Your boss says, “We need a new policy manual.” Be assured, the task doesn’t have to be the equivalent of brain surgery, or even dental surgery.
Getting the information needed to revise your organization’s policy manual, or to write a whole new one, involves a little bit of planning and three straightforward steps.
1. Meet with employees. Note that it doesn’t say, “Meet with employees and supervisors.” Your first meeting should be with workers alone, and should not include supervisors. However, be sure to request the meeting through the supervisors. In other words, ask them for permission to meet with their employees. The bosses are going to say “yes,” but it doesn’t hurt to practice a little diplomacy to get things off the ground.
OK, you’ve got all the workers in a room. Now it’s time to ask them the first question: “What policies or practices here do you like?” Everyone likes something, so this gets the meeting off on a positive note. Field and note their responses, and then ask the next question:
“What don’t you like?”
At this point, don’t try to defend anything that’s unpopular. Just note the responses and reasons, and mention that the purpose of the meeting is to gather information designed to build better policies.
2. Meet with supervisors. All you’re going to do in this meeting is ask the same questions you presented in the employee meeting: What do you like? What don’t you like?
You’ll especially want to note when there’s a match in what the bosses and the employees like and dislike. If everyone likes something, that’s a clear case of not fixing something that ain’t broke. If everyone dislikes something – say, for instance, the vacation policy – that may be something you want to look at for revision.
3. Meet with the boss. With your your responses in hand, and without naming names, present to the boss what’s popular and what seems to need changing, and why. If the boss agrees with certain changes, note that and report back to people that they’ve been heard and heeded. Of course, not all wishes can be granted, and some requests will be denied because of solid business reasons. Report back to people on those, too, and explain the reasons the changes can’t be made. They’ll respect that, and you.
