Achieving 100% Compliance of Policies and Procedures (Paperback)

~ Stephen Page (Author, Editor, Illustrator) "This book is about business processes, policies and procedures, and how they are measured and improved to ensure variation is minimized, quality is improved, cost..." (more)
Key Phrases: purchasing system process, communication control plan, using continuous improvement tools, New York, Purchasing Assistant, Six Sigma (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

Stephen Page is the author of four books on policies and procedures, each one complementing the other. This set of books is the only work of its kind in the industry. There are other books but they focus primarily on editing and word choice, not on actually showing the reader how to do research, write a draft, get it reviewed and approved, get it published, communicate and train it, measure it, and revise it. These steps are missing in the other books.
This author, Stephen Page, has received hundreds of praises from readers saying how wonderful and easy the books are to read and apply. These books will become a part of your reference library and you will be proud to own them.
Stephen Page has written three other books that complement this book including "Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures," "7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures," and "Best Practices in Policies and Procedures." Do yourself a favor and read all of his books. You'll never buy another policy or procedure book.
NOTE: These books are TIMELESS and regardless of the copyright, they will never go out of date. This is why we love the books so much. --Process Improvement Publishing Editorial

Ok, "Achieving 100% Compliance of Policies and Procedures" is positively excellent!!! This book exceeded all my expectations, an outstanding value. -- David F. Rico, Senior Software Quality Analyst, 9/2000

This book explains easy and useful methods to measure compliance of business processes and published policies and procedures. -- National Documentation Centre News, 11/2000

This book is a masterpiece and is essential to anyone who uses TQM, ISO 9000, CMM, or IEEE best practices. -- Mike Tarrani, IT Consultant and Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, 2/2002

This book is an eye-opener, practical, and invaluable. The strength of this book is the continuous improvement approach. -- Linda Zarate, IT Consultant and Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, 2/2002

Product Description

Achieving 100% Compliance of Policies and Procedures helps the reader to make process improvements to existing policies and procedures as well as help the reader to research and write new policies and procedures that include process improvements the first time.
This book includes complete chapters on process improvement, communications, training, compliance, auditing, cost benefit analyses, team building, writing policies and procedures, convincing the audience to change its ways, and many others.
Additionally, this book is based on a case study and will take an old, outdated procedure and show the reader how to do process improvements and turn the procedure into a streamlined procedure that's easier to use and apply.
Examples of policies and procedures are also included in this book.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 359 pages
• Publisher: Process Improvement Pub; 4th Edition edition (December 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929065493
• ISBN-13: 978-1929065509
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #179,589 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TQM-Based approach to implementing and ensuring compliance, May 2, 2001

By	Linda Zarate "IT Ops Consultant" (Azusa, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This book is one of the most eye-opening, practical and insightful books I have read in a long time. It's one thing to write effective policies and procedures, it's quite another to implement them, and more difficult still to ensure compliance. The author's approach addresses the implementation and compliance challenges head-on.

The key strength of this book is the continuous improvement approach. I am familiar with the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) cycle because I use a similar approach called Entry Criteria-Task-Validation-Exit Criteria (ETVX)when I am developing processes that are governed by policies and executed by procedures. What I had not thought of before reading this book was how to best implement and enforce policies and ensure procedure compliance. This book showed me how to superimpose the PDCA or ETVX cycle on communicating, measuring and continually refining policies and procedures by starting with writing policies and procedures that can be measured. I found the 40-step plan provided in this book to be straightforward and easy to manage. Do not let "40 steps" deter you because the steps are small and build upon one another. This is reinforced by a case study that completely illustrates how the 40-step plan is applied to a realistic example.

How to implement your policies and procedures is covered in the chapters on communications and training strategies, which are exhaustive and filled with tips and guidance. These chapters are fleshed out with a chapter on creating a review and communication control plan, which is essential for keeping your policies and procedures up-to-date and ensuring that they are living documents that are meaningful to your organization. Outdated policies are often ignored, which is worse than having no policy at all. Ignored policies undermine authority, which is the foundation of a policy. Outdated procedures can result in technical and cost risks at best and unsafe working conditions at worst. The next chapter on establishing a compliance plan is excellent. It incorporates measurements and validation, and shows how to develop and use the compliance plan. This is augmented by an invaluable chapter on developing self-assessment checklists, and how to evaluate the results of an assessment and how to rectify gaps.

Among the most valuable (to me) chapters in this book were: preparing an organization to be receptive to change (a major implementation barrier), conducting audits (key to compliance assurance), and conducting continuous improvement activities (keeping the policies and procedures relevant and aligned to changing requirements and business imperatives).

The information and approach given in this book will make the difference between policies and procedures that are "shelfware" and those that provide real guidance and are meaningful to an organization. I personally think this is one of the most important books on the topic, and the only one that I have come across that actually shows how to implement them and ensure compliance.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exceeded my Expectations, October 5, 2000

By	"aamey" (Phoenix, Arizona USA) - See all my reviews

This book is exactly what I was hoping for. The Case Study was extremely helpful. The book blends nicely and complements his last book - "Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures". The self-assessment checklists play well into our environment where we have to calculate outcome studies to display positive/negative implementation results. Chapter 4, Establishing a Communication Strategy, was very informative being a common breakdown point in any organization, especially when

applied to Policies and Procedures.

We will be purchasing more of these books in the near future.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for TQM, ISO 9000 and GMP organizations, February 20, 2002

By	Mike Tarrani "www.tarrani.com" (Deltona, FL USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

Of the three books that the author has published on policies and procedures this one is a masterpiece, and is essential to anyone who works for a company that employ TQM, ISO 9000 or FDA GMP.

Where his first book, Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures, provides a roadmap for new policy writers, this book takes the subject to a much higher level by providing a process that encompasses communications and training strategies, a compliance plan, and continuous improvement. These align seamlessly with ISO 9000, as well as FDA GMPs, and is consistent with the TQM Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle. In addition, the self-assessment and auditing approaches set forth will assure policies and procedures that reflect a mature organization that is focused on quality and continuous improvement.

Among the highlights of the book are the numerous checklists, real-life examples, and an underlying strategy for the development of a comprehensive and complete system of policies and procedures, and a means to assure compliance. I particularly liked Appendix C, Cost of Quality, and the succinct description of tools and techniques in chapter 11.

Another strong point is the complexities of marrying policies and procedures writing with a continuous improvement cycle and auditing are handled in a structured, logical sequence. This is no small feat for a writer, and it is one of the reasons this book is so valuable. This book sets a standard in the field and is one that I'll always recommend to colleagues and clients.