HOW TO WRITE A NEW EMOTIONAL CONTINUITY MANAGEMENT POLICY

Many organizations have infrastructure based on management policies and procedures. The procedures get things done and the policies are the frameworks or principles to guide the flow. When things break down policies are reviewed and rewritten. Policies are more than guidelines and less than laws and can be used to direct system energy, block the flow, or create disruptions.

Policy Writing Guidelines: (Not Laws)

1. A policy is a course or management of methods and actions which guide and determine present and future decisions or practices

2. There are many of ways to formulate policy depending upon industry standards and expectations

3. Some policy is better than no policy. Policy can be a safety net or an impediment to movement

4. Good policy is part science and part art combining data, facts and aesthetics necessary to keep the flow moving forward

5. Policy is a framework so should be open and fluid

6. Incorporates ethics

7. Spells out the rules clearly, avoiding misinterpretation

8. Is written in clear and simple language

Policy can be general and/or specific:

General	Specific
A No-spinning-at-the-workplace policy	No gossip policy
Dress code policy	No slogan T-shirts policy
Anti- harassment policy	No sexual jokes policy
No drugs policy	No smoking policy
Non-discrimination policy	No mandatory age retirement policy
Special needs policy	Policy to hire a disabled for staff

A well-written policy has roots and flexibility. The roots must come from the administrative level of support. This is absolutely necessary for any policy to withstand any winds which may come. Without this support, the policy will necessarily fail as it blows away in the dust if challenged.

Flexibility adds the bend and movement to a policy so that it does not become fixed and rigid over time. The sources of flexibility should be gleaned from the specific daily demands at your work site or in your industry and include any cultural, ethnic , economic, or emotional dynamics that are part of the place the policy is intended to serve. It should offer protection and openness. There needs to be enough flexibility to serve production as well as the people who perform the production. A policy should serve the bottom line concerns of the company, the community, the global marketplace , and in the best of all worlds the Planet Earth! Policies should be living forms and not rigid statutes set in mental concrete.