Food for thought?

It was sunny, but still a little cold, when we went to the spectacular Trevi fountain in Rome. The freshly cleaned statues seemed almost to be alive with the light and water splashing on them.

While taking photos we became highly aware of the smell of food from all around. After all it was approaching 1 o’clock and the ‘piazza’ is full of restaurants, cafes and sandwich shops. The aroma of pizza was extremely enticing and sent the saliva glands into full production.

However, being on a tight schedule with more places to visit in Rome than humanly possible and Christian, the taxi driver/tour guide round the corner, there was no time for a proper restaurant meal.

Eating a thick slice of ‘focaccia’, drinking a bottle of water sitting beside the fountain, in the sun but out of the wind, watching the other tourists, however, was ideal.
That was until an officious police woman informed us that we were not allowed to eat there. We picked up our things and continued munching as we headed up the steps, glancing back to see she was being impartial in her persecution of the other visitors with food in hand. No notices were evident to confirm that eating was against the law.

Have you recently reviewed the rules and regulations in you organization to ensure they create the right atmosphere and attitude?
Have you got a Policies and Procedures Manual that is accessible to everyone?
Is well organized and user friendly so that people can find clarification easily or is it a thick tome written so that only an expert can understand?

Policies and Procedures Manuals are invaluable to organizations if the employees see them as a way of making their jobs easier.
When somebody joins they should receive a summary of the Manual so that they know better what to expect and what is expected of them. This saves unpleasant surprises and questions as to the impartiality of people above since everything is clearly laid out and accepted by everyone.