An Easy Microsoft Word Policy and Procedure Manual Template

Microsoft Word Policy and Procedure

Creating a Microsoft Word policy and procedure manual is a relatively easy task. It gets more difficult as your business expands.

You will eventually need a more flexible tool that allows you to manage data better.

However, you can start off with a basic MS Word document policy and procedure template as this will be low cost. You could even purchase an MS Word template and this will allow you to roll it out to your team in minutes instead of months.

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What is an Office Procedure Manual?

An office procedure manual is a document or set of instructions that allows you to perform tasks by following the instructions. It can have a range of things in it depending on the type of business you have, how complex your business is and how it operates.

It doesn’t matter if you need an office manual template or a workshop manual template. The point is, you need something for your team to follow regardless of what they do.

It can also include policies and rules about how your team should behave in your business. As business owner, if you haven’t communicated this to your team then it is likely they will adopt their own standards.

The last thing you want is a team of people that behave however they want in your business. Setting the standards is good business and making sure everyone understands these requirements is essential to build team morale and provide a vision and direction for your business.

An easy way to do this is to use a policy and procedure template.

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Does your business really need one?

Does your business really need a policy and procedure manual ?

We think so.

Maybe the question should be – Can you really afford to not have one?

Can you really develop a good quality business without standards, guidelines and rules?

It would be very difficult to create a good quality business if you don’t have any rules, policies and guidelines for your team to follow.

They would be like a ship without a rudder.

Like the old saying:

“A man or woman without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder”.

There is a lot to add, and if your business is complex like ours, then there is a ton of information you need to add. Make a start today and think about the future of your business, because in 6 months time, 12 months time or 2 years time, you will be glad you spent the time to start.

I started our quality system in our business about 6 months after starting my business and it still continues to grow today, 20 years later.

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How do you how to Create a Manual in Word?

If you need to create a policy and procedure manual, the easiest way to do this is to use Microsoft Word. It is a fast and easy way to create a manual within minutes.

Microsoft Word is a fast and easy way to create a Quality System for your business

It’s even easier if you use a policy and procedure template you find online. You could download our template if you like and you would have your manual started immediately.

This will save you a massive amount of time. Creating something using MS Word is going to allow you to focus on getting the content right. It also allows you to see how things go in your business without outlaying too much expense. You need to know what is actually going to work and be the best for your business.

Every business is different and will require different methods of staff accessing the manual so starting out with an MS Word file could be a good planning tool for your Policy and Procedure Manual.

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MS Word, the easy way to start your policy and procedure manual

MS Word has been around for donkey’s years. This program is the staple diet of all IT keyboard warriors across the planet. If you need to create any simple document, chances are it was created on MS Word.

To create searchable documents it is a relatively easy task. However as your business expands it becomes difficult to manage. No doubt if you are just starting out in business, you need to keep your costs low. Using MS Word is the best way to create a policy and procedure manual for relatively low cost.

You can also source a Word policy and procedures template online to make your job easy.

Easy Accessibility is Essential

Think about how your team will be best interacting with your Quality System and make it as simple and as easily accessible as possible.

They need to be able to get instant, easy access to it and be able to read and understand it easily. If they can’t then chances are they won’t. No point in making a quality system that is cumbersome, difficult to use, or difficult to read.

Take away all potential roadblocks for staff using your quality system.

The last thing you need to do is make your team’s job harder. This defeats the purpose of having a good quality system to keep your business nimble and flexible.

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Create a Policy and Procedure Manual Fast with MS Word

So if you are going to create a policy and procedure fast with MS Word, check out some of the tips below you can utilize to speed things up. If you know how to use it, it saves a lot of time and you can produce professional documents very quickly.

Let’s take a look at a couple of great feature of MS Word. Firstly, the Automated Table of Contents. This feature is awesome. Create a quality system fast using a policy and procedure template with a table of contents already formatted.

Automated Table of Contents Benefits

The automatic table of contents in Word is great once you know how to use it. If you don’t, it will take a little bit to understand how it works. However, there are numerous benefits of using the automated table of contents feature.

A couple of these are:

Once it is set up – it is very easy to update your Procedure Manual;

It makes it very easy to plan out your document accurately;

You can easily see the context of your document every time it is updated in the Table of Contents;

It helps you plan your document and improve the overall structure.

Table of Contents Feature

Let’s take a quick look at some of the settings to speed things up for you.

So go to References then click Table of Contents in the left corner.

You can insert the type you want pretty easily. Changing it does become a bit harder but use the Styles to create your automated styles.

Click the image to enlarge.

How to Open MS Word Styles Box

To Open the MS Word Styles press the following keys together…

SHIFT CTRL ALT and the letter S.

Unreal! Yep – 4 keys at once…..

This will open up the styles and you can go through and change the styles to suit.

You can see the Styles box on the left hand side in the image below.

Click the image to enlarge.

Using the styles takes a bit of practice. There are plenty of options to consider and you might need to do some research online on how to make it work right.

