writing & editing

Writing
Procedures
BY DEBORAH K. LOCKWOOD
Senior Member, Rocky Mountain Community

riting policies and procedures may just be a

part of your next job.
But Ive never written
them before, you say. Not to fear. If you
are a technical communicator, then you
already possess the skills required of a
procedure writer.
In this article I will present things to
consider when writing procedures, list
items to include in a procedure manual,
present owcharting as a technique for
determining a procedures main line,
introduce play script procedure format,
and list the identifying information you
might include in each procedure set.
Policy vs. Procedure

The terms policy and procedure go

together like bread and butter, peanut
butter and jelly, or Simon and Garfunkel. But, as with these other pairings,
each item remains distinct.
In Writing Effective Policies and Procedures,
Nancy J. Campbell describes policies as
guidelines that regulate organizational
action. They control the conduct of people and the activities of systems. Campbell describes a procedure as the normal
method of handling things. Its a protocol for implementation, the how-to.
In short, policies state facts, and procedures give instructions. And just as in all
technical communication, policies and
procedures are at their best when they are
clear, concise, correct, and comprehensive.
Ingredients for Procedures

The Basics
No matter what kind of procedure
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you write or for what industry, wellwritten procedures have a few things in
common:
They are always mindful of the user.
They contain steps that the user
can understand.
They employ action language.
Sections
The content of a procedure manual depends on the topic and the industry, but
most manuals contain certain standard
sections. Although you might not use all
of the following sections in every procedure manual, I have seen them used in
manuals for various organizations:
General = Contains a high-level explanation of the procedure, usually condensed to one sentence
Purpose = Contains a concise statement of the reason for the procedure
Applicability = Contains a denition
of when the procedure applies and an
explanation of the consequences of
non-compliance
Denition = Contains a list of terms
and their denitions
Procedure = Contains the action steps
necessary to perform the task
Reference = Contains a list of laws and
regulations; may also contain crossreferences to related procedures
Forms = Contains sample forms
Using Flowcharting to Write
Procedures

At times, trying to determine the

main ow of a complex process can be
confusing. When I get confused, I create a owchart or process diagram. This

technique helps me to analyze the entire process by breaking it down into its
individual parts.
The parts of a process are represented in a owchart using boxes, circles,
diamonds, and other shapes. Lines connect the parts of the process. Most connecting lines use arrows to indicate the
direction of the process or the order in
which each part occurs.
Although the symbols you use to represent parts of a process may depend on
the industry for which you are writing,
Ive included a few standard symbols to
get you started.
Oval terminal symbol = Contains the
beginning or end of a process
Rectangle process symbol = Contains a
step or action
Diamond decision symbol = Contains
a decision point (e.g., yes, no)
Parallelogram input/output symbol =
Contains the input or output action
(e.g., input is entering a customers
name, output is printing a monthly
statement)
Line with arrow = Identies the process direction
Figure 1 is an example of a owchart
for a task most of us perform: purchasing a soda from a vending machine.
Once you have identied the parts of
the process by developing a owchart,
you can more easily see the procedures
main line. You can also see the exceptions by following the No answers depicted in the decision symbols.
Using the Play Script Procedure
Format

Several years ago, while I was writing

procedures for nancial institutions, my
manager suggested that I read The New
Playscript Procedure: Management Tool for
Action by Leslie H. Matthies. Matthies
posited a theory of writing procedures
in a play script format that was new
at the time. When writing play script
procedures, you treat the person performing the actionthe actorjust as
though you were writing a script for a
theatrical play.
Matthies says the play script procedure style is strictly in the work mode.
Actors. Simple words. Sequence. Brief
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writing & editing

statement of the action. When you write
your procedure, you place the actors
name in the left column of the page.
Then put down a sequential number,
starting with 1. These numbers indicate
the order (sequence) in which the various actions are to take place. After the
number, start the action sentence with
an action word. Examples: Sends, repairs, checks, decides. (pp. 8586)
Below is an excerpt from an example
of a procedure written in the play script
format (Figure 2).
As you can see, Matthies is a proponent of using action words in the present tense, of using third person, and of
keeping sentences short.
In practice, we chose to rename the
Actors column Responsibility, which
still identied the person who is responsible for the action but t more easily
into our organizations language. By using the play script format, we were able
to document our processes effectively
even when they owed through multiple actors.

