Administrative manuals are written documents that systematically concentrate a series of administrative elements in order to inform and guide the conduct of the company's members, unifying the performance criteria and courses of action that must be followed to meet the objectives set..
They include the legal, regulatory and administrative standards that have been established over time and their relationship with the functions, procedures and the way in which the company is organized.
The Administrative Manuals represent a practical guide that is used as a support tool for organization and communication, which contains orderly and systematic information, in which the objectives, norms, policies and procedures of the company are clearly established, which makes them very useful for efficient administration.
They are considered one of the most effective elements for decision-making in the administration, since they facilitate learning and provide the precise guidance required by human action in each of the administrative units that make up the company, mainly at the operational or of execution, since they are a source of information that tries to guide and improve the efforts of its members to achieve the proper performance of the activities entrusted to it.
Its preparation depends on the information and the needs of each company, to determine what types of manuals should be available, when properly prepared they can cover each and every one of the aspects of any component area of the organization, their scope is It is limited only by the demands of the administration.
They are eminently dynamic documents that must be subject to periodic reviews, to adapt and adjust to the changing needs of any modern company, they must not be inflexible and inhibit the creative capacity of the members of the organization, but must be constantly reformed as new ideas arise. that help improve the efficiency of the company.
A manual without revision and analysis whose content remains static becomes obsolete, and far from being a useful tool can constitute a barrier that hinders the development of the organization.
The manuals tend to standardize the criteria and knowledge within the different areas of the organization, in accordance with the mission, vision and objectives of its management.
Objectives and benefits of the Administrative Manuals
Among the objectives and benefits of the development of Administrative Manuals are:
- Set the policies and establish the administrative systems of the organization Facilitate the understanding of the objectives, policies, structures and functions of each area of the organization Define the functions and responsibilities of each administrative unit Ensure and provide staff with the information necessary to carry out the tasks that they have been entrusted and achieve uniformity in work procedures and the expected efficiency and quality of services Allow staff to save time and effort,Avoiding unnecessary control and supervision functions Avoiding waste of human and material resources Reducing costs as a consequence of increased efficiency in general Facilitating the selection of new employees and providing them with the necessary guidelines for the performance of their duties Establishing a basis for subsequent analysis of work and Improvement of systems and procedures Serve as a basis for training and qualification of personnel Understand the organizational plan by all its members, as well as their own roles and pertinent relationships Regulate the study, approval and publication of the modifications and changes that are made within of the organization in general or any of its component elements.Determine the responsibility of each job position and its relationship with the other members of the organization Clearly delimit the responsibilities of each work area and avoid inter-structural conflicts
Limitations in the elaboration of administrative manuals
Undoubtedly, the preparation and use of Administrative Manuals also has its limitations, which in relation to the benefits described are of less importance:
- Their design and updating has a high cost in terms of time and money. They have a limiting effect on the initiative of the staff due to the fact that they are sometimes excessively rigid and formal. The objectives of the Administrative Manuals can cause confusion because they are too broad in terms of their content Some of them are difficult to interpret and understand, which can cause confusion within the staff when carrying out their duties Staff reluctance to use the manuals as they are unattractive and in most cases voluminous in content In some cases the unions use to the Manuals as a tool to protect your rights, that is, they do not do anything additional unless it is duly established in the Manual.
Classification of administrative manuals
The classification of the Manuals can be summarized in General and Specific, being the General those that contain information of universal application for all the members of the organization and Specific those that their content is directed directly towards an area, process or particular function within it..
Without diminishing the importance of the diversity of Administrative Manuals that exist within companies, for the purposes of this text emphasis is placed on three types of manuals, which are the ones that offer the greatest contribution to understanding the central subject under study:
- Organization, Rules and Procedures, Positions and functions
Organization Manual
It is a manual that explains in a general and condensed way all those aspects of general observance within the company, aimed at all its members to help them to know, become familiar and identify with it.
In general terms, it explains in detail the structure of the company, indicates the areas that comprise it and the relationship that exists between each of them for the achievement of organizational objectives.
Its content is very varied and its impact will be the result of the creativity and vision that those responsible for its elaboration write within it. Within this content it is suggested:
- History and Description of the Company Mission, vision and objectives of the company Legislation or legal basis Structure of the organization (General organization chart) Structure of each of the component areas of the organization in general (Organization chart by area) General rules and policies
Rules and Procedures Manual
This Manual describes the routine work tasks, through the description of the procedures used within the organization and the logical sequence of each of its activities, to unify and control work routines and avoid their arbitrary alteration.
They help to facilitate the supervision of work through the standardization of activities, avoiding duplication of functions and unnecessary steps within the processes, they facilitate the work of administrative auditing, the evaluation of internal control and its monitoring.
It contains a text that indicates the standards that must be met for the execution of the activities that make up the processes, it is complemented with flow diagrams, as well as the forms and forms that are used in each of the procedures described.
