writing policies and procedures for dummies

content determined by user needs. Consider using icons and colors to designate specific elements, for example, blue for links and red for caution. These are most common steps in a project: We agree the scope of the project. Facilities supporting underage persons require their own set of documents. Now that you’ve learned about a couple of policies that your business should have, it’s time that you learn how to put them into the paper. Consider things like sales goals, goals for employees and management, and where you would like to see your business a few years down the road. 436 0 obj <>stream 417 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<8A168D28EABFFE488B5804A75DF8BBDC>]/Index[405 32]/Info 404 0 R/Length 72/Prev 129519/Root 406 0 R/Size 437/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream Procedures, on the other hand, enumerate lower-level processes and provide steps your employees need to take to adhere to your policies or complete a process. To help you achieve this, write with the reader in mind and follow these tips: Download this document with tips on tone to maximize the effectiveness and readability of your policies and procedures. This involves understanding your requirements, the scope of the work, and the audience. Ideally, you should update procedures (and especially work instructions) frequently to reflect innovations in process or address problems and incidents. The … Because your policies cast a wide net across your organization, consider drawing people from different departments for input. Policies provide a means to change your company culture. What Is Meant by Policies and Procedures? You can increase their interest in and engagement with documentation by including the relevant employees during the writing process. endstream endobj 406 0 obj <. When writing a set of private home care provider policies and procedures, an agency manager can rely on the agency’s ethical code to determine appropriate policies. At a minimum, the following policies and procedures apply: Health and social care policies include guidelines to protect the health and safety of healthcare workers. As you craft policies for your organization, use PowerDMS to collaborate with your policy team, gather feedback, and distribute and track all of your critical policy content. You can also use this pre-formatted template to a policy. A campus policies and procedures manual can quickly become out-of-date if an effective policy coordination function is not coupled with the effort. If you have the a designer who can help you create icons or choose existing ones, these symbols can help direct users to appropriate sections of your documents. You may also want to include experts who can help you adhere to local, state, and federal laws. Soon to be by Smartsheet. For example, You must wash the dishes (active) rather than The dishes must be washed (passive). ‌ Download Basic Policy Procedure Template. “Over-documentation was a perception of the standard. Take a look to see the recommended sample policies that don't sap employee spirits and steal their lives and private time. No matter how the documents are created, online publishing options help to ensure that users can easily access the latest version. For example, a private home care provider policies and procedures manual might state that the agency’s policy is to always have health care providers visit patients in pairs. This is important for compliance audits. Most of the work happens before you ever begin to write. Numbered drawings and photos may convey more information than words do and may be best for certain situations. Write to the reading level of the document users. The table below shows some of the types of policies needed for three sample industries. Work instructions must be specific about how a task is completed. Routine Maintenance: The replacement of existing materials with exactly the same materials and in exactly the same style and color/finish as existing provided the existing is in compliance with these Policies and Procedures. Binders of documents that no one can find have never been helpful. Good policy and procedure documents: Are reviewed regularly and updated as needed to … Each element can be described in your own procedures style guide. Every industry, business, and organization of any size, whether for-profit or nonprofit, government or private, regulated or non-regulated, can benefit from policies and procedures. h�b```f``���S@��960��ggYx��9gCd�� �wL�V˚��v]�x�$j�����P����P6��j�10�� �\@� Z��5�kz�1�y.6�3���7�ҳn�/��b`���Y��4�E �����!�f">� h�/� Policies and procedures help employees maintain compliance and mitigate or even eliminate risks. In most organizations, policies and procedures must receive written approval. Many fields and regulatory areas have predefined templates that can expedite your writing process by showing the types of content you must add. Policy management plugins provide policy document management for common collaboration platforms. They also provide standards for vulnerable citizens, such as guidelines for their healthcare, food safety in facilities, living conditions in facilities or domicile care, general safety and security, and well-being and protection during civil emergencies, such as pandemic, earthquake, or severe weather events. 