Having good IT policies can be good for your company. Learn what policies and procedures you should have in place.
Introduction
IT Policies and Procedures were seen by my previous supervisor as a “nice-to-have” and “motherhood stuff” and therefore a business should not waste their time writing them. However, I believe these opinions came from a lack of understanding as to why a business would need well-written IT Policies and Procedures. Perhaps, the problem is that this person felt that policies and procedures don’t work or that they were difficult to keep up to date. It is true that due to the ever-increasing rate of change, these once, “well-written” policies and procedures can get “stale” (ineffective) very fast. But, that doesn’t mean that a business doesn’t need them.
It is my opinion that well-written policies and procedures allow employees to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities within predefined limits. Basically, policies and procedures allow management to guide operations without constant management intervention. Constant intervention equates to increase operating expenses that ultimately detract from your company’s profitability.
To understand why policies and procedures are so important we need to know what they are, and the differences between them.
What is a Policy and a Procedure?
Wikipedia defines a policy as a deliberate system of principles to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent, and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies can assist in both subjective and objective decision making. Policies to assist in subjective decision making would usually assist senior management with decisions that must consider the relative merits of several factors before making decisions and as a result are often hard to objectively test e.g. work-life balance policy. In contrast policies to assist in objective decision making are usually operational in nature and can be objectively tested e.g. password policy. A procedure, on the other-hand is a document written to support a "policy." A procedure is designed to describe who, what, where, when, and why by means of establishing corporate accountability in support of the implementation of a "policy.” A well-written procedure will help eliminate common misunderstandings by identifying job responsibilities and establishing boundaries for the jobholders. Good procedures allow managers to control events in advance and prevent the organization (and employees) from making costly mistakes. You can think of a procedure as a road map where the trip details are highlighted to prevent a person from getting lost or ‘wandering’ off an acceptable path identified by the company’s management team.
So why does my business need them?
The need for effective workplace policies and procedures has never been more important in today’s changing workplace.
Well-written workplace policies:
Well-written workplace procedures:
Why are IT Policies and Procedures my Friend?
IT Policies and Procedures are your friend in business because like a friend you will need them when you least expect it. They:
What Policies and Procedures Should I Have Immediately?
Personnel
Office Management
Things to remember