©Ross Woods Rev. Jan 09, Jul. 13, Feb 14
Organizations must have a policy basis for a number of reasons:
Having said that, polices are only legally valuable if you can show that they are up-to-date and that you actually follow them.
You might often hear the phrase "policies and procedures." These two things can be quite different. A procedure is a set of step-by-step instructions, so they are often easier to write. It's a little different from a policy in that it's not really a broad statement that guides decision-making. Procedures for low-risk tasks are usually set by the person in charge, and do not usually need approval from a board or committee. But for these materials, we'll think of procedures and policies as the same, and just refer to policy.
A procedure can offer most of the kinds of protections that a policy can (freedom from liability, consistency, responsibility etc.). It can be written for a variety of purposes, but is often one of the following:
If the organization is small and new, policy decisions are probably only the board minutes. But that isn't enough as soon as you grow a little, or have staff, or stay around for a while. You can't hope that someone will remember that you made a board minute on a matter about five or ten years ago.
You'd typically follow this set of steps when for developing a policy for a small organization.
Policy development can be either reactive or proactive:
Otherwise, policy development is much like developing a proposal for a board meeting.
You might to some extent be a change agent.
Consult stakeholders throughout the policy development process. This will not only make your policies better, but can also get them on side, making them more likely to accept your new policy. To do so, you'll need to establish trust and encourage and accept feedback. Keep in contact with them and actively listen to their ideas. Value their opinions and be open to them. Negotiate if there's an impasse.
How will you get people to discuss policy issues openly and constructively and what they think should be in the new policy?
Write down what you do, or make printouts of information you access. You might need it later to give the reasons for your policy being as it is.
You need to find out why you are writing these documents. The purpose of the document may include any of the following:
You may be asked to develop policy for many other reasons:
You'll probably find out from the person who assigned you the task, but it should also be written in the minutes of the meeting.
In the end, you will probably be writing for a small group of people, a board or a committee, and they will have particular ideas about what will be required. The point is that you must write something to which they will agree.
Is there a particular kind of layout or format that you are required to use? For example, your policy or procedure might be presented as:
If you don't' have clear examples or templates to follow, this is probably a matter of asking the right person in your organization.
You'll probably have to gather and analyze quite a lot of information, and your organization is a good place to start. Look at your organization's requirements.
Asking the right people is probably the fastest way to get answers for many of these questions and to find the most important documents. Don't forget the archives. They sometimes have very well written policies that are useful with little revision.
See if they have any gaps, or need any changes. Some polices might be excellent, but now need updating.
Get a reality check at this stage. You might be tempted to write your statements to be the mother of all policy statements, complete in every possible detail, or you might feel like giving up. What you most need to decide is the amount of detail you need to go into. Not too much. Not too little. Just right for your organization. People ignore policy documents that are too long and detailed, but policies still need enough detail to meet your orgaization's needs.
Much of the task of policy development might have been done for you. Go through the board minutes and perhaps the staff meeting minutes and find the policy-related decisions that have already been made. Some statements will be ready to incorporate with minimal change. Other decisions will probably apply to specific cases and need to be translated into a general policy. It's common that decisions are inconsistent; some decisions lean to one policy viewpoint, and others to another viewpoint.
A large part of your policy development task is then to collate them into one consistent, clearly-structured policy document.
Include references to minutes. When your policy comes up for approval, it's not unusual for Board members to say, "I don't agree. Did we really say that? We need to change it." They can make more informed decisions if they can refer to the minutes of their original decisions.
In practice, you should do an Internet search and interview key people in your industry, as that will be the fastest way to identify core issues and needs.
Are there specific industry requirements with which you must comply? For example, you might be a member of an association that already has clear guidelines or benchmarks. Or there might be a particular way that policies might be laid out. Its current literature or website will probably be the easiest place to start. You might need to telephone an industry spokesperson if you still need help.
Are there other standards that might guide practice, even if you are not required to comply with them? (e.g. industry national standards, government reviews and publications, best practice guides, endorsed standards, examples of what other organizations have done). Industry associations are also a good source of information on your legal obligations. This involves not just compliance, but also risks related to civil actions.