10 Essential items to include when constructing policies and procedures in your business. Your policy and procedure manual defines the rights and obligations of the employee and the employer. Report on key metrics and get  real-time visibility into work as it happens with roll-up reports, dashboards, and automated workflows built to keep your team connected and informed. In general, when executed correctly, policies and procedures serve to bring order where chaos could reign. Ensure that wording and intent in procedures aligns with related policies, procedures, and other documents, such as forms or diagrams. Another example, demonstrated by the following companies, is generous paid maternity leave, including, of course, adoptive or foster children. They communicate internally the values, objectives, requirements, and best practices throughout the company, from the C-level to independent contractors. Equity, diversity, anti-discrimination, and anti-harassment, Board of directors and trustee code of conduct. Writing Effective Policies: Using Written Policy to Manage Behavior, Mitigate Risks & Maximize Complianceis produced as a general best-practices guide with the understanding that neither the author, ePolicy Institute Founder & Executive Director Nancy Flynn, nor the publisher, Prevalent, is engaged in rendering advice on legal, regulatory, or other issues. Organize the material logically and label sections clearly, so readers can easily find the content they need. Consider numbered paragraphs, which make content easier to locate in lengthy documents. Before you start to write, keep the following things in mind. Use short sentences with familiar English words and one thought or concept per sentence. The scope of the policy reveals to whom the policy pertains. Remove extra words. Many people want to know how long it takes to document their policies and procedures. Templates usually also provide an attractive, readable format, so you don’t have to worry about layout and design. ©2021. You know it has to be done, but it seems like there's always something more pressing to handle. For example, use to instead of in order to. Charles Cox is a Principal at Firefly Consulting, an Austin-based boutique consulting firm that specializes in innovation and operational excellence. In manufacturing, that institutional memory element becomes especially crucial as seasoned workers retire. A critical component of policy and procedure writing is front line staff involvement. 0 These policies, procedures, and checklists successfully recognize the limits of providing employees proper guidance for appropriate behavior at work and draw a line between that and employee lives outside of the workplace. As Cox explains, “Any company needs to have policies which address points of conflict before they happen.” Examples include points of hand off between teams, such as when designs are transferred to manufacturing. A template can guide you to consider needed content and usable formatting, but the words and format must be customized to your situation. Standard Operating Procedure Templates act a… Although it is important to customize any documents for your situation, policy and procedure documents tend to include core elements that help identify the document and provide the information necessary: If your organization must create many policies and procedures, consider purchasing a purpose-built policy management platform. See Smartsheet in action. Some programs also offer self-training capability, which includes recordkeeping for grades in quizzes. The purpose of this policy is to set forth XYZ Company's statement of policy and procedures for handling employee absences and instances of tardiness. Your procedures are published in your company. Download Policy Procedure Creation Workflow. Well-thought-out and well-written policies also protect the legal interests of your company. “A lot of people never get past the idea that documentation doesn’t make things happen,” notes Nichols. Break the text into chunks to aid panning and scanning — include bulleted and numbered lists, graphics, charts, diagrams, well-written headings, and numbered paragraphs. He sees a historical precedent for over-documentation rooted in the pre-ISO 9000 days of military procurement, when government agencies required any type of professionally formatted document that recorded repeatable processes. “Whatever the document type,” he says, “documents are an excellent way of capturing tribal knowledge.”. Your pre-writing activities include deciding on a document focus and researching background. The only way this can be the case is if each and every policy and procedure document is developed, written, and updated with the user in mind. Your procedure format describes all the elements you need in your Policies and Procedures Templates. Use gender-neutral terms, such as their, not he or she, and worker, not workman. “Many companies have escalation procedures, but that’s after the fact,” says Cox. Together, they can guide an organization to success through legal and regulatory compliance. Developing a team to write your policies and procedures is a great way to ensure you include everything necessary. Because of the complexity and effort required to develop good policies, and because they influence the values of your office and potentially also have legal ramifications, ensure that your C-level team supports and endorses your efforts. The following are some of the fields that particularly benefit from defined policies and procedures: Companies implement policies and procedures for a number of reasons. See why Smartsheet is the platform you need to drive achievement, no matter the scale of your ambition. Use present tense. Too often, however, this manual is written in a way that makes it difficult to find or overly complicated for front-line staff to adequately leverage. Make sure that an expert in employment law reviews the manual before you publish it. Get up and running fast with streamlined implementation and solution building to address your immediate business needs. Session 3: Write with new clarity