This may seem obvious, but a great way to increase accountability and productivity in a business is to install good policies and procedures.  A policy is defined as a set of general guidelines that outline a business’s plan for tackling an issue.  Additionally, it connects the business’s vision, values, and day-to-day operations.  Piggybacking off of that, a procedure is a business’s plan for carrying out a given policy.  It tells employees how to deal with a specific situation and when.

Developing formal policies and procedures can make the business run much more smoothly and efficiently. They communicate the values and vision of the organization, ensuring employees understand exactly what is expected of them in certain situations.

Since both individual and team responsibilities are clearly laid out there is no need for trial-and-error or micromanaging.  Once policies and procedures are established, employees will clearly understand how to approach their jobs.  As a result, productivity will increase by at least 20%.



When creating your policies and procedures, you should always review your mission statement and consider the following:

• Aim of the policy
• Why you are developing the policy
• Who the policy is going to apply to 
• What will be acceptable and unacceptable behavior 
• What the consequences will be for not complying with the policy
• When the policy will be updated or developed 

With the right policies and procedures in place, your business will fire on all cylinders.