Then look carefully at legal requirements. These may be complex, and finding what you need may be time-consuming. Again, check the range of situations in which your policy will have to work, as this might determine variations in legal requirements.
Hints:
In the words of A.E. Brown: "Widen your reference points. It is unwise to depend heavily on only one source of advice. You will draw better conclusions if you compare the different kinds of advice and reach a set of conclusions that works for your particular organization.
Of all the information you have collected, select what you need, and synthesize it for inclusion in your draft policy. Then write up the new policy according to the guidelines that you have identified. Your policies will need to reflect the culture, values and objectives of your organization.
As a general rule, policies need to be in a form that:
Here's some advice on how to do it:
This brings up the rather awkward question: “Are you reflecting the consensus of all stakeholders, or are you presenting your own conclusions?” To some extent, both options are correct. Yes, your draft policy must represent the input of all viewpoints, but decision-makers are also expecting you to present a draft policy that is soundly researched and concieved, and to which they can easily agree.
You will now have to get the draft out for people to look at. Who this is will vary from organization to organization, and might also depend on the kind of policy (some policies are less public than others.) It might only have to go to a board, or it might have to be available for hundreds of people to read, or for the general public.
Get one or two people to read it. First of all, get one or two people to read it and sort out as many of the more obvious mistakes and gaps at this stage. People will suggest cases you hadn't thought of and renderings of meanings that you didn't intend. Fix these before you let it go further. Make sure you clearly identify each draft (e.g. Use the date or first draft, second draft, etc.)
Would a larger meeting be helpful? Perhaps you want to get feedback on your new drafts in a meeting. Try this instruction sheet for explaining what you want participants to do. You can use the points in the list as discussion points.
You could also split the participants into small discussion groups if there are too many people to give everybody a say. Remember to appoint someone in each group to write notes for you.
Putting it out for wider comment. In larger organizations, or if you have many stakeholders, put it out for wider comment. This might be on the website or on a notice board. Alternatively, you might survey people or hold focus groups. To maintain transparency, governments often allow public feedback by circulating a draft policy to public libraries. Make sure you identify it clearly as a draft, not the final policy, and set a final date for comments.
When the consultation is finished, collate and analyse the feedback and make any changes.
You will need to be especially careful to make sure that you communicate prospective changes to policies and procedures (or introduction to new ones) to personnel and key stakeholders. At this stage, you might want to get any final feedback from them and put the finishing touches on the new policy.
Like any witing project, you will probably need several drafts. You might notice gaps or inconsistencies, get late feedback, or have changes in operating environment. You need to get the wording, style and layout right.
Final policies and procedures are approved by the decision-makers, and documented accordingly. If you've done everything right so far, this shouldn't be hard. It won't be a surprise, and you should have listened to everybody.
Nasty surprises (unexpected rejections) can result from political forces, sudden regulatory changes, new trends, or strong but disagreeable people. On the other hand, many boards comprise the best people who can ask the toughest and best questions. If your proposal was not accepted, you will just have to accept it and re-write your policy.
First plan your implementation. Who needs to know about the new policy? Staff, management, clients, other stakeholders? What effects will it have on them? Will they need to be told in different ways? What responsibilities will people have in implementing the new policy?
You should be careful that people might circumvent change and keep to the old ways. Ways of changing the organisation can include:
Providing information alone, whether paper-based or electronic, is only an adequate strategy if changes are very minor or if most people already know what is going on through the consultation.
You will need to plan implementation to have the best impact, listing clearly who needs to do what. Your plan could include:
As you put your implementtionplan into practice, keep and eye on the policy's continuing relevance. Do they work? Are there still gaps?
Ask the full range of people regularly whether they think the policies are still relevant and appropriate, and keep notes of their comments. If the scale is big enough, it will be a de facto survey.
Although some problems are serious, many are simple misunderstandings. It is quite normal that some of them think the policy is helpful, while others see difficulties. Explore the difficulties until you know the nature of the problems.
Later, you will have to write up an evaluation of the effect of the policy in the whole organisation so that you can update the policy as necessary.