Test yourself on documenting administrative procedures
“Oh, we don’t need to write our procedures down; what’s going to happen?”
Those are the words of many an admin who wakes one day to find a key employee is out for three months, new people are confused by unfamiliar systems, or vital records are missing.
That is not a good day.
Julie Perrine, founder and CEO of All Things Admin, reminds us that dropping someone into your job for even a few days is twice as complicated as you think it is, and she won’t let you take carefully organized procedures for granted.
Get a perfect score on this quiz and you’ve demonstrated you’re the one your company needs to compile and update a master document loaded with details about all your most crucial admin tasks:
1. Which one of these is NOT a reason you need detailed systems and procedures in place?
A) Business continuity
B) Quality control
C) Disaster recovery
D) Résumé-building
E) All of the above
2. When describing a procedure in the manual, what is NOT important to detail?
A) Its priority level compared to other tasks
B) Everything the procedure affects
C) Everyone who might need to be contacted to complete it
D) Every tool that’s necessary to have in place before the task begins
E) All are important to detail.
3. What is a “tickler file”?
A) A file detailing which employees are responsible for which tasks
B) A file set aside to hold ideas about organization and increased productivity
C) An ongoing collection of documented problems with your current procedures, plus how they were solved
D) A collection of date-labeled file folders organized in a way that allows time-sensitive documents to be filed more efficiently.
4. Which of these tools would be the best one to contain the documents comprising your administrative procedures manual?
A) Excel
B) OneNote
C) PowerPoint
D) SalesForce
E) MS Notepad
5. Which of these is the LEAST important tip when putting together a procedures manual?
A) Include diagrams, flowcharts and screenshots
B) Save everything in both electronic and paper format
C) Add quizzes to ensure the knowledge is retained
D) Insert a Table of Contents up front
E) All are equally important.
Answers: 1. D 2. E 3. D 4. B 5. C
Julie Perrine, CAP-OM, is an administrative expert, trainer, motivational speaker, and author. She is the founder and CEO of All Things Admin, a company dedicated to developing and providing breakthrough products, training, mentoring, and resources for administrative professionals worldwide.
