Product Description

7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures is an extension of the fourth chapter of Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures that addresses the Writing Format, or the heart of any successful policies and procedures system. While this book focuses on writing perfect, consistent, and accurate policies and procedures, this author has also included a five-step writing process that can be used in all kinds of correspondence from policies and procedures to technical manuals.
This basic primer is a mere 168 pages and will only take 2-3 hours to read, upon which you'll have a great understanding of the mind of the policies and procedures writer. With this mindset, you'll be ready to write policies and procedures for any company, any size, and in any industry.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78472 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 136 pages

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

I found this book to be an exceptional value. For complete understanding, read all of his policy and procedure books. -- Mike Tarrani, IT Consultant and Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, 2/2002

I found this workbook exciting because his writing scenarios, exercises, and answers really worked! I know, I tried them. -- Linda Zarate, IT Consultant and Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, 2/2002

Organizations new to writing policies and procedures documentation will find this book very useful and effective in getting started quickly. -- Journal for the Society for Technical Communications (STC), 11/2002

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.

From the Author
This book, 7 Steps to Better Written Policies and Procedures, is closely tied to my first book, Establishing a System of Policies and Procedures; it makes a great two-set purchase. I wrote this book because many of my readers kept asking for the details behind my 7-section writing format. I wrote chapters for each section, e.g., there is a chapter on Purpose or Scope that addresses everything you need to be concerned about when writing your policies and procedures. I have included three examples of policies and procedures using this method of writing.

Customer Reviews

The Best Choice for Procedures Authors
"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-

Okay for P&P but not for just Procedure Writing
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.

Simplifies a complex task
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.