Question #1 - How can I be sure that my audience is reading, understanding, and following my policies and procedures?

Answer: There are four popular ways to ensure that your audience is paying attention to your policies and procedures:

1. Get "buy-in" to your ideas during research and writing phases...in other words, involve the users in the writing of your policies and procedures,
2. Communicate new, or revised, policies and procedures content shortly before training starts; add mentoring and coaching as needed to ensure that users under.
3. Train users immediately upon release of the policy or procedure document. Schedule regular training throughout the year to reinforce behavior. And don't forget to ask for feedback on your training methods and effectiveness, and
4. Audit and/or conduct surveys of the policies and procedures content at least annually to validate that the content is being correctly understood and applied.
   
   

Question #2 - Why does my company need policies and procedures?

Answer: Put simply, policies and procedures are important because they:

1. Provide repeatable behavior through instructions and guidelines; with repetition, workers can do their work consistently and become more productive;
2. Become the framework for the application of company goals, objectives, and core business processes;
3. Provide individuals the freedom to make decisions in the execution of their duties within defined boundaries or job descriptions;
4. Enable managers to control events in advance by knowing the rules and what to expect;
5. Enable managers and their employees to clearly understand their individual and department's group responsibilities;
6. Can prevent executives from going to jail by adhering to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002; and
7. Help companies become certified or registered in disciplines such as iSO Quality Standards or CMMI.
   

Question #3 - My users complain that my policies and procedures are hard to READ in their current format...what's a good way to present content that is readable?

Answer: Use a proven, tested, and flexible page layout writing format that has been adopted by large and small companies alike. A writing format is at the heart of a policies and procedures program because it's the primary tool that enables you to present your solutions in a logical and easy-to-read format. The writing format provides consistency of writing across a company. Without this standard writing format, the users can get frustrated with different formats, different writing styles, and even inconsistent content, if authors are permitted to lay out their content any way they want.

Recall that I provide a FREE Writing Format with every PDF order and upon request for Printed orders.

Question #4 - Why are Pre-Written Policy and Procedure SAMPLES Beneficial to Me?

Answer: Pre-written samples can help you in a variety of ways. Samples can:

1. Show you how policies and procedures should look when written in the recommended page layout writing format;
2. Show you how a logical and consistent policy or procedure document flows from section to section;
3. Give you some ideas as to opening sentences for each section;
4. Save you time and money when you find ideas you hadn't thought about; this is especially true when you can find pre-written samples off the Internet.
5. Prevent you from re-inventing the wheel...in other words, you don't have to start from scratch on a subject when there are many sources to view to kick start your policies and procedures.

NOTE: Keep in mind that I don't think you should use sample content verbatim because you have to consider your company's environment, culture, resources, people, and technology. And most importantly, you need to work with your users in the development of the policy or procedure to get their BUY-IN. Keep these points in mind when you buy content from the many sites that sell it. WITH MY BOOKS, I show you how to gather your own content on your own, without paying big dollars for consultants or others who think they know better than I do.

Before you buy, please ask for their credentials and study how long they have been writing, in what size of companies, and find out if they have ever been a policies and procedures writer versus being a consultant with ideas. My pet peeve is that too many consultants say that they know what you want but if they haven't actually been a writer full-time, then they are just guessing. You don't want work from guessers. You want work or products from those who have "lived" through the pains and challenges of being a real policies and procedures writer for at least 10 years!!!