Basics Of Good Documentation And Overview Of The Benefit Of A
Good Document Control System in a Church System
APST.
UDOCHI ELECHI ALEGUA
OBJECTIVES OF THIS TALK
To
provide an overview of what is a document and the objectives of a Document
Control System
To provide an awareness of
what an efficient
Document Control System
should include
To provide an overview of
the AIM Document
Control System
To ensure that participants
understand and can
perform their role as
Leaders
1
2
3
4
5
AREAS WITHIN THE TALK:
• Definition of a
document and document control
•
Document control procedure
• Document objectives and identification
• Document
generation, output and distribution
•
Document storage and distribution
What is a Document?
ü
an original or official paper relied on as the basis, proof, or
support of something
ü something (such as a photograph or a
recording) that serves as evidence or proof
What is a Document Control?
Ø
Document Control is a profession and a job
role that is now widely implemented in various activity sectors.
Ø
Document
Control is a document management profession whose purpose is to enforce
controlled processes and practices for the creation, review, modification,
issuance, distribution and accessibility of documents.
Ø We
can also say that document control is the set of measures taken to regulate the
preparation, review, approval, release, distribution, access, storage,
security, alteration, change, withdrawal or disposal of documents... so, pretty
much everything about documents!
DOCUMENTS ARE THE COMMUNICATORS OF THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Jeremiah 6:16
"This is what the LORD says: “Stand at the
crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and
walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not
walk in it."
Verbal instructions often are:
Ø NOT HEARD
Ø MISUNDERSTOOD
Ø QUICKLY FORGOTTEN
Ø DIFFICULT TO FOLLOW
Key scriptures:
Habakkuk
2:2
"And the Lord answered me: “Write the
vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it."
2 Timothy 3:16
"All Scripture is breathed out by God and
profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in
righteousness"
Romans 15:4
"For whatever was written in former days
was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the
encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
DOCUMENT CONTROL PROCEDURES
Document
control is key to the survival of any business or enterprise. It is also
regarded as a crucial element to ensure EFFICIENCY,
PERFORMANCE, RELIABILITY, TRACEABILITY, QUALITY AND SAFETY
.
WHAT ARE DOCUMENT CONTROL
PROCEDURES?
Document control procedures are the
processes that ensure that documents are
properly handled and in the right place. 5 specific document control procedures
will be discussed in cause of this talk
1. 
DOCUMENT CREATION:
Who creates a document, and how the document
is created, are determined by the document control procedure. This can include
details on how the document is formatted, how it is named, and other technical
details about the document.
2. DOCUMENT
REVIEW AND APPROVAL:
How a document is reviewed, who approves a
document, and how approvals or modifications are recorded, are all spelled out
in the document control procedure.
3. 
DOCUMENT REVISIONS:
After documents
become final and approved, they often still need changes in the future.
Document control procedures will determine the process for document revisions.
The procedures identify who can initiate or request revisions, and who can
implement them. Document revision levels, publish date, document owner, and
next review date are managed over the lifecycle of the document.
4. DOCUMENT
PUBLISHING:
Once documents are final and approved, the
document control procedures define the parameters of how and where a document
is published, and who is authorized to have access to it. Publishing
requirements may indicate whether the document is available internally or
externally, where a document is made available, what security restrictions are
on a document, and so on.
5. DOCUMENT
OBSOLETING:
The obsoleting of
documents, or their removal from availability, is another important process
outlined in the document control procedure. Obsoleting may be determined by
date, or can occur when documents (or the content they reference) are replaced.
DOCUMENT CONTROL OBJECTIVES:
u Create new documents
deemed necessary for Fellowship activities;
u Ensure that changes and
the current version of documents are identified;
u Ensure that the current
version of applicable documents are available at points of use;
u Prevent the unintended
use of obsolete documents and apply suitable identification to them, if they
are retained for any purpose.
Desired End Result of a Document Control System
All
documents are in place, up-to date and at all appropriate points of use.
There is no
confusion or doubt if you are using the correct version of any document.
Document
Generation, Output
and distribution
Step
1:
To
Have Good Documentation!
CONTROL OF DOCUMENTS
Good
Documentation is:
Avoid too much detail
Example:
ü
ü
ü
Clear
Concise
User friendly
“The
purpose of this procedure is to document the aforementioned activities, herein
after referred to as the prescribed tasks in terms that preclude their
execution in an inconsistent manner, wherein such inconsistency may potentially
result in the prescribed tasks delivering a result that is not repeatable or
reproducible”
Could be replaced by:
The purpose of this procedure is to document activities so that they
will be performed in a consistent manner, thereby resulting in repeatable and
reproducible results.
CONTROL OF DOCUMENTS
Step 2:
Have the Right Amount of Documentation
How much documentation do I need?
CONTROL OF DOCUMENTS
Ask yourself: Will it really Impact Membership Requirements?
Avoid Creating too much:
§
Work instructions written for virtually
everything
§
Overlap and repetition - Including a process in
more than one work instruction.
Or…
CONTROL OF DOCUMENTS
Too little:
§
Lack of work instructions where the process
affects the quality of the product.
§
Members have their own way of performing processes
§
There is variation in the process because it
is not well documented
Documentation: The right amount
ü
Remember that the goal here is consistency for fellowship processes and activities.
ü
If two excos were to perform this task, would
they do it the same way?
If
the answer to this is “NO” a Work Instruction
(constitution) is appropriate which tries to apportion task to everyone. .
Step 3:
Outline
of the possible lifecycle of a defined Document Control System
Document Lifecycle
DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION
All documents shall contain the following information:
u
Fellowship Name and Logo
u
Document Title
u
Document ID
u
Current Revision and Date
DOCUMENT REVIEW &
APPROVAL
Ø
All documents shall be reviewed and approved
prior to issue.
Ø
There shall be an established procedure for
reviewing and approving new documents or changes to existing documents.
DOCUMENT STORAGE AND DISTRIBUTION
A manual system
with some electronic features may be used:
Ø Hardcopies of
all Master documents are to be made available.
Ø Electronic
versions of all Master documents securely stored in a folder on the desktop and
backed up constantly.
Ø Ensure
all master copies of documents are protected and access restricted and
controlled.
Ø Obsolete
documents to be removed, archived and retained for 3
yrs
CONCLUSION
Follow these guidelines and all the pieces will
fall in place.