Documenting procedures can be a daunting task initially. There are a few key criteria that need to be considered when Documenting your procedures:

Be precise and clear – Try not to use any lingo. Keep the sentences short, precise and succinct. You are not writing a story. You are writing steps to enable someone to complete a task. So it needs to be easy to read and understand;

Be consistent – The procedures should be recorded in a similar format, to promote consistency throughout all procedures. Terms and references should also be consistent;

Avoid any errors – Your procedures should not have any spelling errors and must be grammatically correct;

Be compliant – Ensure that all action steps are sufficient to produce the required compliance;

Be dynamic – Well written procedures should provide enough information for a task to be adequately performed, with optimal results produced and all with the least amount of time and effort required. Procedures should be flexible and designed to be able to adapt to any changing environments and therefore need continuous improvement. Ensure you there is no static value placed on any procedure which may change in time.

Be fluent – Ensure the steps of your procedures are correctly designed and in a logical order. There shouldn’t be any missing links between any of the steps. You may want to run/execute the procedure i.e. simulate that procedure execution to ensure it is correctly performed by your team when required.