The Policies and Procedures Authority

The Policies & Procedures Authority is a quarterly newsletter, published by Urgo & Associates, for executives, managers, consultants, performance improvement specialists, instructional designers, policy and procedure analysts, technical writers, or other professionals.

Policies and Procedures Authority, The. Journals>Documentation>Policies and Procedures

Defining Policies and Procedures: Three Perspectives

Most people, including P&P practitioners, define P&P on a micro level, primarily because they have not considered other perspectives. Here are three perspectives about policies and procedures by which you can think, speak, and act in today’s workplace.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Policies and Procedures

What’s Causing the Popularity of Policies and Procedures?

What’s causing the buzz of interest in P&P? Here are five trends that contribute to the growing popularity.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Policies and Procedures>History

Exodus of “Baby Boom” Generation Increases Need for Policies and Procedures

For many years, employee retirement was considered a normal part of attrition. Today, however, that attrition is becoming a major concern in organizations. In the United States alone, the so-called “baby boomer” generation (those born between 1946 and 1964) has already begun retiring. This concern is one for which policies and procedures (P&P) communication is being called to the rescue.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Policies and Procedures

Forgotten Media for Communicating Policies and Procedures

Mention the words, “media for communicating policies and procedures (P&P),” and most people automatically think of printed bound manuals or binders, electronic document files on a server or intranet, or content on a Web site. Although these media are popular and often formal in nature, let’s not forget that there are other types of media that organizations may use to communicate their P&P.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Communication>Policies and Procedures

Policies and Procedures Writer, Analyst, or Subject Matter Expert: Who Do We Need?

Who should you contract to update an outdated policies and procedures manual–subject matter expert or a policy and procedure writer?

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Writing>Policies and Procedures>SMEs

Compliance and Ethics Cause Need for Policies and Procedures Communicatioin

Increasing competition, generational differences, widespread social awareness, and customer demand for higher quality products and services make it necessary to ensure that the right protections are in place. Other reasons for the increased attention include the numerous reports of corporate scandals and corruption, along with ensuing legislative regulations in today’s global economy. This article describes some of the specific causes.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Policies and Procedures>Ethics

Providing Job-Based Policies and Procedures that Support Compliance Requirements

Organizations develop policies and procedures to support industry certification and compliance requirements. Unfortunately, companies often develop P&P information that is not helpful to all employees who must use the information. In fact, one study found that 40 percent of U.S. companies failed ISO certification because of problems with unclear or missing P&P documentation, resulting in wasted time, money, and effort.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Policies and Procedures

Tips for Presenting Ethics Practices

Because the nature of ethics information is highly abstract and related to integrity, it is based upon judgment and therefore subject to varying interpretations by employees. To increase common understanding and consistent interpretations, the use of language, choice of words, sentence formation, and presentation style are important.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Presentations>Ethics>Policies and Procedures

Auditing and Enforcing Compliance with Policies and Procedures: Who Is Responsible?

Auditing and enforcing compliance with P&P content should not be the responsibility of a P&P group or included in the job description of a P&P practitioner. However, the charter or job description may state that P&P practitioners are responsible for supporting compliance efforts.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Policies and Procedures

Policies and Procedures Communication Becoming More Suitable for Learning

Three workplace trends are driving policies and procedures (P&P) communication to be more suitable for learning than classroom training: changing workforce needs; e-content availability; and changing organizational needs.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures>Education

Policies and Procedures for Training and Reference: One Source?

Should an organization maintain two sets of policies and procedure (P&P) information—one that is developed for training and another that is developed for on-going reference?

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures

A Web Policy is a Policy, Not a Standard

I've noticed recently that people (and organizations) often interchange the policies and standards labels as if there is no difference between them... like those who insist the Web and the Internet are the same. I'm not one for splitting hairs, but in this case, policies are truly not the same as standards and it's important to be clear about the distinction.

Koniezeski, Delia. WelchmanPierpoint (2009). Articles>Web Design>Style Guides>Policies and Procedures

Web Governance with Teeth

Formal Web Governance is a way to mitigate risks and liabilities associated with large Web sites. Using a framework to develop and document Web-specific policies and standards creates a playbook by which an organization can manage its Web presence.

