I was originally planning on sharing tips on bonus plans but tripped across a topic that doesn't appear to get much attention: operations manuals.

You see, I was giving a two-hour workshop on communication for a contractor and was second on the agenda. I arrived early to meet the attendees, and watch how they interacted.

The first presentation was a page-by-page walk-through of the company's operations manual. As the company runs projects in 21 states for a very picky clients, consistency of performance is mandatory and their ops manual is the tool to assure consistency.

It was amazingly well put together. It hit on everything a project manager or site superintendent needed to know in order to bring their jobs in on time and in budget. The manual had the side benefit of not being overbearing or a burden.

Truth be told, this was an EXTREMELY well organized contractor.

Operations manuals are THE place to document the systems you need running smoothly in order to grow your business. You will probably need two versions: one manual for your project managers and office staff and one for your field leaders.