Investing in your Policies, Procedures, and Guidance (what I’ll call PPGs for short) is an essential part of capturing how your company operates in an ideal state. Especially if you’re a remote-first company, this is your way of sharing ‘norms’ in an accessible way.
Taking a step back, this is part of establishing your company’s ‘Operating Rhythm’.
Before we dive in, let’s define what Policies, Procedures & Guidance actually entails.
| Policy | Procedure | Guidance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simply stated | A thing that must be adhered to | The way that something gets done | The framework through which someone should approach a thing. |
| Example | Time and Attendance | How an offer is extended to a candidate | Managers should conduct regular 1:1s with their direct reports. |
| Level of structure | Very Concrete (exceptions and changes require stakeholders). | Concrete (steps follow a predictable pattern, but can be changed with business needs). | Less Concrete (changes can be important, but likely will not break something) |
| Implication when not followed | A downstream issue is created (ex. unapproved overtime is worked, which requires Finance approval). | Something is incorrectly executed, causing rework or missed | Individuals have varying experiences. (Ex. one Engineering manager has 1:1s monthly versus another does weekly) |
📖 Companies may use different words to describe these concepts. My belief is that these are common enough to be standard.
<aside> 💡 In a Nutshell: Often, a policy is the foundation. And a procedure is a manifestation of how that policy is executed. Guidance comes into play when something is more bespoke / a situation that requires interpretation. Guidance can be standalone, but is often paired with policy and procedures to provide directional signaling.
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When you think of the culture you aspire to have for your organization, your policies, procedures and guidance (PPGs) are your best manifestation of those aspirations. Breaking it down:
The operative word is want. After all, culture is what happens when people aren’t watching. When you don’t concretize things, people make their own definition.
If you want to create a consistent, employee first, culture, having things written down is an essential first step.
Likewise, you should be wary of trying to solve communication issues through PPGs. No amount of process will solve for dysfunctional communication. Ensure people communicate frequently, thoughtfully and candidly - and that they are just as receptive.
Similar to how marketing teams look at messaging and design teams look at consistency within the product, you want to make sure that what you create is consistent.
In other words, your policies shouldn’t look like they were written by people at completely different companies. (Consistent voice is also a reflection of consistently held values).