1.1.1 Procedure 1
1. Step 1
2. Step 2
3. Step 3
1.1.2 Procedure 2
1. Step 1
2. Step 2
3. Step 3
Making It Better

Select one logical cycle of action by

determining where the task you are describing begins and ends. For example,
a procedure that tells a bank teller how
to post a deposit starts when the teller
receives the customers deposit item

and ends when the teller gives the customer the receipt.
Follow the main line of action. To follow a main line, ask yourself, How many
transactions go through this system in one
period of time (e.g., one week)? If the
total number of transactions in a week is
100 and 90 of them go through the same
steps, then that is the main line. Dont
get tangled up in the exceptions; rather,
arrange your work steps in a sequence
that assumes there are no exceptions or
variations. After you have arranged the
regular actions in sequence, you can look
at the exceptions and variations.
Add the exceptions and variations by

Figure 1. A owchart for purchasing a soda.

Establishing Style Guidelines

As with other writing deliverables,

establishing style guidelines prior to
the actual writing makes the process
quicker and easier. Include guidance
such as how you will handle the following topics:
Manual format
Template usage
Fonts
Section titles
Numbered sections
Numbered lists
Capitalization
Bold
Italics
Numerals
Warnings
Using Numbered Sections

Some organizations require you to

number the sections in procedures
manuals; some do not. Ive seen procedures numbered, as shown below, in
nancial institutions and government
agencies, and unnumbered procedures
in the software industry.
1.0 General
1.1 Procedure
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November 2005

writing & editing

providing a short side channel to the action. For example, you could indent the
procedure and follow the exception using alternative steps. If the exceptions
alternative procedure has several steps,
consider writing a separate procedure
for the exception.

Figure 2. A procedure in play script format.

Actors

Executive Secretary

Keep the following in mind as well:

Identify what work people must do to

achieve the nal result.
Identify who should do each part of
the task.
Arrange these work steps in a logical
sequence.
Make your procedures a manageable
length.
Ensure that the procedure steps are
concise and correct. Consider testing
the procedures by asking someone
else to perform the steps and notify
you if there are sections that are incorrect or unclear.
Write simply and clearly, choosing
your words carefully so the message
is precisely what you intend to
convey.
Organizing

Once you have written your procedures, you must organize them in a way
that is logical and accessible to the user.
There are two basic methods of organizing a procedure manual:
Alphabetical = Organize the book alphabetically by title of the procedure.
Functional = Establish functional categories (e.g., human resources, personal computers, safe deposit boxes)
and place each procedure under one
of those categories.
You must also gure out a method to
distinguish each procedure from the
next. To do so, consider including the following information in each procedure:
Procedure manual title
Procedure name
Procedure number (if you are using
numbered sections)
Effective date
Supersedes date
Change number
Page number
Direct questions to department or
person name
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Action
1. Upon receipt of time cards (daily from Accounting) sorts by department, places in Form 683,
TIME SUMMARY ENVELOPE, entering department designation.
2. Delivers to department clerks.

Department Clerk

3. Distributes time cards to all personnel.

Employees (all)

4. Prepare time cards as instructed in procedure

No. 71, DAILY TIME TICKETS.
5. Signs time card at start of each day, writing
department number after signature, enclosing in
parentheses, such as (12), (15), (17), etc.

Planning for Updates

Remember that whatever you write

today will probably be superseded at
some point in time, so plan for this
eventuality. Consider up front how you
will handle updates.
There are basically two circumstances
under which you are likely to change
procedures:
When a process or regulation changes
When a certain amount of time has
elapsed (e.g., one year)
Use the following questions to prompt
a discussion of how your organization
will handle updates.
How will you be notied of changes?
How often will the manuals content be reviewed (establish a review
cycle)?
Who will review the manual?
Who will approve changes?
How will you notify your audience of
changes?
How will you ensure that everyone is
using the correct version?
You will also need to set up some kind
of archival system so that you can produce a copy of an old procedure when
necessary.
Summary

Because policies state facts and

procedures give instructions, most
organizations have a great need for

effective policies and procedures. A

technical communicators skills are
easily transferable to the world of procedure writing.
SUGGESTED READINGS
Campbell, Nancy J. 1998. Writing Effective Policies and Procedures: A Step-by-Step
Resource for Clear Communication. New
York: AMACOM Books.
Matthies, Leslie H. 1977. The New Playscript Procedure: Management Tool for Action. Stamford, Connecticut: Ofce Publications, Inc.
Wieringa, Douglas, Christopher Moore,
Valerie Barnes, Charlene R. J. Forslund,
Susan G. Hill, Wendy J. Reese, and Ronald Wilson. 1993. Procedure Writing Principles and Practices. Columbus, Ohio:
Battelle Press.
Deb Lockwood is a senior technical writer
for CSG Systems, Inc. She is a member of
STCs Rocky Mountain community, where
she serves as the vice president, mentoring
committee manager, and contributor to
the online newsletter Technicalities. She
is also a member of the Consulting and
Independent Contracting (CIC) special
interest group. Deb has an MSS in applied communication from the University
of Denver and a BS in management from
Regis University.
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