Policy writing guidelines - take 2

["Steve Hudson" <cruddy -at- optushome -dot- com -dot- au>]

After some helpful nudges it has grown, but the meat is a bit more obvious
now.

1.1.1.	Corporate Policies
The corporate policy is a formal statement specifying a set of rules for
staff to follow in a limited area of the business. Whereas all of business
needs to be covered by a policy for Quality operations, each policy only
dictates behaviours within a defined scope. This topic describes the basic
business rules governing the existence of policies, the environment required
for a policy to be effective, the minimum content of a policy and some
considerations for the overall presentation of the policy.

1.1.1.1.	Value
Policies must add value to a company or otherwise they are not worth
implementing. So we must understand what this value (V) is before we start
drafting a policy. Its quanta are:
*  Fiscal Period (T): Measurements of this sort should be taken across
sufficiently large fiscal periods to include representatives from all the
expected factors.
*  Pre-policy violation frequency (P-): from across T.
*  Mitigation ratio (R) ? the expected ratio of from post-policy (P+)
compared to pre-policy, across T.
*  Violation Cost (C) ? the average cost of a violation. This must measure
the losses in at least all of the these areas: profits, perceived brand
value, quality, damage control, fines, progress. You can measure each of
these areas separately if desired.
*  Change Impact (I) ? the cost of change. Multiply the reduction in
efficiency in your work force and the period of re-adjustment. Small changes
take a month; large changes can exceed 6 months. Multiple again by the
average wage. Then calculate the change in efficiency ? added controls and
burdensome procedures reduce efficiency whilst reducing violations. Usually
this is calculated as an hourly figure becoming a percentage of the average
weekly wage.
*  Work to Implement (W) ? the cost of implementing the policy. This should
include all the costs for the technical writers, staff and management
involved in the writing, reviewing, approving, publishing, distributing and
training.
*  Maintenance Cost (M) ? the cost of maintaining the policy. Usually
calculated from the estimated weekly hours required by the nominated
administrator at their pay rate. If the policy existed before and this is a
change, subtract the previous cost of maintaining the policy first.
Thus, the formula is V = (1 - R) * P- * C * - (I + W + M) for the first T
and V = (1 - R) * P- * C - M for each T thereafter.
Thus in situations where there are lots of existing violations or very
costly violations an effective policy will add great value. Where either P-
or C are very low, implementing policies may end up costing the company more
than any calculable benefits. Reductions in staff efficiency as a result of
more controls can outweigh the estimated benefits from reducing the
associated violations.

1.1.1.2.	Management
Management must
*  Support the policy ? grant authority for enforcement and audit it.
*  Ensure sufficient resources for implementation, monitoring, enforcement
and resolution.
*  Implement the policy throughout the entire company and distribute it to
defined locations for easy access.
*  Communicate changes communicated clearly and promptly to all affected
staff.
*  Train staff in their use where appropriate, including mock violation
resolutions.

1.1.1.3.	Design
Policies should:
*  address staff and management expectations for controls and procedures
*  address recorded incidents
*  consider the staff base, including geographically and socially
*  encourage information flow between appropriate groups
*  be technically feasible, practical, understandable and enforceable
*  be flexible to adapt to changing technologies and company goals
*  be independent of underlying technologies and methodologies

1.1.1.4.	Content
1.	Scope ? making reference to business rules and relative importance to the
business, and all atomic elements within
2.	External Authorities ? applicable guidelines, standards, regulations, or
laws
3.	Administration ? an authority and their scope
4.	Acceptable use ? including allowable activities and explicit violations,
addressing all potential issues within scope and including accountability
for all required activities. May contain different levels of compliance
where necessary.
5.	Roles and Responsibilities ? for all staff roles involved
6.	Exceptions ? identifying and treating
7.	Violations ? reporting, sanctions and the expected incident handling for
risk mitigation
8.	References ?similar or supporting documents
9.	(Q) Audit ? the process to ensure policy is implemented and detail the
last audit date
10.	(Q) Review ? the update and review process


Steve Hudson - Word Heretic, Sydney, Australia
Email: heretic -at- tdfa -dot- com     Blog: www.tdfa.com/blog/blog.htm
For MS-Word questions please use msnews.microsoft.com before
heretic -at- tdfa -dot- com -dot- 
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