Business operations manual provides a how-to guide to operating a business, a business handbook of best practices.
They are a powerful tool for businesses to make sure their staff has the foundational knowledge they need to work better together. They typically cover topics like company history, company values, policies and procedures, benefits, workplace safety, equipment use, and much more.
The best thing you can do is create a manual that lays out exactly what needs to happen in each step of every business process. One of the most important steps in creating an operations manual is getting everything documented correctly. Think about all the aspects of your business that you manage on a daily basis–and then map out how you want those processes done.
What is a Business Operations Manual?
A business operations manual is a handbook for running a business.
Outlining the tasks, processes, procedures and policies for how the business should run gives you a point of reference for best practices. It should be updated regularly to make sure it reflects current business practices and policies.
Think of it as a detailed guide to the day-to-day operation of a company. It includes all information about the business and anything else that would be useful for employees to know.
Think of it as a knowledge base for employees a single place to answer questions and explain a process, saving them from having to bother someone else for the answer.
Why a Operational Manual is Important?
Clearly defines and outlines company policies and procedures.
It provides consistency for your business by laying down the ground rules for how you want your business to run. The manual should cover everything from company values to disaster recovery in the event of a key member of the team is hit by a bus “Bus Factor” or a continuity plan in a case of a major catastrophe.
Help employees avoid common mistakes, establish uniform best practices and provide processes for consistent results which is great for customers.
Businesses are their processes. Success stems from how you do something so well everyone wants your product or service over another. Fully documented processes allow them to be executed perfectly time after time.
When you buy a new car you don’t just know how it works as all cars function differently by reading the manual you can understand how to use the car and get the best possible results. The ford motor company realised that from the very begin, how important this was so they supplied an operation manual in 1919.
What is included in an operations manual?
The operations manual is a complete guide to any company that will be the handbook of how to run the business and act as a “single source of truth” for employees. It provides a blueprint for workflow, processes and procedures that will help keep operations running smoothly.
Include information about all the different departments in the company, personnel policies, employee responsibilities, and what documents need to be filed in which locations – it should provide everything from a business chart to job descriptions.
An operations manual is a guide for what to do and especially when things go wrong. It helps employees know how to handle a range of situations, from a power outage to a security breach for example.
How do you write an operations manual?
It should document the day-to-day operations. Give staff members step-by-step instructions on how to do their jobs.
Use the knowledge you gained from your experiences and other members of the team to write an effective guide.
Add tacit knowledge gained from team members who are actually performing the tasks or processes. Little things they might do that makes things work even better and stored in their mind not documented anywhere for the future.
What is the purpose of an operations manual?
It contains information such as policies and procedures, employee responsibilities, health and safety guidelines and quality standards. This document is crucial in maintaining the company’s efficiency and productivity.
Having a manual for your operations provides a way of making sure tasks can be carried out efficiently and reliably. It reduces mistakes, limits human error and creates consistency in how tasks are performed and how team members perform their jobs.
Use the manual to help with staff training programs, it ensures that staff members know what to do and how to do it. The training programs will give employees the knowledge they need to do their jobs effectively but can use the manual as their reference guide. It should include information on how to do their jobs as well as the philosophy behind the job role.
What is included in an operations manual?
An operations manual is a “handbook” that every business needs to run efficiently.
It should include all of the day-to-day business operations, instructions on how to do specific tasks, what is not allowed, and how to correct mistakes. This can all include instructions for marketing or recruiting employees, posting an opening for a job, running payroll processes, and much more.
- Company employees and hierarchy
- Job roles and descriptions – The role within the business with documented skills, responsibilities, who they answer to, their boss.
- Documented processes, procedures and policies
- Emergency planning strategy and procedures – Most likely to occur, and how the best way damage can be limited.
Include in-depth descriptions and explanations for every task to workflow diagrams and step-by-step instructions for completing tasks in any business process.