“Help, I need help with policies and procedures tonight, tomorrow, or next week.” I hear this phrase all the time. I can’t help but wonder why they didn’t know about “some assignment” before the last day or week. I have been intrigued by this problem for years.

I think the problem is with the “allocator”, who is often someone from the management team of some company. They think it is easy to write policies and procedures in a day or two. In other words, they take the writing of policies and procedures for granted. This is far from the truth, as it takes experience and great organizational skills to be a good policy and procedure writer. That said, there is help on the web, but usually not at physical bookstores like The Borders down the street.

The good news is, if you need to write one or two policies and procedures, you can get quick help, but if you have to write comprehensive manuals, communicate well, do good training, and expect your audience to follow your policies and procedures. Then you must buy books from experienced authors to learn how to write good policies and procedures and write and implement strong communication and training programs.

This is what you can find on the web:

  • Books in writing effective policies and procedures along with sample documents;
  • Canned policy and procedure documents (although I would only recommend this approach in a “real rush”, be sure to give the author credit as you can’t take someone else’s work and call it your own if you want your audience to follow the content
  • Consultants to help you write policies and procedures (while this can be a good avenue, consultants must be experienced and are often very expensive and seek long-term commitments);
  • Workshops (Although workshops are not often delivered at the right time and again you should look for experienced policy and procedure writers to teach the class, not a consultant or trainer who has not written more than a dozen policies and procedures .. policy and procedure writers who have written thousands of policy and procedure documents)

    • In short, the best and fastest way is to find an author who is also an experienced writer on policies and procedures and buy the books from this person. Check first to see if the author has books that can help you set the framework for a system of policies and procedures rather than just grammar and / or editing tips. And if you must hire a consultant, make sure the consultant you select has written at least 500 policies and procedures.