Policies provide a framework for decision-making by outlining the protocols that must be followed in certain situations.
Elmeri Palokangas August 29, 2024
Building a policy document is one of an organization's most important tasks.
No, really. Whether you're writing for an enterprise or SMB, policy documents are essential to making sure you can effectively run your business. Though often overlooked, they're necessary to make sure everything operates as it should.
Want to know how to write effective, accurate policies? You're in the right place.
Before you can start writing policies, you should first have a basic understanding of what they are.
For that reason, we will start by defining policies!
A policy is a set of guidelines, or rules, put in place by an organization or individual to ensure efficient operations.
They provide a framework for decision-making by outlining the protocols that must be followed in certain situations, and they help ensure consistency and compliance in the workplace.
Policies should be:
So why should businesses write policies?
Regardless of the type of policy you're developing, conducting thorough research is essential.
This will help you identify best practices and find examples or templates to guide your policy writing.
You can do both internal and external research.
Internal in a way that you can interview employees, look through past documentation, and identify any existing policies or procedures that can be used as guidance.
External research includes looking at industry standards, legal requirements, policy templates, and different types of processes and policies. It's important to know what policies would be beneficial for your specific business.
To make your research easier, here are some of the most common business-related policies:
For all of these policy examples, a simple Google search can offer a lot of inspiration. Google "customer service policy" for a lot of ideas and even templates you can use on your own policies.
When doing research, make sure to consult with stakeholders who the policy may impact. This can help ensure that your policy accurately reflects the organization's actual needs.
Once you've gathered the necessary information, you can start writing your policy.
When it comes to writing the actual policy, it can be hard to get started. We've put together a step-by-step guide to help you craft effective and understandable policies.
Everything starts with why you’re creating the policy in the first place.
For example, a policy for HR will have a very different goal than a policy for Customer Success.
Clearly state the purpose of the policy, as well as its boundaries. This will give the policy context and make it easier for everyone to understand.
Make sure to include any details that are important such as who the policy applies to, what it covers, and how long it will remain in effect.
As you write the policy, make sure to include all the relevant details. If there are specific tasks or procedures that need to be followed, make sure to include those as well.
And make sure to list who is responsible for what, as this will help ensure that everyone knows their role and can take action when needed.
Creating a standard policy template makes writing policies now and in the future easier. This means creating a standard format that applies to all policies.
We've listed some ideas:
Policies are formal documents and should be written using a professional, easy-to-read font.
Regularly used and professional fonts like Arial, Georgia, Times New Roman, and Calibri are all great for policies.
You should also keep the font size consistent across all your policies. Typically, 12 pt. is a good size for policies, making them easy to scan and comprehend. This is different for headings; you should use larger sizes to make them stand out.
Policies should be professional documents, so it's important to use colors that reflect this. Avoid bright and flashy colors and stick with more subtle tones, like black and white.
You can also use colors to differentiate sections or highlight essential points when appropriate.
When writing policies, clarity should be your number one priority. The goal is to ensure that everyone understands the policy, which means using simple language and avoiding long, wordy sentences.
As a baseline for all of your policies, avoid jargon or technical terms that may be difficult to understand.
With all the research and preparation done, it's time to start drafting the policy.
To help you, here are some things to include in the policy:
There are obviously more things that you can include in the policy, but this should give you a good starting point. Think of what’s essential in your company's own individual context and include those details.
Once the policy is written, it's important to keep reviewing and revising it regularly. This helps ensure that the policy remains relevant and up-to-date with changes in regulations and customer needs.
To do this, you can conduct operational improvements, such as gap analysis, to identify gaps in the policy and see where improvements can be made. Again here, you should also seek feedback from stakeholders, as this will help ensure that their needs and concerns are taken into account.
Incorporate any changes based on feedback and compliance requirements, and don’t forget small things like updating the policy's header with the new version date. This will make it easier for everyone to know when the policy was last updated.
Without efficient tools, policy writing can take way too much manual work. Cut it in half by capturing procedures that will inform your policies with Scribe.
Scribe and Pages provide features that can help streamline the process of creating and managing policies, from start to finish.
Writing up docs and how-to guides used to take up so much time, but not anymore!@ScribeHow creates auto-generated step-by-step guides, cutting down hours of work to minutes.
It's a must-have tool if you're working solo or in a team.
With Scribe and Pages, you can easily create templates for policy development, share policies with stakeholders, automate document sharing, and more.
These tools also allow you to quickly and easily manage your policy revisions, ensuring that everyone involved is kept up-to-date on the latest version.
Creating and maintaining effective policies is an important part of running a successful business. However, it can be difficult to know where to start.
By following the steps outlined above, you can create a compelling policy that meets all your needs and is easy for everyone to understand. If you want to speed things up — using Scribe and Pages can make everything so much easier.
By capturing your screen, Scribe turns your processes into step-by-step guides. And with Pages, you can format and create the actual policies. Combining these two tools make it easy for every team member to access and understand policies.
