After the Session: Best Practices Throughout Your System

Jennipher Noble

Ah best practices, buzz words with many, many meanings. To help cut through the noise and confusion, in this session we did a deep dive into best practices as recommendations for your system and best practices as organization needs. Best practices for an organization can be as unique as a fingerprint and getting started can be daunting. For this session I wanted to provide building blocks to not only understand your system more in-depth but to also create your own guide. When creating your best practice guide, focus and understanding are important. What are your goals, what should you cover, or who is your audience? Below are some of my suggestions on what to cover:

•A list of what business rules you have set in the system.

•The reason WHY you have the business rules set up the way you do.

•Think of your workflow basics, think about every action that is taken and write it down.

•Who is responsible for each action/workflow. (Name agnostic, position specific)

•When data should be recorded?

•What fields must contain data?

•What post dates should be used?

•What transaction types, if any, should not be posted.

•What reports do you use to complete certain tasks?

Include a reports section, listing your weekly, monthly, and annual reports and their parameters.

•Document ANY verbiage changes made in the system.

•Language is key, make sure your guide is easy to understand.

•Consistency is important, be sure to outline your data structure and standards.

•Periodic review, make sure to have a record of when the guide was last evaluated and when the next review is planned.

•Include scenarios to explain when certain portions need to be done. “When you see X, go to Y.”


If this is done correctly, you'll be able to take stock in what you have and if it's being used to its full potential. Once you've verified everything is documented, another benefit is you can use the guide to train new employees and volunteers. It is a win/win for all involved!


Now on to some of your questions!


Q: Can I change the verbiage in one entry and not another entry or will IT be changed across the board?

A: Verbiage changes are global/system wide changes.


Q: Is there anything you would recommend NOT to include in the guide?

A: Passwords for your data's safety and the names of specific people in each role because that is subject to change. The only time I would add names is if I was outlining approval rules.


We covered so much more however, if you missed the session, no worries! You can view it again Here.


I hope to see you at our next Success Session!

David Lee

Thanks for a great summary of the session Jennipher Noble!