What is Business Standardization? A thorough explanation of how to create a manual to achieve business standardization!

2. Standardization of operations through the creation of manuals with many benefits

Although we are known as "manual experts", there are many benefits to utilizing manuals in order to achieve standardization in our business operations, as shown below!

①Standardization of business quality: By clearly defining the procedures and methods of business through manuals, it is possible to standardize the quality of business.

Can also be used for personnel development and training: By utilizing manuals for education and training, it is possible to efficiently educate new employees and transferred employees.

③Elimination of wasted work: With the manual, work procedures are clarified, eliminating the need to confirm work content with someone or waste time by making mistakes.

④Can learn at any time: You can research procedures and learn business knowledge at your convenience, regardless of time or location.

By the way, ① can be achieved through "checklist creation" and ② can also be achieved through "education and training implementation", but "manual creation" can achieve all of ① to ④. Manuals are amazing!

How about it? Everyone, are you starting to want to create manuals?
For those who do, in the next chapter, we will introduce how to create manuals that can achieve standardization in business.

3. How to Create a Manual for Standardizing Business Processes

I was eager to create a manual, but it is actually dangerous to start writing one right away!
There are several steps that need to be taken before writing. You may think it's a hassle, but the quality of the manual - in other words, whether it can be used and standardized in the field - will be completely different depending on whether or not you have prepared beforehand! Let's work together to determine what preparations are necessary in order to create a manual that will be used by many people.

① Determine the purpose and audience of the manual

Firstly, it is extremely important to clearly define the purpose and audience of the manual. For example, decide on the purpose of the manual, such as "This manual is for understanding the overview and referencing the work procedures of ○○ tasks." Also, determine the audience, whether they are new employees or all employees involved in the tasks. When struggling with what and how much to write during the writing process, returning to the purpose and audience of the manual will help clarify what needs to be written. This will also prevent any inconsistencies in the content.

2. Identify the information to be included

Next, let's identify the information to be included in the manual. If we don't identify it first, the unfortunate result may be that just when we think the manual is complete, we realize that we have forgotten to write something. At our company, we use Excel to create an "organizational sheet" and identify the information (such as procedures, methods, important points, and precautions) that should be included in the manual. Then, based on the purpose of the manual and the readers, we decide how much information to include and check for any missing information.
It may sound easy when you hear it, but in reality, identifying information is a difficult task. If you want to know more about the process of identifying information, please read the blog below!

Just having a template is not enough! The essential first step for a business manual

③ Consider the table of contents structure for the manual

Once you have gathered the necessary information, let's consider the table of contents for the manual. Generally, it is common to follow the flow of the business. Depending on the purpose of the manual and the readers, it may be divided into basic and advanced sections, or include a troubleshooting chapter, or provide references for easy and convenient reading. If you would like to know more about the table of contents, please refer to the following blog.

[Manual Creation Introduction] Breaking free from "Can't find what you're looking for"! Tips for creating a table of contents to enhance the searchability of manuals.

④ Determine the design and style of the manual

As the final step in preparation, let's decide on the design and style of the manual.
The important thing here is to "organize the information included in the manual and devise how to make it easy for the reader to understand."
One of the factors that make manuals difficult to understand is "difficult to read." The main reasons for this are inconsistency in appearance and monotony. For example, the use of bold, italics, and bullet points may not be consistent, and there may be no contrast between headings and body text. By defining and unifying styles for different types of information such as titles, procedures, precautions, and supplementary notes, not only will it be easier for the reader to read, but it will also increase efficiency for the creator. Additionally, utilizing figures and tables can help create a well-organized and easy-to-understand manual.
When it comes to design, creating templates in advance will make it easier to create manuals in the future. If you don't have the time or know-how to create templates, we recommend using a manual creation tool. Examples include Noco Corporation's "Toaster Team" and Konica Minolta Japan Corporation's "COCOMITE." With these tools, anyone can easily create a manual that makes the reader want to read it.
However, many people struggle with design. There are also blogs that talk about design, so please refer to them.

[Introduction to Manual Creation] What is the design of an easy-to-understand manual?

You may have a lot of preparation to do beforehand, but once the above preparations are complete, let's start writing the manual! If you can complete this preparation perfectly, you should be able to create a clear and good manual, and also achieve efficient standardization of work!

4. Summary

Standardization of operations is an effort to unify procedures and methods in order to improve efficiency and quality. By utilizing manuals to achieve standardization, many benefits can be obtained such as uniformity of work quality, support for personnel development, and reduction of work time. When promoting standardization, please actively use manuals and work effectively.
In this article, we have explained the method of creating manuals for standardization of operations. We hope that this will be helpful in your work.