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Annette wonders: <<For those that work with company/department standards
(policies) and procedures, do you have a numbering system for each
individual standard/procedure? Why or why not?>>
Without looking at your company's current procedures book, tell me the
numbers of the policies on taking leave to attend a funeral and on overtime
compensation. Now tell me why the numbers were assigned in this order (i.e.,
how the numbers help you remember where to look in the manuals) rather than
(say) in the reverse order or why (say) entirely different numbers weren't
chosen. Now you know the "why not": in many cases, numbers are meaningless
to those who will use them.
Now look at if from a different angle. The flip side of this is that some
sets of standards or procedures are so well known by their numbers (e.g.,
ISO standards, IEEE standards, laws and regulations) that you're doing your
audience a disservice if you eliminate the numbers. They have already
memorized the numbers, know what each one refers to, and use the numbers
efficiently. Now you know the "why": if the numbers are meaningful, use
them.
Where does your audience fall between these two extremes?
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
(try ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca if you get no response)
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"Wisdom is one of the few things that look bigger the further away it
is."--Terry Pratchett
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