So many efforts go in vain just because the subsequent control is missing. It’s a pity how companies through money to implement something while the return on investment tends to zero. If we ask the owner, he would reply that he has done everything to ensure excellent work conditions. If we ask the workers, they would reply that in theory everything is easy but in practice things are different. They state many arguments just to show that the situation is very difficult, even hard to work in. In this skirmish both sides are right. The employer really cares to provide everything necessary so that workers do their jobs without issues. The workers really want to work without interruptions. But the strand is cut somewhere. And it is cut because there are no rules and no control.

The first thing which owners and managers say is that the firm is ISO certified. Thereof the processes should be ok and the firm should work excellently. E.g. the problem seems to be the workers. Here is the big deception. ISO procedures in general are good idea. Their aim is to draw the processes. The key word here is “draw”. Have you noticed how fast the ISO certification is? And then how easy do the audits pass? The procedures there are “copy-paste”. Even recently I received an offer to buy ISO procedures for 600 BGN. Can you imagine – the full set of procedures for just 600 BGN? It is almost a purchase per kilo … and in the same way it is implemented in the companies.

The ISO certificate is a nice document which opens a lot of doors for trading. But it does not arrange your processes in details. This is why the owner thinks that he has implemented something great but the workers do not know how to apply it. So here the strand between will and reality is cut.

Of course this pain also has a cure, rather simple and quick. Each company needs individual detailed procedures for the operational work. These procedures may be written by the management team or external consultants. The most important is they to be detailed and to describe exactly your processes. In one perfect procedure you will find answers to the following questions:

• Who does the action
• When is the action done
• What is the sequence of activities
• Who partners to whom
• What are the general time frames
• Who reports what
• Who reports to whom
• Who reports when

The second big obstacle in business is the majority of templates for filling in by workers. There are absurd situations in which the production workers fill in different blank templates while the production line is running without supervision. But the people are calm because they have completed the writing job. At the same time if there are deviations in production, the waste is increasing – so what if the templates are filled? The paradox is that no manager even cares about the templates, let it to read and analyze the written data. In one factory the production manager is so proud that every morning he receives 80 pages report about the production from the previous day. He mentions that there is no need to read the report because there are no problems in his company. This report is kept (on paper) just in case any of the big bosses abroad require any data; the production manager may be would find this data somewhere in there 80-pages-per-day reports. In another company the Quality Manager shares that every audit is a nightmare because for a very short time she must fill in hundreds of templates.

Excuse me, but whom do we lie with this type of work?

Our employees do not see reasons in using templates, the quality managers are overloaded before audits and the firm does not go ahead. This is so because big part of the templates is senseless and nobody bothers to analyze them and propose improvements.

Thus I appeal to apply only procedures which:

• Are written just and only for you
• Correct your processes
• Use few templates but with specific indicators applied for your company
• The managers to analyze and data, seek solutions and propose improvements
• The employees to see the rut and to feel comfortably by following the procedures

Just when you write and apply in practice this type of procedures, then you will be able to control the processes. Just then you will have a constant productive working environment, company growth and increased income. Do not skimp from clear procedures because they are your basis, they untie your hands and minds, they give you chance to keep the progress constantly running ahead. The procedures allow you to assess who works with a heart and soul and who is cheating you. In one well-arranged world, the owner will ensure excellent work conditions to his employees, which they will accept with joy and use to generate profits.