this stage, you might say it is easy there are a handful of people that you can talk to. Imagine now you have 100 employees, not that easy anymore you cannot talk any longer to each and everyone involved. You need a certain something that needs to be consistent and easy to communicate.
Well you just came to the point when you need written policies and procedures.
Why would you need policies?
There are several reasons why policies are needed in any organization. Further below are some of the reasons why you need policies in your organization :
- policies define the “red line” of your organization in a consistent way
- policies are aligned with the development and strategy of your business organization
- policies give clarity and transparency to management and employees actions
Why would you need procedures?
Procedures define in more detail the set policies of any business organization. You have to make sure that the set policies are detailed enough through procedures that employees at the operational level can understand and follow.
There are also several reasons for the need for procedures, here are some :
- procedures drive consequence and predictability at the operational level
- procedures detail the logic and give specific instructions about set policies
- procedures can raise your work quality
Make sure that policies and procedures define the rules of your business in a productive way do not over-regulate. Your policies and regulation need also to be communicated, therefore you have to document them, write them down and make them accessible. Communicate them to your team, make sure they have understood your view and the rules of your business.
Policies and procedures are the agreed rules that define your business, make them count and don’t be shy to develop them alongside your business.
Policies and procedures are not fixed, both need to be reviewed and reanalyzed from time to time. Policies and procedures reflect the agreed set of rules that have been valid at a certain moment in time for a specific duration. Business organizations and business environment change, don’t let policies and procedures drag you back, evolve and develop them together with the business.