It is advisable to prepare the Manual of Standards and Procedures for each of the areas that make up the organizational structure of the company, since developing just one in general would represent a very complex document, no matter how small the organization.
It is made up of the description of each work procedure and the rules that revolve around it; therefore the integration of several of them represent the Manual of Norms and Procedures.
The description of procedures covers the following information:
- Procedure identification Name Performance area Coding Generic description (objective) General rules Responsible for each of the activities that comprise it Step or Sub-step number (sequence of activities) Description of each of the activities that comprise it
Positions and functions manual
This Manual contains the specific responsibilities and obligations of the different positions that make up the organizational structure, through the description of the routine work functions for each of them.
It is generally used in those companies structured in a functional way, that is, they are divided into sectors in which specialists who have similar training and interests are grouped, defining the characteristics of each job, delimiting the areas of authority and responsibility, outlining the relationships between each function of the organization.
It describes the hierarchical level of each position within the organization, as well as its dependency relationship, which means the place that the position occupies within the organizational structure, to which positions it is directly and indirectly subordinate and what is its relationship with others Job positions.
Like the Manual of Standards and Procedures, it is also advisable to prepare it for each of the areas that make up the organizational structure of the company, since developing just one in general would represent a very complex document, no matter how small the organization.
It is made up of the description of each job position and the ideal profiles for hiring future occupants of the positions; therefore the integration of several of them represent the Manual of Positions and Functions.
The job description covers the following information:
- Job Identification Name Performance Area Coding Generic Description (objective) List of functions and attributions inherent to the position Daily or frequent Weekly Five-yearly Monthly Quarterly Half-yearly Yearly Occasional or occasional Requirements of the occupant of the position (profile) Academic level Skills and skills Technical and / or specific knowledge
Methodology for the preparation of administrative manuals
For the elaboration of the Administrative Manuals there are no universal rules or pre-established methodologies, there are only logical guidelines for their formation, which can be integrated in the following way:
- Compilation of information Interpretation and design of the information Preparation of the manual Approval and updating of the manual
Information gathering
The collection of information will depend on the specific conditions of the manual to be elaborated, so at this stage it is necessary to keep in mind the general objective and the specific objectives of the Manual, define to whom it will be addressed, the terms that will be used within it. and all those technical aspects that are adapted to the particular characteristics of the document.
The information must be compiled with the support of the staff of the entire organization, obviously for the preparation of general manuals, the information must be collected with the help of high authorities, while for the preparation of specific manuals the information must be collected directly from those responsible for the processes and functions under study.
The information can be collected through direct interviews with staff, questionnaires and through direct observation, it is advisable to use the three techniques and interrelate the resulting information in each of them.
Interpretation and design of information
The stage of interpretation and design of the information is nothing more than giving shape to the information collected under technical guidelines and the criteria of the personnel in charge of preparing them.
Interpreting the information means analyzing all the data collected, its importance and contribution to the design of the Manual, probably much of the information will not be necessary to include it within the document because it is considered that it does not add any value for direct users, but it can also be determined that some other data is still needed and a second stage of information gathering is necessary.
It is in this stage where the results of the information collected verbally are compared against the information that comes from the responses to the questionnaires and from what was observed during the first stage.
The purification and complement of information is very important so as not to elaborate administrative documents that are far from reality, so that all the information at the time of being designed is important that it be reviewed by the interviewees and approved by the senior officials of each of the they.
The design of the Manual is to shape the information to create a draft that allows you to clearly visualize the content of the document and make the necessary adjustments for its better understanding.
Preparation of the manual
The preparation of the Manual is the simplest but laborious stage of the methodology, its purpose is the creation of the final document under clear and homogeneous guidelines, using a simple language that achieves the understanding and adequate application of the direct users of the document and from all hierarchical levels of the organization. Use of exaggerated technicalities should be avoided unless it is a specific manual for a technical task.
Within the elaboration of the manual it is important to include the conclusions and recommendations that help to facilitate the interpretation of its content.
Approval and update of the manual
The stage of approval of the Manuals regardless of their particular objective is of utmost importance for their proper use and for the promotion of said culture within the organization in general.
The body in charge of approving the Manuals may be the General Manager, the Head of the department, a specific department and / or committee for this purpose, etc. It does not matter who or who approves it, what is important is that it be done through a formal mechanism, since only in this way will the Manuals be consulted and respected by all members of the organization.
If the manuals are not formally approved and enforced, their preparation will be unnecessary work, involving quite high costs and efforts.
Any modification and / or extension to the content of the Manual must be carried out by those in charge of preparing and designing them, and in turn be approved by the competent body so that it has the validity and the necessary support. Any modification that is made separately and that is not formally communicated can be considered invalid and those responsible for carrying out the activities within the organization may ignore them.
Next, Oscar Yambay, an expert business consultant in Organizations and Methods, teaches how to prepare the procedures manual and the positions and functions manual. A very didactic complement to continue learning about administrative manuals.
