When you should not write new policies

In my experience, organizations often have too many policies and policies that reflect a general distrust of staff. It is always interesting to read the policies of organizations I am helping because they usually give me insight into their past problems (solved, of course, by a new policy) and the general level of trust and empowerment in the organization, which is often low.

Here is something to remember. Policies reflect an organization's culture but do not necessarily create culture. People create culture, and policies reflect whatever culture is created. While policies are obligatory for any organization, how and why they are written sends a message to staff.

Policies should keep your organization legal, fair, safe, and clear on important issues. They are the non-negotiables that keep your organization in safe waters. They reflect the principles by which a healthy organization operates to keep it legal and fair with clarity. Policies are necessary to clarify expectations for everyone. However, not all policies are helpful, and they tend to proliferate if one is not careful. 

Here are some reasons not to write new policies.

One: Someone has done something dumb (It happens)! The answer is not to write a new policy but to deal with the individual who has crossed a line. It is unfair to other staff to establish policies based on one individual's bad choices. No policy can keep people from doing dumb things. Deal with the individual rather than write a new policy. The reason we often write policies when someone crosses a line is that we are not willing to have a difficult conversation with the one involved. And rather than a difficult conversation, we end up disempowering all staff. 

Two: You want to deal with an issue of organizational culture. Organizational culture is usually a matter of leadership rather than of policy. I can create a culture that avoids gossip, but I cannot write a policy to do the same. Some issues are issues of leadership and modeling rather than of policy. 

Three: You need to control what people do and do not do. If we need to control people, we are either poor leaders or have hired the wrong staff. Mostly, it is the former rather than the latter. The longer a policy manual, the more there is usually a desire to control rather than empower. And, in general, the longer a policy manual, the less empowerment an organization gives its staff. 

How do you clarify issues with staff other than writing new policies? Create a dialogue on the issues so they filter down through the organization. This honors your staff. Only write a new policy when necessary. 

Always remember that policies reflect how leaders see their staff. They reflect the culture of leadership within the organization.  It might be instructive for all of us who lead to have an outsider read our policies and give us feedback as to what they see. In one church I consulted with, I suggested that their policies reflected a great distrust of support staff. Reading them through that lens, they agreed with me. They had used policies to do all three of the above-named issues rather than simply spell out their non-negotiables and commitments. 

Policies can reflect a high degree of empowerment and trust of staff. More often, they reflect mistrust and the need to control. Leaders expect staff to trust them but often do not reciprocate with trust to their staff. 

Before you write new policies, ask these questions

It is always interesting for me to look at the policy manual of organizations I work with. I am  not a fan of any policy that is unnecessary - which applies to many of them. Too often policies are written in the aftermath of a foolish action by an employee and rather than dealing with the individual concerned a policy is written that now pertains to the whole organization. 

Writing a policy does not keep people from doing unwise things. Sometimes you have to do remedial work with those who skirt the edges. In fact, writing policies for everyone because of an individual's bad decision breeds cynicism rather than respect. In addition a conversation with staff around a topic can be far more meaningful than a new policy promulgated in the policy manual. And less intrusive.

Policies are meant to be channel markers on non-negotiable practices that protect the organization and promulgate fairness. Organizations should make it clear that they expect employees to use common sense, protect the organization and one another in all of their actions. If there is not a commitment by a staff member to these three things they either need remedial help or don't belong in the organization. However, writing new policies to ensure compliance is rarely helpful and often counterproductive.

Before you write a new policy ask these questions:

• Is it truly necessary or are we trying to solve an issue through a policy rather than a conversation with an individual?
• Is this a topic that is best a conversation with staff or does it need to be a policy?
• Are we making it clear to staff that we expect them to use common sense, protect the organization and one another in all their actions?
• Will this policy generate cynicism among staff or will it make sense to them?
• Do we annually have a conversation with staff around all policies so that what is written is understood and lived out?
• Have we vetted the policy with key staff members to understand how it will be interpreted and responded to.

When not to write new organizational policies

In my experience, organizations often have too many policies and policies that reflect a general distrust of staff. It is always interesting to read the policies of organizations that I am helping because they usually give me insight into the problems that they have had in the past (solved, of course, by a new policy) and the general level of trust and empowerment in the organization, often low.

Here is something to remember. Policies reflect an organization's culture but do not create culture. People create culture, and policies reflect whatever culture is created. While policies are obligatory for any organization, how and why they are written sends a message to staff.

