Why You Need Documented Plans and Procedures
Nearly every business has been affected by the national response to COVID-19. New health and safety standards, working from different locations, and changing policies about how we interact with co-workers and consumers require adaptability. Schools, hospitals, restaurants, and retail are some of the many businesses that have been directly impacted by stay-at-home orders and social distancing policies. While a pandemic is an unprecedented challenge for all types of businesses, having a plan to address crisis situations is not a new idea.
Documented plans and procedures provide an organizational framework to support your team as you adapt to changes caused by COVID-19. Crisis Management and Business Continuity Plans are the overarching documents that describe your systematic approach to continue business when the unexpected interrupts your normal routine, including:
- Crisis Response Plans
- Emergency Response Plans
- Infectious Disease Plans
- Continuity of Operations Plans
- Return to Work Plans
Consistently structured policies and procedures contain the details of how you protect people and allow you to continue to focus on your area of expertise.
Whether you are scrambling to find work to replace projects that require face-to-face contact or if you are busier than ever adapting to working at home, now is the time to update your documents to ensure continuity of operations.
How We Can Help Your Business
When you decide to tackle the project of documenting or revising plans and procedures, we can help you be successful by working collaboratively with your team to customize plans that accurately and effectively describe how you work. We collaborate with you to customize plans to get your team back to work or to continue working and generating business during uncertain times.
At Shea, we have been working with companies to develop Disaster Management Plans for more than 20 years. We can work with your team to create customized documents that clearly describe how you plan to keep your employees and customers safe in the case of any emergency.
We have experience working remotely, and we can help you develop a plan to maintain accountability and productivity while your employees are working from home. We can use virtual meeting tools to conduct interviews and start developing customized documents to guide your business through uncertain times.
To get started, we offer a complimentary document assessment. We will review up to 8 pages of an existing source file or a draft of a new document and provide feedback to demonstrate the value of our services.
How We Build Better Documents
Our document development process can begin with a draft in need of revisions or with a blank page. You are the expert in your field, and we can help you document how your team plans to weather any storm. Our team of technical writers and editors work collaboratively with your team of subject matter experts (SMEs), technical authorities (TAs), and experienced professionals to create quality documents within your budget based on your schedule.
We develop documents based on the principles of usability engineering, and we focus on the end-user of the document. So, working with us to create or update your Plans, Procedures, Checklists, and Policies results in a better document. Our document development process aligns with recommendations from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), customized to fit your business needs.
Well-designed procedures can save you time and money, both of which are in short supply during a crisis. Clearly documented plans and procedures help your team successfully implement a consistent plan, which keeps people safe, and saves you time and money. Working collaboratively with our team of technical writers and editors ensures the best version of your documents are available to keep your team safely working through the current and any future crisis.
We also offer training courses on Process and Procedure Writing. If your job description includes developing these documents in-house, we can help you hone your writing skills and equip you with tools and methods to write user-friendly procedures.
Using a generic template or documenting your plans without assistance results in a more laborious process and a less effective document. Hiring our team of technical writers and editors will make the document creation process easier, and make your final document more usable. The goal of any documented plan or procedure is to prompt people to do specific actions, and we want to help you create documents that clearly and effectively show your team what they need to accomplish.
Now is the Time to Write or Revise Your Plans and Procedures
We design user-friendly documents, training courses, and consult with our clients about how to best meet their goals. Now is the time to document the structured plans for how you do business during and after a crisis situation. As you evaluate your current plans and procedures through real-time testing, we’re also available to consult with you about suggested revisions or updates. We have the experience and are committed to help you safely and responsibly keep your business on track throughout any type of crisis.
For up-to-date information about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, please refer to the CDC website. We hope you are well and that all of us can stay safe by working together.
Contact us today to start developing the documents you need to keep working safely!
