10 Benefits
of the Perfect Policies™ Approach
Too often, people spend countless hours drafting and re-drafting policies for submission to the approving authorities. Without straight-forward rules to guide the drafting of these documents, they go back and forth adding and removing changes. Even when working from a standard template, an inordinate amount of time is spent fussing around with wording.
The Perfect Policies™ approach provides a formula for how to organize and draft documents quickly and easily.
The more problems found in a draft policy, the more likely it is that an approval body will find reasons reject it. By removing unnecessary text, we remove obstacles to a speedy approval process.
The Perfect Policies™ approach limits the content of the draft policy to only what is relevant for the approval body. Clients have reported that policies written using the Perfect Policies™ approach have sped through the approval process in as little as one-quarter the length of time it normally takes.
Statements that are worded harshly or aggressively will not engage the reader. The language is heard—even if only unconsciously—as disrespectful, and that disrespectful engenders resistance from employees and customers. This resistance shows up as a lack of engagement in corporate initiatives, and a lack of buy-in to management’s agenda. In the worst cases, it shows up as high employee turnover and customer dissatisfaction.
The Perfect Policies™ approach shows writers how to draft statements in a way that creates and supports a respectful workplace.
Old-style policy writing is adversarial and combative. Instead of promoting collaboration, it divides groups into “us” and “them” camps. That's unnecessary. Even the strictest rules need not be divisive.
The Perfect Policies™ approach is collaborative in nature, promoting shared responsibility among different groups in the organization.
Draft policies are typically sent to various stakeholders for consultation prior to being submitted for approval. Too much of this consultation time, however, is inevitably wasted dealing with people who want to word-smith the policy statements for stylistic reasons. This word-smithing takes the focus of the discussion away from the substantial portions of the requirements.
Using a set of clear writing requirements, the Perfect Policies™ approach is a defensible paradigm that policy writers can draw on to support their work during the consultation phase.
A common complaint in organizations is the lack of compliance with corporate policies. In many cases this lack of compliance is a direct result of language in the policy which discourages—rather than encourages— cooperation.
The Perfect Policies™ approach provides a formula for wording policies in a way that is courteous to the people governed and avoids aggressive language. It shows people how to avoid harsh wording for even the strictest of requirements.
Enforcement mechanisms are only actionable on properly worded policies. Commonly, the problems with the wording become apparent only at the time of enforcement, when it’s often too late to do anything about it.
The Perfect Policies™ approach reduces the possibility of late discovery of wording problems and reduces the time spent on ineffective policy enforcement.
Poorly drafted policies are a nightmare for any group performing an internal audit. Reporting and compliance depend on clear regulatory instruments.
The Perfect Policies™ approach produces policies that auditors can work with easily.
A team of unskilled policy writers can be a time-sucking vacuum. The team leader must work closely with their writers until the point where they can work autonomously, without constant supervision.
The Perfect Policies™ approach is simple and straightforward. Team leaders can spend less time hand-holding their writers and more time doing more important tasks.
Baby Boomers may not realize it, but the I-am-in-charge-and-you-will-listen tone of voice found in many policies is a vestige of a time when those in charge commonly chastised or scolded their subordinates. It comes from a time when the Command-and-Control approach was the standard management style.
That approach doesn't work in this century. Millennials will not tolerate disrespect. The Perfect Policies™ approach engages Millennials by using language that engages them.