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Results: Cost Assumptions to creating a Policy Procedure Statement
Subject:Results: Cost Assumptions to creating a Policy Procedure Statement From:Chris Anderson <chris -at- BizManuals -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 21 Dec 2000 17:19:13 -0600
First, I would like to thank all of you that have responded to my "Cost
Assumptions" posting. Many people provided some excellent feedback that
I thought I would share with the list. I posted the question to a few
different lists including STC-CIC, STC- Lone Writers, STC-PnP, and
TECHWR-L. Most of the response that I received came from the STC-CIC
and STC-PnP. Both of which were very helpful.
The feedback suggested that the costs may vary - dramatically.
Below are the revised assumptions based on the replies.
Avg. Tech Writer/SME Cost $50,000
Overhead 75% of salary or $37,500
Avg. Tech Writer Cost = $87,500
Business days per year 240 (260 days - hol & vac.)
= cost per day $365
Avg. # pages per day output 1
(researching, writing, editing, formating, reviewing, etc.)
pages per procedure 3
days / procedure 3
therefor, the cost per procedure = $1,094 vs the original estimate of
$316.
Many of the assumptions had some significant variance. But we have to
start somewhere in order to pin down an average cost. The biggest
variable was pages of output per day. The goal was to determine an
approximate cost to produce a finished procedure statement.
Is it fair to say that a procedure statement costs around $1,000 ?
And if the typical company has to produce 1,000 or more statements then
is it fair to estimate that a complete Policy and Procedure Manual will
cost a company $1 million to produce plus maintenance.
Some people suggested that some statements take longer than others, some
companies may need more statements than others, and all of this is
relative to the quality of the final document. But the ultimate question
that we are trying to solve is the value of a Policy and Procedure
Manual. If it costs $1 million or more to produce than a company must
be able to derive more value than its cost to produce or else there is
no return on investment. In other words there would be no reason to
produce it in the first place.
Does anyone doubt the usefulness or value of a Policy and Procedure
Manual?
Are there any metrics to suggest the true value?
Chris
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