How to Write Policies & Procedures, Part 3: Communication Cues

After pouring your heart and soul into your policies and procedures, your handbook deserves the best launch in the history of launches. As indicated in Part 2, your marketing / communications team can help devise a strategy for unveiling your handbook – and we’ve created a worksheet to make it easier.

The Big Picture
First and foremost, decide which of the following situations best aligns with your project.

• Your policies have remained the same with only minimal changes, but you wanted to create a handbook more aligned with your company brand. Great! Since it’s unlikely the changes will upset employees, you can announce your new handbook at a town hall. Just be prepared for resounding cheers and praise.
  
• Your policies have remained the same, but some procedures have changed, which may cause confusion for some or all employees. If changes might cause confusion among a certain group of people, offer a post-town hall dialogue for these individuals. Invite the most impacted individuals to a follow-up meeting and provide a recap/recording of the discussion afterward.
  
• Some policies have changed, and those changes may distress employees. Invite employees to a town hall with required attendance. At the town hall, first convey the need for changes, then explain how and when employees may be affected. Encourage employees to further discuss the changes with their managers or the HR team. After the town hall, send the updated handbook for review, directing employees to the specific areas that have changed. Don’t forget to reiterate why the changes were necessary.

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The Medium Picture
After you’ve identified which big-picture approach that corresponds with your project, have your marketing / communications team answer the questions below.

• Who is the best sender for email messages related to launch?
• Is there an upcoming event where this can be announced?
• Does your company have another channel for an announcement like this?

You might also enlist their help crafting or designing your announcement message; add some pizazz!

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The Small Picture
Don’t forget about the nitty-gritty! We created sample email templates for each of the topics below, and the text is free for the taking!

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Next in our five-part series is project milestones, which will enable you to establish task owners and deadlines before you begin. It’s getting very real!