What is the difference between a procedures manual and policy manual?

A procedure is a specification of series of actions, acts or operations which have to be executed in the same manner in order to always obtain the same result in the same circumstances (for example, emergency procedures). Less precisely speaking, this word can indicate a sequence of activities, tasks, steps, decisions, calculations and processes, that when undertaken in the sequence laid down produces the described result, product or outcome. A procedure usually induces a change.

Procedure may also refer to:

Instructions or recipes, a set of commands that show how to prepare or make something
Subroutine or method (computer science), a portion of code within a larger program
Algorithm, in mathematics, a set of operations or calculations that accomplish some goal
Surgical procedure, in medicine, treating diseases through an operation; see also List of surgical procedures
Legal procedure, in law, the body of law and rules used in the administration of justice in the court system
Civil procedure, criminal procedure, administrative procedure, labour procedure
Parliamentary procedure, in government, the process used for decision making by a legislative assembly. This includes legislative procedure.

V

A policy is a deliberate plan of action to guide decisions and achieve rational outcome(s). The term may apply to government, private sector organizations and groups, and individuals. Presidential executive orders, corporate privacy policies, and parliamentary rules of order are all examples of policy.

Policy or policy study may also refer to the process of making important organizational decisions, including the identification of different alternatives such as programs or spending priorities, and choosing among them on the basis of the impact they will have. Policies can be understood as political, management, financial, and administrative mechanisms arranged to reach explicit goals.

Policy manual defines what your general intentions are. Procedure manual defines how you are going to achieve those goals.

There is a hierarcy, each document becoming more specific and discriptive. At the top you have policy, then procedures, followed by work instructions which are quite detailed. Work instructions can be followed by protocal. Protocal are very very specific work instructions that you would use, say in developing software or blueprints, where everyone has to do it the same.

Procedure tells you how to do something.

Policy tells you this is the rules, follow it!

policy manual says what the general purpose or intent is for a specific procedure is.. For example...to prevent stampede in a fire situation in the office... an orderly procedure for calmly queing to the nearest exit and signs to the nearest exit is intituted in your office procedures.

It is like bare act and the rules and regulations made under the act. A policy manual is document laying down the policy and goals of the organization and how to achieve the goals , the manual of procedures will lay down.

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