Help Writing Policies and Procedures Fast – What to Do?

“Help, I need policy and procedure assistance tonight, tomorrow, or by next week.” I hear this phrase all the time. I can’t help to wonder why they didn’t know about “some assignment” before the last day or week. I have puzzled over this problem for years. 

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

The good news is that if you need to write one or two policies and procedures, you can get some quick help but if you have to write complete manuals, do good communications, do good training, and expect your audience to follow your policies and procedures, then you have to purchase books from experienced authors to help you learn how to write good policies and procedures and how to write and implement strong communication and training programs.

Here’s what you can find on the web:

Books on writing effective policies and procedures along with sample documents;

Canned policy and procedure documents (though I would only recommend this approach in a “real pinch,” make sure you 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 to take, consultants must be experienced and they are often very expensive and are seeking long-term engagements);

Workshops (though workshops are not often taught at the right times and again you have to look for experienced policies and procedures writers to teach the class, not a consultant or trainer that may not have written more than a dozen policies and procedures…you want policies and procedures writers that have written 1000’s of policy and procedure documents)

In summary, the best and quickest way is to find an author who is also an experienced policies and procedures writer and buy this person’s books. Check out first to see if the author has books that can help you establish 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 that the selected consultant has indeed written at least 500 policies and procedures.