Publication, training, and implementation

by John Bandler

Organizations need to create governance documents and there needs to be a process throughout for creation, update, approval and after. Here we talk about what happens after approval and having finalized the new governance document.

I discuss this in more depth in my book on Policies and Procedures.

Governance documents include policies, procedures, and more.

The new document needs to be published and distributed

The new document needs to be published. It cannot sit somewhere in secret, gathering dust. After all, this is a new rule of your organization, which you expect all members of the organization to know about and follow.

It needs to be put in a place where relevant employees can access it.

It needs to be distributed.

Documents now made obsolete by this new document should be removed from circulation (but still maintained for compliance and legal purposes).

Train and (or) acknowledge

Employees need to acknowledge the new governance document.

Perhaps a training should be conducted as well (if training is conducted, that is an opportunity to obtain an acknowledgement).

There is a continuum of possible actions for training and acknowledgement. Organizations need to find a reasonable path that suits their needs and the topic of the new governance document (or update).

  • Nothing (this is not a suitable option, so rule it out)
  • Place new document in the organization library area and assume people will find it and read it (probably insufficient)
  • Email notification of new policy and ask employees to review it, and assume they will do so
  • Email notification of new policy and require reply acknowledgment of having received the notification and read the new policy
  • Recorded training on the new policy and require reply acknowledgment regarding the policy and training
  • Live training on the new policy and require acknowledgment regarding the policy and training.

Again, organizations need to be diligent and reasonable.

Factors include whether the document an entirely new policy, a major update, or a very minor update.

This new document is an important part of the Five Components for Policy Work, and is supposed to direct organization and employee practice and action. To do that, organization members need to be properly informed about it.

Other implementation

A new governance document may require many changes in different areas. All of that should be assessed. This includes:

  • Other policies, procedures, or governance documents
  • Practices
  • Etc.

Read my book for more details

Read my new book for more details. Link below.

Conclusion

A solid process after approving and finalizing a new governance document ensures the organization and people within it do what they are supposed to do.

Build your organization's governance documents with solid effort and following solid principles.

If your organization needs help with improving its internal documentation and policies and procedures, feel free to contact me.

Additional reading

This article is hosted at https://johnbandler.com/publication-training-implementation, copyright John Bandler, all rights reserved.

This article is also available on Medium.com at NOT YET (though not kept as up to date).

Originally posted 2/11/2024, updated 2/23/2024.