and ease Understand what “clarity” really is and why you must change old habits to achieve it; 15 great tips for writing policies and procedures … Create policy and procedure manuals (based on city, region or country), employee handbooks (exempt and non-exempt, full-time and part-time), or administrative guides using conditions and other advanced single sourcing capabilities. In addition to writing clearly, you can enhance the usability of your policies and procedures with a clear layout and optimal use of color and graphics, such as charts, diagrams, and images. h�bbd``b`�$g�_ ��Hp�� Ye ��U �@�/Hx3012����N�g�|` m� $ Policies also promote conflict resolution. Use must or will if something is mandatory. Style guides are used in publishing to define the fonts, spacing, or branding elements your documents should use so they look the same. Use headings that clearly identify the content of each section. Time to produce documentation, of course depends on your knowledge level, writing skills and the amount of material you plan to cover. Most of the work happens before you ever begin to write. The terms policy and procedure are sometimes confused and used interchangeably, whereas they serve different purposes. Use terms consistently throughout your documents. Policies are high-level guidelines that define the culture of an organization by shaping decisions and providing a framework for daily activities. Policies: The Policies and Procedures of the Architectural Control Committee, including supplements and amendments. He describes how policies are “at a high level in the organization and almost never linked to a given part of operations. At the same time, they guarantee that an organization pays proper attention to business concerns. As a manager or business owner, you know best the goals for your company. When teams have clarity into the work getting done, there’s no telling how much more they can accomplish in the same amount of time. While the terms are frequently mentioned together, policies and procedures serve different roles. Finally, you will disseminate your documents and train users in the new policies and procedures. Following these guidelines, good documents provide the following: Specific policies and procedures may vary depending on the type of organization. %PDF-1.5 %���� They key into what the organization is all about. They provide an umbrella under which the entire organization operates. A step-by-step resource for clear communication of all types of policies and procedures. Policy links to strategy, to culture, to decision making, whereas procedures and processes or work instructions are the actual documents that govern the transformation of inputs into outputs.”. Why Do We Need Policies and Procedures in the Workplace? Your pre-writing activities include deciding on a document focus and researching background. For procedures, the need to understand the process is of particular importance. Your employee handbook should consist of policies that apply to everyone in the company (general hours, payroll, vacation time, and so on). Our world-class consulting team is here to help your organization realize the lasting advantage of Smartsheet. 10 Proven Tips on Writing and Managing Bank & Credit Union Policies and Procedures The policy and procedure manual is often the lifeblood of a bank or credit union’s customer service team. The price will depend on the size and complexity of the policies and procedures. 10 Step Plan to Writing Standard Operating Procedures The process of developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) involves ten steps. Policy and Procedure. Finally, you will disseminate your documents and train users in the new policies and pro… ‌ Download the Policy and Procedure Writing Checklist. You'll learn how to adapt to company changes, revise procedures, and edit existing resources you have. Use this research checklist to gather the resources needed for a document people will want to use. What Are the Policies and Procedures in Health and Social Care? Support the policy with employee education. Learn how the flexible, extensible Smartsheet platform can help your organization achieve more. Procedures are vital to consistent success for many of the same reasons that processes are important – they let you reliably repeat your successes, isolate and correct your mistakes, and create a business model that lets you scale your operations.. Manual template packages are also available for sale, sometimes with software. Look through the audit history to understand if procedures require an update in response to non-compliance or a safety event. But, documents have their limits. User Guide to Writing Policies . Identify who will take lead responsibility. 405 0 obj <> endobj This unique, one-day Basics of Writing Policies and Procedures workshop will teach you how to write policies and procedures clearly. Many of the steps for preparing policies are echoed in the preparation of procedures. Work instructions may include only pictures and numbers. Set forth in a separate manual or other format those procedures that relate specifically to how people do their individual jobs. Visual cues help learners with marginal or no reading skills, and graphics aid all users to more easily grasp and retain concepts. Some software packages for manufacturing add animation and 3D capability to help process engineers and shop floor workers better visualize instructions. The policy manual is a written expression of the rules governing the employer/employee relationship. The original ISO, however, only called for a quality document that provided an umbrella for the entire organization. Write the full name for acronyms when you first use them. Procedures and