Find and Replace Feature

The find and replace feature in MS Word is really powerful to replace text fast and accurately.

Step 1 – Find the Find and Select Button

You should find the option to open this feature in the top right hand corner of the screen. See below.

Step 2 – Click the More Button

Once the popup box opens, you can see there is an option to expand the box. See circled below.

You can see the options are now expanded and they can be hidden again by simply clicking the same box.

Step 3 – Enter the Text you want to Find and Replace

Now you can include the text you want to change in the options provided. Also note the other check boxes below this which allow some pretty powerful functions and are worth experimenting with.

The Find and Replace feature has plenty of options to try. Experiment with what they do because they can make your life a lot easier when amending a file.

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Procedures or Policies? What is the difference?

Policy Template Word

A policy is a formal document that outlines the ‘rules’ of your business. It can be quite detailed and should be easy to read and understand.

Make it complex and full of big and impressive words and your team are definitely going to ignore it. The last thing you want.

Procedure Template Word

A procedure is different to a policy. A procedure is like a step by step instruction. These instructions need to be detailed and include every single step. If you miss a step can you expect your team to get it right?

Now I hope that explains the difference. You can still create a quality system for your business using a policies and procedures template and combine the 2 together or keep them separate.

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What is an Example of a Policy?

The following page below is an example of a policy. This policy is an Anti-Bullying Policy. This type of document should be direct and to the point.

What is an Example of a Procedure?

The following image is an example of a very simple procedure. Creating a procedure is relatively easy. However, should you be breaking down the task into something small so it is manageable?

Providing images in the step by step process makes it easier to absorb the tasks. However, this is going to take you a lot of time to create.

Particularly if the process is complex and detailed. Speed it up by using a policy and procedure template.

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The Positive Benefits of Using Microsoft Word

OK, so there are massive benefits of starting a Policy and Procedure Manual with Microsoft Word.

It is very cost effective. All you need is MS Word software and you are ready to go.

It is easy to add information. You can simply open the document and start adding policies and procedures.

It is easy to update. Nothing to it. Just open up the file and away you go.

The search function is already in there and easy to use. Train your team to use the search function.

You can use MS Word to start things off and this will allow you to get content together which you can still use down the track if you decide to use another method such as a database.

Giving others access to the file is easy. They just need to know where it is.

The Negatives of Using Microsoft Word

Once your manual gets to a certain size it is going to be harder to manage.

You can’t really keep printing out your manual each time it gets updated.

It makes it hard to track changes if you want to track changes in your manual.

You cannot separate your manual into different permissions for each type of team member in your business. Some area you may not want your team to view.

Giving other access to the file might be risky. They could potentially change it which might have significant consequences to your quality control.

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MS Word Alternatives

You can create a procedure template in Word or a policy template in Word, however, think about these other packages too. Did you know there are a ton of alternatives to using MS Word?

Similar programs that allow you to do the same thing. If you check Google this is what pops up. There are quite a few alternatives to consider.

LibreOffice – Another Free Option

LibreOffice is another free alternative to MS Word. It is very similar however the best bit about it is it is free.

This open source software is great and will do the job for you with no dramas. The biggest benefit is that it is free. Something you should be looking out for if you are starting out in business.

LibreOffice functions much the same way as MS Word. It has a lot of the features of MS Word and all you simply need to do is get used to using it and before you know it you will be an expert and using it.

Save heaps of cash by using LibreOffice.

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MS Word Policy and Procedure Manual Template

Digital Documents Direct’s Microsoft Word Policy and Procedure Manual Template is below. Our template already comes set up a ready to go with the Automated Table of Contents in place.

This procedure manual template will allow you to instantly implement a Policy and Procedure Manual in your business in minutes instead of days.

It includes a ton of generic information that is applicable to almost any type of business. There are easy ways to update the template to fit your business simply using the Find and Select tool in MS Word.

Check it out at the following link. Click the image below.

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Let’s Hear Your Opinion

We would love to hear from you about how you are building your business.

Are you using a Procedure Manual Template at the moment? Did you start by using a policy and procedure template?

Have you already started creating a procedure manual with MS Word?

Do you use the MS Word Table of Contents?

Create a conversation below.

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Is MS Word Good Enough for a Procedure Manual?

Yes, MS Word is likely to be good enough at the beginning if your business is really small and you are starting from scratch. Once your business starts to grow larger you can then switch to something to manage all the data better.

What is the Easiest Way to Create Policies and Procedures

The easiest and fastest way to create policies and procedures for your business is to buy some temples. You can purchase generic templates and then modify to suit your business.

Will a Procedure and Policy Manual Improve My Business?

A Procedure and Policy manual is going to make a huge difference to your business by standardizing processes, increasing efficiency and improving moral. You cannot afford to not have one.

A Procedure and Policy Manual will take a long time to set up won't it?

Yes, a Procedure and Policy Manual is a lot of work. However, you will be rewarded significantly for your effort. You can also save a huge amount of time by purchasing templates online to speed up the process dramatically.