7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures [Paperback]

Steve Page (Author), Stephen Page (Editor, Illustrator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1929065248 | ISBN-13: 978-1929065240 | Publication Date: April 8, 2010 | Edition: 5th

7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures provides 7 section headings that all policies and procedures require to ensure clarity and consistency in the final, published document. Anyone can understand the content of policies and procedures when they use this Microsoft, Style-oriented writing format. The format is available by contacting the author at stevebpage at gmail.com. Mention that you purchased a PDF book at Amazon. You will receive a functional, style-oriented policy and procedure writing format that is easy to use; and very important, the result is a professional-looking document.

While this book focuses on writing clear, consistent, and accurate policies and procedures, this author has also included a five-step writing process that will not only help you research, organize, and write your policy and procedure documents but the five-step writing process can be used for virtually any type of written material such as memos, presentations, or other correspondence.

This writing format is typically based on your ability to do research on the policy or procedure topic, develop some kind of flowchart or workflow, and work with the key users to gather all of the necessary information that belongs in your policy and procedure draft. With this information, you can now use the writing format to lay out the information in a logical and easy to read format. You'll find that my other books, Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures, Best Practices in Writing Policies and Procedures, or my Achieving 100% Compliance of Policies and Procedures will be very useful and informative when doing the initial research and lay out of the available content for inclusion into the final policy and procedure document.

This basic primer is 168 pages and will only take 2-3 hours to read first time through. From this first reading, you'll gain a new understanding about policies and procedures. With this mindset, you'll be ready to write policies and procedures for any company, any size, and in any industry.

Editorial Reviews

Review

7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures focuses exclusively on the Writing Format, a method of writing used to lay out the content of policies and procedures in a logical sequence for easy reading and understanding by readers.
This book is based on Chapter 4 of the Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures.
Exercises are presented based on a real-life case study. Answers are presented that represent good and not-so-good answers. Do the exercises and compare your answers. Make improvements in your writing skills by doing the exercises. Sample policies and procedures are presented at the end of this book. --Process Improvement Publishing

From the Publisher

"7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures" is the second book in a four-part series on policies and procedures. This book is based entirely on the 4th Chapter (Writing Format) of Stephen's first book, "Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures." After several opening chapters, the remainder of the book is based on Stephen's method of writing called the WRITING FORMAT; in fact, the chapters are laid out the same sequence as the 7-section writing format. Each chapter contains numerous examples of what to do and what not to do using this recommended method of writing. This book has workbook qualities as it contains scenarios, questions, and "good" and "not so good" examples of policy and procedure content using this writing format. This is an excellent complement to his first book that lays the foundation for a system of policies and procedures.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 136 pages
• Publisher: Process Improvement Publishing; 5th edition (April 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1929065248
• ISBN-13: 978-1929065240
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #43,787 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #38 in Books > Business & Investing > Skills > Business Writing

More About the Author

Stephen Page is a world-known author and subject matter expert on policies and procedures as well as being an author of other books (FICTION: White House Secrets - Kindle version, NON-FICTION: Yes Dear, You're Right - Kindle version, and NON-FICTION: Putting Secrets for the Weekend Golfer, copyright 1995, published by St. Martin's Press). While the core of his writing centers around policies and procedures, he is working toward becoming a well known author for his two latest books, White House Secrets, a suspense thriller and Yes Dear, You're Right, a coffee table book for men and women who want great relationships and a passionate love life. On to policies and procedures...read ahead for how to get free advice

He has written six books on policies, procedures, work instructions, and continuous process improvement. He has sold his books to more than 114 countries. He regularly speaks on how to write policies and procedures. He consults for large and small companies on how to improve their system of policies and procedures and how to write consistent, logical, and easy to read policies, procedures, guidelines, and standards. He offers a tested and proven method for writing policies and procedures. He offers a free writing format to anyone who asks. He offers FREE ADVICE to anyone who emails him at [e-mail]. He is always ready to chat about policies and procedures. Give him and his books a try.

Stephen Page was born in New Mexico in 1949. He graduated from UCLA with an MBA in Management in 1974. He is certified as a project management professional, records manager, software engineer, and a forms consultant. He has written more than 7000 policies and procedures and manuals. He has designed more than 3000 forms. He has worked on projects such as TQM, CMMI, Value Engineering, ISO Quality Standards, continuous process improvement, LEAN, 5S, and the Malcolm Baldrige Award. He was a newsletter editor for more than 7 years at a division of Eastman Kodak and the communications manager for two years.

