Having worked in a number of rapidly growing companies, I have experienced first hand how important robust and effective policies, processes and procedures can be. Many business owners can become confused between these 3 terms. Simply put….

• Policy – is a rule. Eg: Your company has a fleet of company cars. What are the rules around employee use of a company car.
• Process – Steps involved in the policy execution Eg: A new employee commences work, how does one allocate them a company car.
• Procedure – A checklist list detailing all the information required to allocate a company car.

Policies, processes and procedures do not need to be complicated. They can be a vital tool in capturing intellectual property and defining how a task should be done. They can also be a very effective training tool and ensure company expectations are clearly documented.Capturing process and procedure are also vital for succession planning. If you have a staff member, who is very efficient at their work, do you know why? What processes are they following in their head to accomplish their tasks?

Below is an example of part of a process for a e-commerce business delivering product globally