I was at a meeting today that finished just before lunch. It was in a recently developed area I’d not been to before, so I decided to pop in to a restaurant and grab a bite to eat before heading back to the office.

It was a beautiful new place, all white tiles and stainless steel with some funky hipster artwork to offset the slightly clinical look. I approached the counter to place my order, and there they were! In use! Right in front of me!

Magic Gloves!

Do you remember your first day on the job in QA (Quality Assurance) or QC (Quality Control)?

I sure do. I started directly out of college as a QC laboratory chemist and worked my way up, but there are two things I remember well from that first day: First, my laboratory trainer kept introducing me as a “whippersnapper,” which I thought was a fish until I Googled it…talk about embarrassing. I also remember a huge, white, three-ring binder. It was well used, the cover was worn, and the pages were crinkled and faded. But what it contained! All of the QC and QA acronyms, industry guides, a compilation of experiences (even the bad ones), QC definitions, standard operating procedures, scientific references, laboratory methods…so much information! Some might call it a cheat sheet, but we called it the Holy Grail of QC. As I progressed in my career, I developed my own binder with similar information for my employees, and I strongly suggest you do the same.

Let’s take a look at a few examples of what you might want to include in yours: