Written process documentation is a key attribute of any system of internal controls. And, the trend today in auditing, compliance and risk management is towards requiring more written documentation of a wider range of a company’s policies and procedures. This is not just true for public companies but also for private companies and not-for-profits as well.
Many companies lack process documentation. This is because the writing process is more involved than just setting pen to paper. It involves thinking about how you currently do something and questioning whether or not there’s a better way to do it. And, that gives rise to “change” which is a difficult enough process to manage. We believe there is no better way to improve processes than to set about to write them down. It is that exercise that identifies and forces decisions about change.
Too often process documentation projects are assigned to internal teams and fail for a variety of reasons, including:
- The project is assigned to people that already have “day jobs” with higher priorities;
- The internal team, though great in their current roles, lack the writing and flowcharting skills, experience or process investigation disciplines required for a process documentation project;
- The internal team lacks project management methodologies such as documentation formats and templates gained and developed over a large number of similar projects; and
- Many internal team members will lack the meeting facilitation skills needed to champion meaningful change that may be opposed by colleagues.
Managing change and documenting processes is something we’re heavily experienced at. We have completed numerous Process Improvement projects (which are all about change management) and the by product of that is always written process documentation. To prepare that project deliverable in an efficient and timely manner, we have developed a structured approach to process documentation which always consists of two phases of work. In Phase I we determine the scope of the documentation project and establish the project work plans. In Phase II we undertake Process Improvement and process documentation. Here is a highly summarized presentation of our approach.
PHASE I
Develop the Table of Contents
We always start by developing the Table of Contents. To do this we facilitate a client meeting using white boards and flip charts listing all the processes in a “cradle to grave” order. This is called “process decomposition” meeting. The Table of Contents defines the scope of the project and serves as a project road map.
While developing the Table of Contents, we always keep to the rule, “Process titles start with a verb”. By structuring the Table of Contents so that each line starts with a verb, we are essentially describing in that first word what is being done by that process. Then, one only needs to scan the Table of Contents to get a good insight to the overall processes.
It is important to develop the Table of Contents at the right level of detail. Otherwise either the manual is too high level and is useless or too detailed and never gets read. We usually go down two to three levels of detail only: (1) Mega processes; (2) Main processes; and (3) Sub processes. Sometimes we combine sections other times we break them apart until we get the right level of detail. We don’t try to write at the “desk top procedures” level as that is way too detailed.
Finalize the Project Plan
Once the Table of Contents has been finalized we now know the scope of the manual to be written by the number of processes listed in the Table of Contents. We then develop a detailed project plan using the Microsoft Project tool and we also develop a matrix that lists each section of the manual and the various steps to be performed on each section. We then track our progress against both the project plan and the matrix to identify any section that warrants attention.
PHASE II
Conduct Process Interviews
Only after Phase I has been completed is it time to begin process interviews. When drafting any new section of a process manual, we begin by interviewing the “Process Owner” or Go to Person; that’s the person that knows the most about how that process is being performed. That is how we learn how the process is performed within the context of a client’s unique operating environment. That person might also be a good source of Process Improvement ideas.
Identify Improvements to the “As Is” Processes
Once we have conducted the process interview with the Go to Person, we consider how the process is currently functioning as compared with our experience with how it should be functioning. We then begin determining how the process should work in a new “will be” environment, not in the “as is”. After all, we are consultants not scribes and our clients usually don’t bring us in to document what they do, but what they should be doing.
Document the “Will Be” Processes
We have found that the most efficient process documentation format is a combination of flowcharts and narratives. Think of a two column document with flowcharts down the left and narrative down the right. We use Microsoft Visio to develop the flowcharts, and copy and past them into Microsoft Word. The Word document we use is a template with the two vertical columns and with headers and footers already established. Naturally, there are many timesaving tricks we use in this process and the templates make it goes surprisingly quickly.
Build Team Consensus for Change
We take a highly collaborative approach on each documentation project in order to create buy in for the change we are recommending. Accordingly, we meet with the client’s project team weekly to review the documentation sections we’ve completed and to build consensus on the process changes we are proposing in order to take the client from the “as is” to the “will be”.
* * * * *
Process documentation is a key attribute of any system of internal controls and auditors, compliance officers and risk managers are more often insisting on proper and up-to-date process documentation. Process documentation projects are undoubtedly big efforts – usually not well suited to internally organized ad hoc teams. However, a properly structured and executed process documentation project will lead to the bigger goal of process efficiency and efficacy as a result of the process improvements that are identified during the writing process.
© 2009, The Fast Track Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.