COURSE OVERVIEW:

Policies and procedures are the lifeblood of your organisation.

Policies are a set of general guidelines. They outline your organisation’s plan for tackling certain issues. At the core, policies communicate an organisation’s values, philosophy, and culture.

Good policy is more than just a list of rules. It should show employees the purpose behind their jobs and provide ways to measure success. Policies set some parameters for decision-making but leave room for flexibility. They show the “why” behind an action.

Procedures, on the other hand, explain the “how.” They provide step-by-step instructions for specific routine tasks. Establishing procedures ensures that employees know what to do and keeps your organisation running smoothly, even when key employees are out of the office.

As the framework for your daily operations and a reflection of your values, your policies help guide your employees into success through compliance. Because they define standards for conduct, your policies and procedures play a large role in creating the culture of your company or organisation. They can also equip you to meet strategic goals, reduce risk, and identify opportunities for improvement.

Policy and procedure writing is about clear communication. It's making sure that people have the information they need to do what they're supposed to be doing. With the right information and enough of it, both organisation and reader function properly.      

You need policies and procedures for the simple reason that you can't do much without them. If a company didn't have any, daily operations would become chaotic and users frustrated. Policies and procedures are nothing more, and nothing less, than the way an organisation operate        

They tell the reader what the organisation wants done, why it wants it done, and how to do it. The policies deal with the ''what" and "why." The procedures deal with the "how."

In the first part of this course we discuss the distinctions between policies and procedures and their importance. How policies can be either ambiguous or specific while procedures can contain some ambiguity but are usually more specific and detailed than policies. Why a policy or procedure should always accomplish something. And address issues that readers need to know about and want to know about.

The second part of this course discusses how preparation is the foundation of the writing process. It's usually referred to in policy and procedure writing as the development process and includes four steps that are explained in detail: planning, analysis, research, and prewriting.

This course contains samples, forms, guidelines, and tip sheets for you to use in writing your own organisational policies and procedures.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand the following topics:

·       What's a policy? And What's a procedure?      

·       Why do you need policies and procedures?    

·       The necessity of ambiguity in policies and procedures

·       How the degree of ambiguity is influenced by other factors?

·       How clearly stated consequences help users understand?

·       The importance of subjectivity in writing policies or procedures?

·       What you have to determine, as a policy and procedure writer?

·       How sometimes policies and procedures are unthinking reactions to an incident?

·       When are policies and procedures needed?

·       When to write the unwritten rules?

·       When to put a policy or procedure in writing?

·       When to consider leaving a policy or procedure unwritten?

·       What to include in policies and procedures?    

·       How to identify the readers that need to know and the readers who want to know?  

·       The level of detail needed in writing policies and procedures

·       Manuals and handbooks       

·       The comparison between policies and procedures

·       The four steps of development in policy and procedure writing

·       The importance of knowing your audience       

·       Why start with the difficult areas?  

·       Why meet with content experts?    

·       How to solicit information in writing?       

·       Why being realistic and disciplined is important?

·       The planning phase in writing a policy or a procedure including: how to set schedules, use a team and be realistic?

·       The analysis phase in writing a policy or a procedure including: the nature and reasons, goals and results, audience, the conditions of use, topic and urgency, impact, project conditions and requester updates

·       The research phase in writing a policy or a procedure including: starting with the difficult areas, meeting with content experts, meeting with others, interviewing, soliciting information in writing, reading and studying and being realistic and disciplined

·       The prewriting phase in writing a policy or a procedure including: content, organisation and flow

·       Establishing a compliance plan

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS:

You must have access to a computer or any mobile device with Adobe Acrobat Reader (free PDF Viewer) installed, to complete this course.

COURSE DELIVERY:

Purchase and download course content.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.