Should We Document How to Use the Washroom?

How training within industry can help reduce documentation

Mon, 10/03/2011 - 14:33

Those who are cynical toward an ISO 9001-based quality system often ask sarcastic questions similar to, but often more vulgar than, the one in the title of this article. These rude anti-ISOs just don’t understand us quality folks.

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The issue of how much should a company document keeps rearing its ugly head, primarily by the masses of document users who are told by some internal expert or outside consultant to document everything. Although I discuss how to reduce documentation within a quality management system in my book, Lean ISO 9001 (ASQ Quality Press, 2010), I will provide a different look into this issue in this article.

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Comments

Submitted by mgraban on Wed, 10/05/2011 - 05:07

Great article, Mike. This is a huge problem in healthcare - providing crappy training (dumping documents or through informal shadowing) and then blaming "lack of training" as a supposed "root cause."

Snausages!

“If you want me to give you a two-hour presentation, I am ready today.  If you want only a five-minute speech, it will take me two weeks to prepare.”

Mark Twain

 

I have a feeling that in terms of documentation, the above applies. It takes a lot of work to distill your message info fewer words (or pages.)

Submitted by jandell on Thu, 10/06/2011 - 09:14

I have two experiences that reinforce this excellent article.

 

1. An organization whose document listing the documents (yes, they really had one) was 32 pages long. When a process issue came up, rather than actually solve the problem, the head honcho ordered that a new document be written and added to the haystack.

 

2. An ISO-9000 assessor who saw that Facilities people were counting the 12"-square floor tiles to estimate the length coppoer tubing needed for a new air line. We blew an hour before she was convinced not to demand calibration of the tile dimensions.

 

 

Submitted by Barbet on Fri, 10/07/2011 - 10:28

Great story, but how does one get management to see what is in front of them?

What's fascinating about this principle is that it applies to any form of communication.

When we get positive feedback about a particular area of our software, it is almost always because we have tuned into the customer's needs in that area, and simplified to focus on the important features.

Apple probably has the best reputation for this in the software world, although Microsoft is catching up fast with Windows 7.

Thanks for the great article, I use the Thomas Jefferson quote in your book all the time. "Be flexible in style, but unwavering like a rock in principle."

David

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