VIVIAN B.

ESCOTO
DMO III/Chief, Water Resource Utilization Section
August 2, 2018
Reasons why you
were
hired/promoted?
DOCTRINE OF COMPLETE STAFF WORK
(CSW)

A study of a problem, and presentation of a solution,

by a staff member, in such form that all that remains
to be done on the part of the boss is to indicate
approval or disapproval of the completed action
A Boss’s Job
If you are the boss, it is your job to
instruct those who report directly to
you on the principles and criteria
that you use to guide your decision
making.
Then you must rely on your
people to properly gather the
appropriate data, analyze the
data, select and weigh
alternatives and make a
recommendation.
IF YOU ARE THE STAFF…
If you are a quality professional, it is
your job to advise your boss on what
to do.

• Completed staff work relieves a

boss from poring through
voluminous data, from rejecting ill-
advised suggestions and from
accepting the monkey on his or her
back.
 When asked to do something, like a memo, a technical
report and/or resolve a problem, do you do any of the
following:

 Confront your boss with a stream of

questions about how to do it?

 Come back with a list of things you have

looked at and then question your boss about
what to do next?

 Present a handful of solutions and a horde of

detail and then consider your work done?

If any of these moves are typical of your approach, you’re not doing your job effectively. Your work is not complete
REMEMBER!

It is your duty as a staff

member to work out
the details.
You should not consult your
boss in the determination of
those details, no matter how
perplexing they may be. You
may and should consult
other staff members.
REMEMBER! It’s your job to research the
details, analyze your
findings, prioritize and
categorize, and choose the
one alternative you will
recommend along with the
reasons for doing so.

The product when presented to

the boss for approval or
disapproval, must be worked out
in a finished form.
REMEMBER!

The boss needs answers, not

questions. Your job is to study,
write, restudy, and rewrite until
you have evolved a single
proposed action-the best one
of all you have considered.

Your boss merely

approves or disapproves,
(revises or amends).
REMEMBER! Do not worry your boss with
long explanations and memos.

Writing a memo to your boss does

not constitute completed staff work.
But writing a memo for your boss to
send to someone else does.

Your views should be placed

before the boss in finished form
so that the boss can make his or
her views simply by signing the
document.
The theory of completed
staff work does not preclude
a rough draft, but the rough
draft must not be a half-baked
idea.

It must be complete in every

respect except that it lacks the
requisite number of copies and
need not be neat. But a rough
draft must not be an excuse for
shifting to the boss the burden
of formulating the action.
The completed staff work theory may result in more work for the staff
member but it results in more freedom for the boss. This is as it should be.

Further, it accomplishes two things:

• 1. The boss is protected from half-baked ideas, voluminous
memos, and immature oral presentations.
• 2. The staff members who has a real idea to sell is enable
more readily to find a market.
•When you have finished your completed
staff work the final test is this:
If you were the boss
would you be willing to
sign the paper you have
prepared, and stake your
professional reputation on
its being right?
 •If the answer is no, take it
back and work it over, because
it is not yet completed staff
work
 Pertinent Issuances on CSW

Memorandum Subject
1. Memorandum signed by Antonio T. Carpio, Chief, Presidential
Circular No. 28, dated Legal Counsel
January 19, 1993
2. Memorandum from Required Certification for Presidential
the President dated Issuances/ Documents Recommended for the
June 10, 1999, signed President’s Approval
by then Pres. Estrada.

3. Memorandum Order Prescribing Guidelines in Complying with the

No. 2000-04 dated Complete Staff Work (CSW) Process of the
September 08, 2000 by Office of the President (OP) as Instructed in OP
then Sec. Antonio H. MC No. 28, dated January 19, 1993, and OP
Cerilles Memorandum Order dated June 10, 1999, in
relation to the Documentation Requirements of
Presidential Proclamations
 4. Memorandum from the DENR Guidelines of Request for
Head Executive Assistant dated Actions and/or Approval by the
• 03 Jan. 2007,addressed to all Secretary of Environment and
Undersecretaries and Assistant natural Resources
Secretaries, All Head of Bureaus,
Attached Agencies, Offices and
Services and Regional Executive
Director,

5. Malacañang Memorandum Prescribing Guidelines,

Circular No. 157 dated July 15, Procedures and Timeframes in
2008. the Conduct of
Evaluation,Complete Staff Work
(CSW) and Approval of
Proposed Proclamations for
Housing Purposes
Salient points:
Memorandum from DENR HEA dated 03
January 2007

I. Completed Staff Work

All request for appropriate action and/or
approval by Secretary of Environment and
Natural Resources shall be submitted to the
Office of the Secretary of Environment and
Natural Resources thru the Office of the Senior
Undersecretary and Chief of Staff only after
complete staff work has been conducted by the
official/office, bureau and agency submitting the
same.
•Complete staff work (CSW) is the study of a problem or a
situation and formulation of solutions or course of action by
a staff to enable the decision-maker to effect an immediate
decision on the matter.
•CSW implies a situation whereby all pertinent information
to be used as basis for decision-making are made available
to the decision-maker
• It implies the presentation of a clear recommendation upon
full consideration of a problem, clearance with concerned
officials or heads of offices, suggestions about avoiding
difficulties involved, and the preparation of the
corresponding paperwork or action documents to implement
the proposed recommendations.
•The request shall also include the basic papers and all
documents relative thereto.
Request for issuances and/or approval by the SENR not
complying with the foregoing requirements may be
returned to the requesting official/office, bureau or agency
for completion of the necessary staff work.

•2. Form
• All requests for appropriate action and/or approval by
the SENR shall be submitted by the proponent official or
office thru the Sr. USEC and Chief of Staff in a brief form
duly signed by the concerned USEC, substantially in
accordance with the format attached hereto, in lieu of other
formats. Proponent official/office shall also secure the
concurrence of the concerned Senior Officials (i.e., USECs
and ASECs) where they affix their initials at the
concurrence lines at the upper right hand corner of the
DENR Brief.
BASIC FORMAT OF A CSW
In a memorandum form, prepared by the staff, initialed
by the supervisor and signed by the head of office
(CENRO/PENRO/RD.)
Background/Prefatory statement
Description of the Area
Justification for the Issuance
Legal Basis
Agencies Involved
Potential Problem
Recommendation
EXAMPLE OF
A CSW
REPORT
EXAMPLE OF
A CSW
REPORT