A procedure is a document that instructs workers on executing one or more activities of a

business process A business process, business method or business function is a collection of related, structured activities or tasks by people or equipment in which a specific sequence produces a service or product (serves a particular business goal) for a parti ...

. It describes the sequence of steps, and specifies for each step what needs to be done, often including when the procedure should be executed and by whom. Organizations typically document procedures in their published

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

and procedures guide, or their

standard operating procedure A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing misc ...

(S.O.P.) guide. A procedures manual or procedural manual typically gathers together a number of procedures used within an organisation, or for a specific set of functions. For example all

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

s give their pilots a S.O.P which holds all the information regarding flying. While procedures typically detail high level steps, a Work Instruction would provide more detail, for example the tools to use and how precisely to use the tools to carry out the procedure.

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See also