How to create a household manual in 2025
What is a household manual for estates? In this article, we demystify a house manual. If you need help with a physical or digital house manual, then contact us.
Every estate should have a household manual
In the Personal Assistant and Estate Manager business, we often refer to a House Manual (aka household manual or estate manual). A Household Manual is a collection of important things like phone numbers to repair men, plumbers, auto detailers, home theatre repair, fine art preservation, cleaning procedures, etc. In short, the Household Manual is specific to the property you work in because no two estates are alike.
Each House Manual is unique to the employer, so there is no standard as to what it should contain. Some employers also have Excel spreadsheets with password information, as well as a list of current and past employees. Your Household Manual should be locked in a safe at night or when nobody is home — for obvious reasons. You would never want this private and sensitive information to get into the wrong hands.
These days, the Household Manual is scalable software and can be used on your phone, and usually the Estate Manager will have a 3-ring binder on hand as a backup in case the computer system is down.
Each House Manual is unique to the employer, so there is no standard as to what it should contain. Some employers also have Excel spreadsheets with password information, as well as a list of current and past employees. Your Household Manual should be locked in a safe at night or when nobody is home — for obvious reasons. You would never want this private and sensitive information to get into the wrong hands.
These days, the Household Manual is scalable software and can be used on your phone, and usually the Estate Manager will have a 3-ring binder on hand as a backup in case the computer system is down.
Do you need a household manual template?
Just some of the items that would go in such a manual are:
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Because no two homes could ever be run the same, these are just some of the items that could be listed in the pages. Of course the household staff doesn't need to just keep the list on an actual page because many manuals are now also made digitally to be viewed on a computer or smartphone.
A manual helps with household management
Estate Management tools help efficiency
If you've ever had a job working for a big corporation, you no doubt received an employee manual that explained how to apply for time off or how to call in sick. Well, estates also need procedures and instructions for their employees, too. Without it, members of the household wouldn't know when laundry would be finished or if employee schedules overlapped.
If you need to write a manual, a template will undoubtedly save time, but it won't necessarily be the best solution. For example, because of different styles of life, domestic staff need to know what preferences their employers have. This often means that a manual should be created from scratch.
If you need to write a manual, a template will undoubtedly save time, but it won't necessarily be the best solution. For example, because of different styles of life, domestic staff need to know what preferences their employers have. This often means that a manual should be created from scratch.
The manual is a resource for the home
Tools for the trade require that staff use a manual. Ultimately, having a digital copy made in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or Word document will be most effective. That way, other staff members in the household or at other estates (if the principal has other properties) will always be informed if there are changes in addresses, for example.
Digital copies also make a search much easier. Being able to search can help Personal Assistants or Estate Mangers access information quickly. So, if there is a particular service, like auto detailing for example, then the digital storage of the data can be accessed instantly, without the need to sift through countless pages (if a very large manual needs to be made).
Digital copies also make a search much easier. Being able to search can help Personal Assistants or Estate Mangers access information quickly. So, if there is a particular service, like auto detailing for example, then the digital storage of the data can be accessed instantly, without the need to sift through countless pages (if a very large manual needs to be made).
Making manual categories
House manuals keep staff organized
Whether you want to include a contact list in digital or paper form, training your staff to know which categories to look in for information is important. Further, if you have a guest staying in the estate, having a mini book with available services for any extended member of the family is the key to them having a comfortable stay.
The guest book should be updated weekly to ensure that any local events won't be missed. We need not mention that creating a robust list is essential for a well run property, and storage of the data is critically important because sensitive information should not be in the hands of certain staff members who don't need access to it.
The guest book should be updated weekly to ensure that any local events won't be missed. We need not mention that creating a robust list is essential for a well run property, and storage of the data is critically important because sensitive information should not be in the hands of certain staff members who don't need access to it.
Categories: list, addresses, home, events, binder, blog, contact list, 2025
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