The difference between policies and guidelines

Dear Bob ...One of the "levers" you mentioned in "How to make change happen" (Keep the Joint Running, 4/9/2007) is fixing the policy manual, a project which I am intent on seeing happen in my organization.I think the concept of establishing guidelines, when possible, rather than a policy has a lot of merit. The issue I am struggling with is coming up with an understandable criterion or set of criteria that tells

Dear Bob ...

One of the "levers" you mentioned in "How to make change happen" (Keep the Joint Running, 4/9/2007) is fixing the policy manual, a project which I am intent on seeing happen in my organization.

I think the concept of establishing guidelines, when possible, rather than a policy has a lot of merit. The issue I am struggling with is coming up with an understandable criterion or set of criteria that tells people when a guideline is appropriate and when we need a policy.

I am, admittedly, a control freak. I’ve also been through law school, which means I can make anything into a legal issue with potentially horrendous consequences if something goes wrong.

Any thoughts?

- Case Loader

Dear Loader ...

My opinion is that if you try to establish criteria for when a guideline does and does not apply, you've created a policy. I'd advise taking a different approach:

"These are guidelines. They are designed to fit a wide range of situations, but not all of them. We expect you to use good judgment in deciding whether they apply to the specific circumstances you are dealing with.

If you find yourself ignoring them most of the time, either your judgment is faulty or we need to change our guidelines. If you find yourself following them all of the time, you're treating them as policies rather than as guidelines, and need to apply your judgment to the situations you face, which is why we hired you instead of placing a robot in your chair."

Do I have any thoughts about your being a control freak who has been through law school? Yes -- don't give in to temptation!

Start by recognizing the difference between employees doing things right and not doing things wrong. They aren't the same. If you try to manage an organization through rules and consequences, you'll create a population of turtles -- employees who keep their heads inside their shells, never sticking their necks out unless they're absolutely certain it's safe.

They won't do anything wrong, because they won’t do anything.

Employees who do things right take risks, knowing they won't get their heads chopped off every time they do something in a way that's different than what you would have done.

If the difference isn't clear, recall the last time you dealt with a company that wouldn't take care of a problem you had, because the person on the other end of the phone said, "I can't help you with that sir. It's against our policy."

- Bob

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