Online Processes and Procedures, in a Flash!
CEO, Lasotell Pty Ltd.
http://www.lasotell.com.au
In the CDIM e-newsletter, Volume 1, Issue 1, we described the benefits
of consistently applying a set of documentation standards. This approach
was very beneficial for two customers who came to us with this classic
request: "I want to have all the processes and procedures online, as they
are written and updated. I want the people responsible for work instructions
to be able to update their own files. I want everyone to be able to access the
files quickly, easily, and intuitively. I want the online update process to take
only minutes, not hours and days. I want people to be able to print material
that looks the way the author intended."
The Design Implications section of the Information Plan led us to re-examine
the alternatives to using standard Web conversion approaches for such material.
The final answer was discovered in some rarely appreciated and even less
understood proper ways of applying PDF files. This approach avoided needing
to pay for Web experts in addition to writers. Here is a brief summary of the
solution.
All the processes were identified and drawn in a "logic map"--a map that connects
every process together in a logical flow without trying to show every connection
between processes. The logic map is the first thing the user sees and is the entry
point to a cascade of click-through diagrams or supporting text from the highest
to the lowest level. For example, each logic map process is linked to its
corresponding description file, which usually contains a more detailed process
map. If that map shows connections to any other processes, they are also linked
to their corresponding description files. Every step box in the map is linked to its
corresponding procedure specification, which states what to do, and, in most
cases, includes a data flow diagram of the steps. Each step in the data flow diagram
is linked to its corresponding work instruction, which states how to perform the
task.
The files were prepared in Visio and Word and converted to PDF, and the links and
navigation bookmarks were inserted using the full Acrobat version--this is the key:
they are not Word based hyperlinks. The huge time saver was discovering the
Document --> Replace Pages function for importing new pages and retaining all the
existing hyperlinks, bookmarks, and customised navigation from the previous
version.
If the final format is accessed from a network server, the user can use all
customised Acrobat navigation; if accessed via a Web environment, the browser
provides the navigation backwards to previous documents. The end-user update
capability was provided by giving each department or team a PDF page of their own
with standard Word hyperlinks pointing to their own Word files, which were set to
read-only in the nominated publication directory.
The two customers are very pleased with the end result. The development time was
much shorter than they expected, and the essentially instantaneous update to Work
Instructions is a win-win for management and the staff who have to maintain the
instructions. Overall, this approach is fast, cost effective, easy to use, and easy to
maintain. And it works in the real world! See a
simple demonstration example.
|
