1 About Readers and Manuals
Types of Manuals
Before starting to write, you’ll need to decide on the type of manual. Each type has a different purpose and different objectives. To decide which to write, you’ll need to look globally at your organization or program to see what documentation already exists, how your manual will fit in, and what purpose it will serve.
Will your readers use the document to learn how to operate a new piece of equipment? If so, perhaps you should write a tutorial. Or, if they already know how to operate it, but only need something to refer back to occasionally, perhaps you should write a reference manual. You may need to write one manual, or perhaps a series of manuals.
Documentation Hierarchy
Most organization manuals fit within a documentation hierarchy with legislation and organization-wide policy manuals at the top, and procedure and technical manuals at the bottom. Manuals at the top of the hierarchy set parameters that lower-level manuals must comply with. It’s useful to sketch the hierarchy for your organization’s manuals so that everyone understands the role of the new manual and how it will fit in. Figure 1-1 shows a sample documentation hierarchy. Make sure that everyone agrees on which type you’re writing.
Figure 1-1: Sample documentation hierarchy
Figure 1-1: Sample documentation hierarchy
Policy manuals – document the rules governing an organization. Policies can be set out at the board, organization, department, work group, or other levels. They can be short and general, or long and detailed. Most organizations have, or would benefit from, an organization-wide policy manual. It’s usually the highest manual in the document hierarchy, since other manuals, such as department procedure manuals, typically must comply with those policies. In smaller organizations, policies and procedures are often found in the same manual. Policy manuals are usually organized by business function or department.
Procedure manuals – document how things are done, such as processing an invoice, and often serve to implement policies. Step-by-step procedures and flow diagrams are frequently used. The reader is usually assumed to be familiar with the topic, but has not performed the procedure often enough to have memorized it. Procedure manuals are usually organized by work task, with procedures grouped according to business function or by department.
Standards manuals – set standards for products, services, or other work activities. They are common in engineering, manufacturing, and construction where they are used to specify materials or manufacturing standards. But standards are also found in procedure manuals to set out how frequently, how fast, or how accurately things will be done. For example, they may state that “all invoices will be paid within 30 days.” Standards manuals can be organized in various ways, such as by material type, system, or job task.
Guidebooks – give readers more latitude than policy and procedure manuals. They contain guidelines for dealing with different situations. Guidelines are usually non-mandatory suggestions rather than strict rules or clearly defined procedures. Sometimes they simply establish the bounds within which employees may act at their own discretion. Guidebooks are usually organized by work task, business function, or department.
User manuals – contain instructions for installing and using software or hardware and should be organized around user tasks. They don’t describe the software in the detailed way that a reference manual might—they describe how the software is used, usually with lots of step-by-step procedures. The user manual is the primary manual for all users, but particularly for novices.
Reference manuals – usually provide detailed information on hardware or software organized for quick reference. They may also include other types of information, such as code lists or lists of names and contact information. For software, they often systematically describe each field, in each dialogue box, in each menu. Unlike user manuals, they are not organized around user tasks, but may be alphabetized by keyword or sequenced according to the spatial arrangement of the software interface. Readers are assumed to be familiar with the software but need quick information on some aspect of the system. This is not the kind of manual to give to a novice.
Training manuals – are designed to teach readers something new. They may be self-paced (readers do the tutorials at their own rate) or they may be designed for use with a training course. They seldom try to teach everything, but just try to provide a basic foundation upon which readers can build. Training manuals usually start with basic skills and progress to more advanced skills as readers gain experience and confidence. Once the software or procedures are learned, the user manual or reference manual is typically used.
Operator manuals – provide detailed instructions for operating instruments or equipment and may include installation and troubleshooting instructions. If it’s complex equipment, separate installation and maintenance manuals may be produced. The reader is often an engineer or a technician. Similar to software user manuals, operator manuals are usually organized around work tasks.
Service manuals – are used by service technicians or engineers to perform routine maintenance or to troubleshoot and fix problems or breakdowns. Service manuals often describe the theory of how the equipment works and operating principles, and instructions on how to disassemble and reassemble components. They are often organized by system, such as “electrical system,” or by component.
Field guides – are designed for use away from a desk, often outdoors. They are commonly used to help identify plants or animals, or to describe field tests. Field guides are often small enough to fit into a pocket, and are sometimes printed on waterproof paper. They are often organized alphabetically by keyword for quick reference, or by work task (such as a sampling procedure).
Combination Manuals
Often two or more types of manuals are combined:
policy and procedure
standards and guidelines
operations and service
user and reference
There is nothing wrong with combining different types of information into a single manual if it serves the purpose and intended audience of the manual. For example, many organization manuals combine policies, procedures, standards, and guidelines. If it’s important that the intended reader have ready access to these different types of information, then consider combining them. These manuals are sometimes called employee handbooks or simply policy and procedure manuals, reflecting the mixture of information types.
Another consideration is that when they are using a manual, most people are simply looking for the information needed to get their jobs done. Typically they don’t care what type of information it is (such as policy, procedure, standard, or guideline), nor can they easily distinguish between the types.
It’s also difficult for the manual writer to distinguish between the information types. For example, if the president and the director of finance must review and sign off on legal contracts, is this a policy or is it part of the procedure? Similar problems will plague the writer who tries to separate information by type.
In some circumstances, however, it is appropriate to separate the types of information. For example, you may provide a manual containing only policy to the Board of Directors or to senior management since this is the level of information they will be interested in, while providing a manual containing both policies and procedures to staff.
Copyright © 2006 Duncan Kent & Associates Ltd. Top