Pierpoint, Christine. WelchmanPierpoint (2009). Articles>Web Design>Management>Policies and Procedures

Police Reform, Task Force Rhetoric, and Traces of Dissent: Rethinking Consensus-as-Outcome in Collaborative Writing Situations    

Pedagogical and scholarly representations of collaborative writing and knowledge construction in technical communication have traditionally recognized consensus as the logical outcome of collaborative work, even as scholars and teachers have acknowledged the value of conflict and "dissensus" in the process of collaborative knowledge building. However, the conflict-laden work product of a Denver task force charged with recommending changes to the city police department's use-of-force policy and proposing a process for police oversight retains the collaborative group's dissensus and in doing so, illustrates an alternative method of collaborative reporting that challenges convention. Such an approach demonstrates a dissensus-based method of reporting that has the potential to open new rhetorical spaces for collaborative stakeholders by gainfully extending collaborative conversations and creating new opportunities for ethos development, thus offering scholars, teachers, and practitioners a way of reimagining the trajectory and outcome of collaborative work.

Knievel, Michael. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2008). Articles>Collaboration>Policies and Procedures>Government

Plain English Is the Best Policy

The health care reform bill now under consideration in the House of Representatives includes a proposal that certain disclosures in insurance policies be made in “plain language.” Another piece of legislation now being considered by both houses of Congress would likewise require uniform and simplified coverage information, much like what’s required on nutritional labels. These are excellent proposals, but they do not go far enough. Plain-language disclosures of some policy information and consumer-friendly labels are no substitutes for making an entire policy readable.

Cogan, John Aloysius. New York Times, The (2009). Articles>Writing>Policies and Procedures>Minimalism

Understanding Public Policy Development as a Technological Process    

This article discusses public policy writing as a genre of technical communication and, specifically, public policy development as a technological process. It cites DeGregori’s theory of technology to demonstrate the shared invention processes of technology and public policy, the work of public policy scholars to describe the policy-development process, and the work of human—computer interaction scholars to identify cognitive models of public policy development as a technological process. The article concludes with a discussion of e-rulemaking Web sites and the role of technical communicators in creating these blended spaces.

Williams, Miriam F. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2009). Articles>Technology>Policies and Procedures>Government

Online Database of Social Media Policies

Links to 100 organizational policies about the appropriate (and acceptable) use of social media by their employees.

Social Media Governance (2009). Resources>Business Communication>Policies and Procedures>Social Networking

Social Media Policies: An Introduction

Despite what some people say, rules still apply when it comes to social media. Policies provide structure—for you and for your colleagues/employees.

Fleet, Dave. SlideShare (2009). Presentations>Workplace>Policies and Procedures>Social Networking

Drawing the Line Between Analyzing and Performing Organizational Practices

How prepared are you, as a policies and procedures (P&P) professional, to draw the line if you are asked to change hats from your analyst role to the role of performing the tasks of the organizational practices you are documenting?

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2009). Articles>Workplace>Policies and Procedures>Professionalism

Understanding the Organizational Context to Develop Valuable Policies & Procedures

As a policies and procedures (P&P) practitioner, do you delve into P&P content development projects without a clear understanding of the organizational context? Astute P&P practitioners add more than documentation skills to assignments--they apply an understanding of the organizational context from three perspectives.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2009). Articles>Workplace>Organizational Communication>Policies and Procedures

Style Rules for Job Position Names and Titles in Policies & Procedures

Have you struggled with job position names and titles in your policies and procedures (P&P) content? Here are several style rules to follow.

Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2009). Articles>Style Guides>Policies and Procedures>Organizational Communication

Of the Importance of Documenting

Documentation is important, from the end users to the developers, if you want your project to self sustain, if you want to ease the life of other people, and if you want your project to live a long and prosperous life. People were not in your head (and are not in your head) when you wrote that strange thing. 1-2 years from now you could be working for another company, what would be of other people who are trying to understand what you wrote? How would people easily understand how things work in a complex environment?

Casagrande, Milo. WordPress (2009). Articles>Documentation>Workflow>Policies and Procedures

Why is it so Difficult to Maintain Accurate Process Documentation Across an IT Organization?

I saw this question posed in a discussion on LinkedIn, and thought that it deserved an answer from an IT Process Automation (ITPA) perspective. One respondent to the question stated it well: "The answer is simple, if there is not a common bond and governance mechanism between process documentation and the technology that is executing the process, the documentation eventually atrophies and collects dust." In my days as an independent ITIL consultant, I found that training and getting personnel to use process as part of their daily routine was at least as difficult as maintaining and updating process documentation. There is a chasm between theory and practice when it comes to process execution.

Greene, Travis. NetIQ (2009). Articles>Business Communication>Documentation>Policies and Procedures

Managing Culture Change Within the Context of Mergers and Acquisitions 

The generic term “mergers & acquisitions (M&A)” appeared for the first time at the end of the 19th century in the United States. In times of increased global competition, M&A activities have reached all regions of the world and are not solely concerning large enterprises. However, with many M&A projects never reaching the synergy effects that were expected of them, the successful integration of one company into another remains a challenge.

Bialek, Chantal. TC World (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>Policies and Procedures