Drafting new policies and procedures

We’re so excited that you share the same passion for policy and procedure that we do! We’re even more excited that you want to share your policy-writing chops with us by drafting a policy.

Before you get started, though, we need to run through a few administrative details to make sure that your new document satisfies our requirements.

Step 0: Have an idea. Make sure it hasn’t already been addressed.

We hope you’ve already got an idea of the policy or procedure gap you’re trying to address. If you don’t, then why are you here?

Before you run guns-blazing into creating a brand-new policy or procedure, it’s important to make sure that: a) there isn’t already a policy or procedure in effect which covers (or, if modified, could cover) this gap; and b) there isn’t already a policy awaiting GovComm approval that’s trying to address this gap.

If either of the above are true: then it seems like you’re just a bit late. Back to the drawing board.

Step 1: Getting the paperwork sorted

Hold your horses! Before you begin drafting a policy or procedure document, make sure you’ve created a Jira issue in the Policy & Procedure Review project.

If you didn’t read the notice in the red box above, we’ll state it again for you.

You must have a Jira issue opened in the Policy & Procedure Review project before you can begin writing your document. This rule is in place so that we can keep track of all of the documents that the Committee might look at, no matter where it might be in the pipeline.

Step 2: Creating your draft document

Ever worked on a group project where you’re stuck fixing people’s typos and formatting mistakes an hour before you have to submit the project? Yeah, so have we. That’s why you must use the templates in this GovComm space for your draft document. If you don’t have permission to add pages, get in touch! We’re happy to get your access issues sorted. You’ll notice that there’s a field for you to insert a link to the Jira issue you made in Step 1. (Don’t have a Jira issue? Please, please read the guidelines in this document. We promise they don’t bite.)

To access the templates, you just need to create a new page in this space. The templates are called Corporate policy document and Corporate procedure document.

Don’t forget the paperwork! Once you’ve actually created a draft document, make sure the corresponding Jira issue has been transitioned to Draft status and add a link to your draft document within the Jira. That way we know it’s being worked on—otherwise somebody else might pick it up from the queue and start working on it at the same time. Talk about a miscommunication!

Want to solicit some feedback before sending your policy or procedure to GovComm for approval? Transition your Jira to Preliminary Review — that’ll indicate to others that you’re welcoming feedback on your document. Don’t want feedback? No worries, we won’t take it personally. Keep reading on.

Step 3: Submitting your document for review

Ready to have your document reviewed by GovComm? Transition your Jira to Committee Review. That tells us that you’re ready for the document to be reviewed and ratified. We’ll take it from there. If we’re satisfied with it, we’ll either send it along to additional approval bodies for ratification, or we’ll approve the policy right on the spot.