Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures is a simple and yet powerful book that will help any procedure writer develop a new system of policies and procedures or modify an existing one. The author presents a method for writing a company manual from the inception of an idea to the dissemination for both printed and electronic formats including the Internet, Intranet, or Extranet. This book provides a complete strategy for developing, researching, writing, approving, publishing, communicating, training, maintaining, and revising policies and procedures.

This practical book helps you to establish foundation principles for a system of policies and procedures; it will also help procedure writers to improve on any current system of policies and procedures. The author develops a core writing format that is used in each of his subsequent books. The chapter structure is conducive to learning.

The methods presented in this book are the result of a tried-and-proven system currently used at many multinational companies including Eastman Kodak, Litton Industries, Dataproducts, and Boeing. Any employee will find this book useful as it includes sections on those skills that would assist anyone working with business processes or writing policies and procedures. Some of these skills include team building, listening skills, communications, mentoring or coaching, speaking, and training methods. You'll also be taught how to achieve user or management buy-in.

SYNOPSIS

Practical policies and procedures book that helps you to (1) establish foundation principles, or a framework, for a system of policies and procedures (printed or electronic company manuals) and to (2) provide you with the best practices in the procedures-writing industry. Learn how to set up a consistent system of policies and procedures from where nothing exists OR learn how to improve on your current system of policies and procedures. This foundational book is valuable for any writer or user of policies and procedures.

The chapter structure is conducive to learning: You are led from the development of an idea through research, writing, draft coordination, review, approval, publication, communication, training, revisions, and the maintenance of your policy and procedure documents. This book has been a popular seller major bookstores and in companies in more than 25 countries! Policy and procedure examples and table of contents formats (numeric, alphabetical, and keyword) are also included.

FROM THE CRITICS

Jim Kaplan - AuditNet Review

There are two schools of thought on auditing. Some auditors concentrate on making sure that their clients are doing things right. Other auditors focus on whether their clients are doing the right things. Whichever group you fit in to, a well-designed set of policies and procedures will help you meet your objectives. If you are telling your clients they need to establish policies and procedures, it would be helpful if they had a guide or tutorial that could walk them through the process.

During the course of my year as an auditor, I had only come across one book (in a public library) that focused on the very subject of designing policy and procedure manuals. Unfortunately that book was out of print and unavailable for purchase. Fortunately Stephen Page has filled the void with his new book Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures.

In my opinion this is a must book for every auditor's professional library. It will come in handy both for use within the audit department as well as a source recommendation for clients that have to develop policies and procedures. The book walks the user through the thinking process starting from why there is a need for policies and procedures, methods for researching subject areas, how to manage forms, writing format and style, getting the documents approved, distribution and training. If the author stopped there it would have been more than we could have ever expected on the subject. But Mr. Page continues by covering the subject of putting the manual online. Internet technology has become an integral part of organizational internal communication.

Putting polices and procedures on organizational intranets has become commonplace in large entities. This book provides the rest of us with guidance on how we should be integrating our policies and procedures into our organizational network.

This book won't write the policies and procedures for you but it will provide you with all the information you need to develop them. Share the information contained in this book with all those involved in developing, reviewing, and maintaining policies and procedures. Developing clear, consistent and relevant policies and procedures will help management do things right while doing the right things. That's good for the auditors, management and the organization!

Tom Tomasovic - The Policies and Procedures Newsletter

In his new book, Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures, Steve B. Page uses the subtitle, "Setting Up a Successful Policies and Procedures System for Printed, On-line, and Internet Manuals." By the author's own description, it is "a complete rewrite of my first book, Business Policies and Procedures Handbook (c) 1984, Prentice-Hall, Inc. Both were written to share the author's more than 25 years of experience in the area of policies and procedures documentation. The current volume primarily addresses advances in technology, which have moved many organizations toward online presentation of procedural documentation. It speaks very well for the author's commitment to continue the never-ending process of growth.

The book is targeted toward 'the policies and procedures professional, team leader, first-line supervisor, manager, strategic planner, computer professional, technical writer, trainer, forms professional, or anyone who wants to establish a successful policies and procedures system.' Writing any sort of book to target this diverse an audience is an ambitious undertaking and Page has done a commendable job. He clearly addresses policies and procedures as an integral part of the business strategy and development for any organization. He regards the procedures analyst (or team) as an important part of any business effort. The book is not long (152 pages), and the style provides for quick reading. What he could not prepare me for was the amount of information packed into a limited number of words. I found myself thinking that many paragraphs were 'intense' and that I wanted considerable time to reread, think about, ask questions, and seek out other sources of information to which they pointed.

Page covers the process of creating policies and procedures from conception to completion, beginning with the most basic (and frequently misunderstood) distinction between a policy and a procedure. He provides valuable insight into the composition of a policies and procedures team (and the qualities needed for its members), its place within an organization and its relationship with other parts of the organization.

