Hello Indiana, So buckle up because today we are going to talk about policies. Yes, I know, it doesn't get more exciting than this!
My podcast policy is: IF you find reading my emails boring, THEN you should listen to them instead.
Seriously though, policies can be a lifesaver when working with stakeholders, and I can prove it.
How many times have you had the same old argument with stakeholders? Debates about design, the prominence of their parts of the website, or the quality of their content. The same conversation, again and again and again.
Instead of endlessly repeating those same old debates, it's time to write a policy.
How to Write a Policy
At its heart, a policy is a simple IF/THEN statement. If this happens, then this will happen.
For example, if a page of the website falls below a certain threshold of traffic, then it will be archived and removed from site navigation.
Or if a page hasn't been updated in the last six months, then a banner will be automatically added to the page, warning people it might be out of date.
A personal favorite is: if a stakeholder feels their page should appear in the main navigation or the homepage, it will be trialed in the footer. If it outperforms the existing homepage or main navigation content, then it will be promoted.
Policies Are Not Personal
Policies are ideal for dealing with common problems in such a way that people don't take it personally. For example, it is hard to tell a stakeholder that their content is difficult to read. That is subjective, and it can feel like a personal criticism.
Instead, agree on a policy in advance that says if content has a reading level of 10th grade or above, it will need to be rewritten or risk removal.
Stakeholders are much happier to agree to a policy in the abstract than to debate about the content they have spent hours writing. After all, it's a policy that is being applied to everybody equally. You are not singling them out.
Policies Shortcut the Same Old Debates
Better still is that a policy can be applied universally. Without a policy, if you have multiple stakeholders who are all producing difficult-to-read content, you can find yourself having dozens of awkward conversations. However, a policy can cut through all that confrontation.
There are two basic types of policies. There are those relating to the way you work (working policies) and those that apply to the overall organization's digital approach (organizational policies).
Create Your Working Policies
It is entirely within your right to define your working policies. You get to define what you need to do your job and how you work (at least at a team level). So, if you want to create a policy that says all digital projects have to have at least one round of usability testing, then you are within your rights to say that.
Negotiate Organizational Policies
Then there are those policies that will dictate your approach to digital more broadly. For example, all content published online has to meet WCAG 2.1 standards or risk being removed.
These organizational policies will need stakeholder buy-in. However, this will prove easier than you think. People are generally happy to sign off on a sensible policy in the abstract because it won't immediately impact them. Once they have, they will be reluctant to argue with a policy they had previously agreed with, putting you in a powerful position.
Identify Challenges and Then Write a Policy for Each
So here is my advice. Sit down and write a long list of all the problems you face when working with stakeholders. Include all the disagreements and struggles you find yourself having. Once you have the list, start working through each one and ask yourself what policy you could create that would address the issue.
And, if you get stuck, drop me an email. I will do my best to point you in the right direction.
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