Services by Graham and Anne Denniston
I found it down at the bottom of the Microsoft Office 365 print options. When printing from a web page, selecting it cuts out the side bars and the comments – automatically!
The example below was reduced from 41 pages down to 10 – amazing!
Having policies and procedures (US methodologies) is important to business continuity, business excellence and consistent practices. Smart managers are glad to have them. But…
policies too often remain in draft form because no one wants to sign them off. Procedures are usually not even started – except when required for ISO accreditation.
The problem is twofold: first, writing the policy and procedures, and second, signing them off. The first part of the problem can be solved by getting someone else (like me) to write the policy. Solving the second part of the problem is still up to the top management: Someone just has to take a deep breath and SIGN.
Then come the procedures that describe the nitty-gritty, step-by-step and person-to-person process at operational level.
Next year, when top management reviews the policy and its related procedures, it will be much easier to SIGN them off.
Even if there is a change, maybe in the country’s laws, or in international best practice, or just in the way the company does things, the policy will probably stay the same. Only the procedures will change – and they don’t need to be signed at such a high level.
Please, get it over with. Get the policy and procedures written. You will be really glad you did!
Go here if you would like me to help.
Readers like to have their text broken up by subheadings into bite-sized chunks for easy digestion and scanning so I add lots of subheadings.
The subheadings are reflected in the table of contents, where your readers can see an overview of your argument and logic.
All the way through a document, you should tell the reader what the next chapter, section or subsection will cover, then you must say what you said you would say, and at the end of each section, you should summarise what you said. Each reiteration reinforces your argument.
Reading a document is actually a learning process, and human beings learn by repetition, building on what they knew before. The table of contents and the list at the beginning of each section both introduce a new idea, the middle of the section explains it, and the summary clarifies it.
By the time they read the concluding summary, your readers will have learned something new.
Your readers are your target audience. They may be examiners, customers, strangers, pupils, colleagues, friends… Your document has to make sense to them. If they can understand it, they can accept it. You have made your point.