work instructions in particular can capture knowledge and real-world experience to be passed on to the next generation. ‌ Download the Policy and Procedure Pre-Writing Checklist. Writing policies and procedures is probably one of your least favorite tasks, maybe even something you've been putting off for weeks - or months. %%EOF You can customize the content to suit your organization. Scope. Learn about our premium resource and portfolio management platform, 10,000ft by Smartsheet. Make sure the links to the document from other documents and from other websites are working and up to date. Now managers have a definitive guide to creating accurate policies and procedures documents. Give each SOP a meaningful title, like “How to Assemble Your Product” or “How to … It’s important to write clearly, concisely, and simply. Separate company policies from job-specific procedures. The Smartsheet platform makes it easy to plan, capture, manage, and report on work from anywhere, helping your team be more effective and get more done. Name the document clearly, so users can easily identify its purpose. Use plain words that are commonly understood rather than jargon. If you must use specialized terms, explain them in the text and in your glossary section. Use evergreen information. For example, use someone@contoso.com rather than contact information for a specific individual whose contact information may change. The key to strong policies and procedures is understanding how the people who use the documents actually perform the documented activities. Interview employees who perform the tasks. In his opinion, “Trainers and consultants still espouse a structure that wasn’t necessary and caused a bureaucracy that got in the way of people adopting a quality system.”, Nevertheless, Nichols sees a role for documentation beyond process control. Certainly, establishing a consistent, efficient, and effective way of doing things is desirable, and policies and procedures can help. Some believe, however, that their different roles are a good reason to separate then into two documents. Common Elements of Policies and Procedures, Tools and Considerations for Creating a Policy and Procedure, Language, Tone, and Style in Policies and Procedures. Policies in particular also communicate the company values and objectives to potential employees, investors, customers, and the media. Validate procedures in a walkthrough to ensure that users can follow them adequately. Smartsheet is a cloud-based platform that enables HR teams to manage everything from job applicant tracking to new hire onboarding and employee performance reviews. Include a table of contents in Word or PDF format or with hyperlinks if online. Policies and procedures -- they're what make a company run efficiently and legally. • Forms 13. Policies and procedures guide daily workplace activities by promoting compliance with laws and regulations, providing strategic perspective for decision making, and simplifying processes. Inadequate standard operating procedures (SOPs) are one of the most frequently cited causes of many deficiencies and observations found in Forms 483 and Warning Letters.And while specific SOP issues can often be traced back to poor communication, monitoring, and/or enforcement, a poorly written SOP can quietly grow into a host of other major compliance problems. You, as the policy owner or writer, have the important task of reaching your intended audience with policies that are clear, easily read, and provide the right level of information to the individuals Progressive company policies include such things as allowing access to personal social media during office hours, permitting work from home or remote work access, or offering paid time off (i.e., a personal pool of days off to be used for sick days or other issues as needed). These elements may be required for compliance, support industry standards, or to meet company guidelines. Write clear, concise policies and procedures that eliminate gray areas and end confusion. The objective of this policy is to promote the efficient operation of the company. In a regulated industry, they demonstrate legal and regulatory compliance. It was never prescribed at all,” says Nichols. Empower your people to go above and beyond with a flexible platform designed to match the needs of your team — and adapt as those needs change. So here are the steps that should help you make a clear and organized company policy: Make a list of policy categories. Jump-start new projects and processes with our pre-built sets of templates, add-ons, and services. Observe employees in day-to-day tasks to understand current procedures. “A proactive stance is better.”. When writing a procedure, keep the following things in mind: Even more so than with procedures, if work instructions form part of your documentation, they must be precise and written in the users’ language. To get an overview of the policy creation process, follow this workflow, and then review the checklists for each step to ensure that you’ve covered all aspects. Why Does a Company Have Policies and Procedures? Free your team from content sprawl with Brandfolder, an intuitive digital asset management platform. Policies and procedures in a company serve to define how employees are expected to behave and to detail responsibilities of both management and employees. No matter how well-written or beautifully designed the document, you can’t just toss your new policies and procedures to the teams and expect them to read and understand everything. After writing, your documents should be reviewed, validated, and approved. ‌ Download the Policy and Procedure Review and Approval Checklist. Write your policies and procedures for a wide audience.