The book covers the mechanics of creating, revising, and distributing (including the approval process) policies and procedures documentation, in both hard copy and online formats. Particular emphasis is placed on establishing a strict format for the creation of documents, a system which turns procedure writing into a 'fill in the blanks' exercise. The book, however, is not intended to trivialize the task. The intention is to make it more efficient, both for the writer, the reader, and for those subject matter experts who may be expected to provide raw information.

Two other areas of the book came as a pleasant surprise: forms management and implementation and training. Page clearly sees these as within the purview of a policies and procedures function. The perspective of a professional gatherer and distributor of information can uniquely serve these areas, and organizations should consider the wisdom of this approach. Procedure analysts and their advocates should bring these additional possibilities to the attention of potential employers and managers.

Do I have any qualms about this book? Only minor ones. Considering the breadth of the information provided, it has a limited bibliography (only 27 entries). However, this is more of a practical guide than a research work, so it is certainly not a critical flaw, and the included references and Web site addresses provide ample opportunity for exploration. The book provides examples to illustrate the practical principles covered, but some of these have been more extensive. While the writing style can seem at times terse or even didactic, I came to realize that this was not an attempt to 'beat anyone into submission' but rather a personal choice to present opinions clearly and succinctly.

There is much to recommend in this book, and I add my voice to its supporters. I only wish I had seen its predecessor years ago. Extensive additional information about the book is available at the author's web site."

Review by Tom Tomasovic who has worked in the P&P Unit of NatWest Markets, both as a writer/editor and as a supervisor/developer. He has written other articles and has been a regular presenter at conferences

ISACA - The Journal of Information Systems Audit and Control Association

Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures by Stephen B. Page is most useful to people who are implementing or plan to implement an intranet/Internet web server whereby current manual procedures and related documents must be converted into web-based (HTML) documents. From the auditing perspective, the book will aid in the development of audit procedures and standards. There are also several chapters that address writing style, writing format, general report writing as well as documentation.

This book will also be a good companion to technical writers, and others outside the technical and auditing realms that need to draft policies, standards, and procedures. A straight-to-the-point guide to launching a policy and procedure writing project, this book is an adjunct to the personal or business library.

BFMA - "News and Views" Review

For the past two years, the Business Policies and Procedures Handbook has been offered to BFMA members not only as a solution to their procedural needs, but also as a good reference book for the CFSP Certification Program. Newly revised and retitled as Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures, the book by Stephen Page, CFC, CRM has been expanded and updated to include information on electronic forms, as well as intranets and extranets.

The book uses practical examples to teach any business professional how to develop a policies and procedures system for printed and online manuals. Beginning with the basics of gathering information and doing research, the author presents a thorough and complete discussion of how to produce a policies and procedures manual.

Page, who has won two national forms contests and produced more than 6000 forms, both printed and electronic, in his career draws from his considerable experience and business expertise to help policies and procedures personnel navigate the various decisions that must be made in implementing an efficient system. He explains how to determine a review and approval process, choose a writing format and style, package the manual and train employees on the use of the policies and procedures.

In addition, he offers hints on how to develop forms to support your policies and procedures, and gives tips for online documentation, including pop-up definitions, hypertext links, and online help.

ARMA - Wet Ink

More and more, document control (including forms management) is being placed under the auspices of the information manager (IM). Formulating and writing policies and procedures is falling naturally into the IM's hands, and that makes this book "a must read" resource. It explains the "how to's" and "why not's" of writing dynamic policies and procedures for both hard copy and on-line versions in enough detail as to be prepare even the novice for the task. This book will help the reader: Learn how to establish a successful policies and procedures system Master important skills such as workflow analysis, flow charting, form analysis, writing, and conducting training presentations Convert printed manuals to online manuals either in a LAN environment or on an Intranet Read all 6 "From The Critics" >

ACCREDITATION

Stephen B. Page is the author of four books and many trade journal articles. He is a regular contributor of articles to Gantthead, a Project Management and Process Improvement website. He has been employed by several multinational companies including Eastman Kodak, Litton Industries, Boeing Aircraft, Compuware, Atos Origin, and now Nationwide Insurance. He has more than 28 years experience with writing business processes, policies, procedures, and standards. He has more than 20 years designing printed and electronic forms to accompany policies and procedures.

Stephen has produced more than 150 company manuals and more than 6000 policies and procedures. He has won two national forms contests and designed more than 4000 unique forms. He has served on many committees including total quality management, benchmarking, ISO 9000 Quality Standards, Baldrige Award, Six Sigma, Capability Maturity Model (CMM), value engineering, forms management, disaster recovery, training, and communications. He has led the efforts for ISO Quality Standards, Total Quality Management, and the Capability Maturity Model. He is also familiar with standards put forth by the Project Management Institute (PMI), the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), IEEE, and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

Stephen's other policy and procedure books include:

1.7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures, Copyright 2001
2.Best Practices to Policies and Procedures, Copyright 2002
3.Achieving 100% Compliance of Policies and Procedures, Copyright 2000