Page 235 - The Handbook for Quality Management a Complete Guide to Operational Excellence

222 P r o c e s s C o n t r o l Q u a l i t y A u d i t s 223

Work instructions include the documented procedures that define
how production, installation, or servicing will take place. These instruc-
tions describe the operating environmental conditions as well as the activ-
ities necessary to ensure that the finished product meets all of the
customer’s requirements. Work instructions also includes “cheat sheets,”
“crib notes,” and other tidbits that people keep to remind them of the way
“it’s really done.” ISO 9000 makes these informal notes part of the official
documentation of the process.
Just how far one should go in documenting a process is debatable.
Clearly, if the documentation becomes so massive that no one has time
to read it all, it no longer serves its purpose. Work instructions that
include an overwhelming number of “tips” associated with rare prob-
lems over a period of years will make it more difficult to locate the truly
useful information.
Consider, for example, your daily trip to work. Simple documentation
might list the streets that you take under normal conditions. However,
one day you find a traffic jam and take an alternate route. Should you
write this down? Well, if the traffic jam is caused by a long-term construc-
tion project, perhaps. But if it’s due to a rare water-main rupture, it’s prob-
ably not necessary.
General George Patton famously said, “Don’t tell people how to do
things. Tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.”
Allowing flexibility in work instructions, when workers are properly
trained in their cross-functional purpose in satisfying customers, can pro-
vide empowerment and lead to superior customer service. In this context,
work instructions can provide the reasons for satisfying particular objec-
tives of the function (the why’s for the what’s), rather than the specific
how’s, which may overly constrain discretion.
As technology improves, databases may be developed to quickly and
effectively filter infor mation relevant to the task at hand. This will effec-
tively increase the amount of data that can be made available to the pro-
cess operator. Until then, the doc umentation must be contained within
human cognitive limits. The guiding principle should be minimum size
subject to being reasonably complete and accessible to those who will
use it.
Work instructions should cover the following items:

• The manner in which the work will be done
• The equipment needed to do the work
• The working environment
• Compliance with other procedures and documents
• Process parameters to be monitored and how they will be moni-
tored (e.g., checklists, control charts)

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