Tasks vs. procedures?

Subject: Tasks vs. procedures?
From: "Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 12:40:09 -0400

Ellen Vanrenen is <<... floundering in trying to define policies and
procedures docs. I was told a task differs from a procedure. Does anyone
know in what way(s) it does?>>

A task is _what_ you do; a _procedure_ is how you do it. Bonus answer: A
_policy_ is the guidance on what tasks you should be doing. For example:

Our policy is that all employees must know how to exit the building safely
in case of fire. Your first task as employee is to locate at least two
nonadjacent exits, including but not limited to your office window. We
assume that you know how to exit via a door; if not open the intranet
document r/data/fud/doors.html for instructions.

The procedure for exiting the building via a window is as follows:
1. Throw your computer through the window to create an opening through which
you can exit. (It is forbidden to throw computers through windows other than
during a fire emergency, no matter how sorely tempted you may be to do so.)
2. With your policies and procedures manual, smash all the broken glass
until no sharp edges remain that are capable of cutting you during your
egress.
3. If you're on the first floor of the building, exit gracefully through the
window, remembering to present a positive image of the company to bystanders
at all times. If you are on the second or higher floors of the building,
climb down the large cables we have thoughtfully provided for this purpose.
Use the model B37-A Djumar ascenders provided in your employee orientation
kit to slow your descent. See www.fud.com for correct use of ascenders in an
emergency situation; refer to policy document 2001-B37a.html for details on
our policy concerning the use of external Web sites.
4. Recover the hard disk from the crashed computer.
5. Report to the evacuation coordinator.

--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
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