His current projects include developing innovation control guidelines, becoming an ISO 9001:2008 quality lead auditor, designing a business continuity system, setting up a way to declare email messages as records, designing an archive solution for electronic records, writing new policies and procedures for the Finance department and procedures for the human resources department in India, and developing new documentation processes for CMMI.

He works hard to make continuous improvements to everything he does in business and in his personal life. He has written FOUR POLICIES AND PROCEDURES books over the past 10 years. He wrote these books because at the time he couldn't find any book that could help him write policies and procedures and create a program that would include researching, writing, reviewing, publishing, communicating, training, maintenance, quality improvement, and revisions. He wrote these books to help all the would-be, novice, and seasoned policy and procedure writers. An interesting fact: He has also written PUTTING SECRETS for the Weekend Golfer, a procedures-based putting style.

NOTE: He wrote the Writing Exceptional Policies and Procedures in electronic format only and this book is only available on Kindle today. If you buy directly from him, you can get it free as a part of the 4-book package.

He has developed a writing format that can be used consistently for policies and procedures. The original writing format (page layout for the content of a topic) had six sections. Now 10 years later, the writing format has 8 sections and is likely to remain at that number as these 8 sections contain everything necessary to write clear and concise policies and procedures for any company in any industry, including governmental agencies in any country. He is currently considering a varied format for CMMI-oriented processes and procedures.

His books are widely sold in more than 94 countries, technical colleges, associations, and online bookstores. He has served as a consultant for many corporations, large and small, to help them quickly develop a robust policies and procedures program using a standard writing format.

Each of the four books has its own theme. The best combinations are: (1) Establishing and 7 Steps; (2) Establishing, 7 Steps, and Best Practices; and (3) Establishing, 7 Steps, Best Practices, and Achieving. While these four books are also available on Kindle, the fifth book, Writing Exceptional Policies and Procedures is only available on the Kindle.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Choice for Procedures Authors, May 25, 2001

By 

David Rico (Virginia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures (Paperback)

"7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures" clearly states that you are proactively listening to the voice-of-the-customer!!!

1. While there are dozens of books on policies and procedures, this book is clearly the best choice for policy and procedure authors.

2. It's new, state-of-the-art, brief, to-the-point, and has everything authors need to know for formatting policies and procedures.

3. While his writing style is dynamic enough to enable cover-to-cover reading, it's modular enough to serve as a desktop reference that facilitates starting at any point within the textbook.

4. More importantly, however, are the technical strong points, which include concise formatting, style, content, presentation, appearance, prose, structure, and completeness (not to mention several comprehensive examples).

5. The author's book authoritatively defines the 7 important elements of all policies and procedures: purpose, revision history, persons affected, policy, definitions, responsibilities, and procedures (with a complete chapter dedicated to each of the 7 areas)

6. Each chapter has a highly structured approach which includes sample templates, purpose, format, common mistakes, scenarios, what to look for, exercises, answers, and pit falls to avoid.

This book is bound to re-energize, re-invigorate, and provide desperately-needed guidance to an otherwise chaotic field of policy and procedure-writing amateurs and novices.

Many kudos to this author, thanks, and I am hoping he continues his legacy to revolutionize the field of policy and procedure writing ...

-David F. Rico-

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Okay for P&P but not for just Procedure Writing, August 12, 2002

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures (Paperback)

This book is fine if you are looking for a guide to create a Policy & Procedure manual where the procedures are at a high level. You should, however, look elsewhere if you are looking for a guide on how to write clear, easy-to-use procedures. The format for the procedures in this book is similar to the technical writing style of 20 years ago and is not suitable for procedures that will actually have to be followed by the end-user. You should look to Nancy J. Campbell's "Writing Effective Policies and Procedures," Blake & Bly's "The Elements of Technical Writing," or an Information Mapping seminar if you are interested in creating "user-friendly" procedures.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simplifies a complex task, November 22, 2001

By 

Rachel Tozier (Brea, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures (Paperback)

I borrowed my copy of this outstanding book when I was tasked to write policies and procedures for my department. Although other reviewers have recommended reading the author's earlier books if you've never written policies and procedures I was able to quickly produce detailed documents that my staff assured me were clear and effective. I attribute my success to the easy to follow steps that Mr. Page gives, and the logical structure that he recommends.

You can't go wrong if you use this book as a guide for policy and procedure writing. It's like a cookbook in many ways, with a clearly laid out recipe for success and a list of ingredients that will be required in the form of steps and item blocks for your documents.

I was so impressed with this book that I immediately ordered a copy for myself (so I could return the borrowed copy), as well as copies of Mr. Page's other books. If you write policies and procedures for a living, or are required to produce them for your department you should get this book ASAP. It will simplify the task and enable you to produce professional results regardless of your level of experience.