Here are some reasons not to write new policies.

One: Someone has done something dumb (It happens)! The answer is not to write a new policy but to deal with the individual who has crossed a line. It is unfair to other staff to establish policies based on one individual's bad choices. No policy can keep people from doing dumb things. Deal with the individual rather than write a new policy.

Two: You want to deal with an issue of organizational culture. The culture of organizations is a matter of leadership rather than of policy. I can create a culture that avoids gossip, but I cannot write a policy to do the same. Some issues are issues of leadership and modeling rather than of policy.

Three: You feel a need to control what people do and do not do. If we have a need to control people, we are either poor leaders or have hired poor staff. Mostly it is the former rather than the latter. The longer a policy manual, the more there is usually a desire to control rather than empower. 

In our organization, there are periodic issues that remind us that we need to clarify issues with our far-flung staff. What we rarely do is write a new policy. Rather, we create a dialogue on the issues so that they filter through the organization. For us, it is about creating a healthy culture with healthy leaders, staff, and teams. Only when necessary do we write a new policy.

Always remember that policies reflect culture. They do not, in themselves, create culture. It might be instructive for all of us who lead to have an outsider read our policies and give us feedback as to what they see. In one church I consulted with, I suggested that their policies reflected a great distrust of support staff. Reading them through that lens, they agreed with me. They had used policies to do all three of the above-named issues rather than simply spell out their non-negotiables and commitments. 

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When not to write new organizational policies

Policies are necessary tools in order to ensure fairness, clarity and legality. That being said, there are times when it is not helpful to write new policies. I would suggest that the more policies proliferate in an organization the less healthy the organization. Here are some reasons not to write new policies.

Someone did something they should not have done so we write a policy to ensure that it does not happen again. This is the genesis of many new policies but think about this: Because one staff member did something dumb, everyone is now bound by an unnecessary policy when what should have happened is that the individual situation was dealt with. Deal with individuals who do foolish things rather than write a policy that applies to everyone. Sometimes writing new policies rather than dealing with the individual is the cowards way out of an important discussion that needs to take place.

We want to control behaviors so we write policies. The problem is that policies do not control most behaviors. If you hire the right people who have the right motivations you have no need to control their behavior with policies. You cannot write enough policy to cover all potential behaviors and it is futile to do so.

One can read an organization's policy manual and chances are that policies that seem to be no brainers, that feel controlling or paternalistic were written in reaction to some situation which should have been handled with the individual rather than for all.

Policies are designed to ensure that an organization operates within the law, that people are treated fairly and with due process, that money is handled ethically and that the highest moral and ethical standards and expectations are understood by all. Good policies are simple, clear and kept to a minimum. When tempted to write new policies because a staff member has done something foolish, ask yourself, could I handle this with the individual rather than write new policies? 

From time to time it is wise to review one's policies and ask the question as to whether specific policies are really necessary.

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It is policy

Last week I stayed at the Hilton Mexico City Reforma (yes they deserve to be named in this blog and I have kindly forwarded a copy on to them). On my first morning I was sitting with a colleague in the lobby with my eyes closed as we waited for our friends to arrive for the day. All of a sudden I was prodded by a security guard who proceeded to lecture me in Spanish for some unknown infraction. It turned out I was not allowed to “sleep” in the lobby which I was not in fact doing. Just because one’s eyes are closed does not necessarily constitute sleeping. My colleague will attest there was no requisite snoring.

Once I understood what he was adamant about I went to the front desk to share my unhappiness regarding my treatment.  The answer was, “It is policy sir.” I asked for the front desk manager, told her what happened and was told, “It is policy sir.” She knew that I wanted to talk to the hotel General Manager but he was unavailable and we left for the day.

Inexplicably, the General Manager did not attempt to leave a message for me although he had been told of the situation so I called him later that afternoon to dialogue with him about my treatment as a guest at his hotel. “Sorry sir, it is policy” he said. “We have had people from the street come and sleep on our chairs so we have this policy. It is unfortunate but it is our policy.”

I suggested to him that it would be fairly evident that I was not a homeless individual from the streets of his capital – I was wearing professional clothes including a white dress shirt, had a camera and was sitting with a colleague but that seemed to make no difference. After all, he said he had not met me personally so he could not make a judgment on that. Policy is policy. And this is the hospitality industry and I was paying to stay in his hotel. 

I asked him why I should consider staying in his hotel again for which he had no answer nor seemed the least bit concerned: So much for “hospitality.”  Incidentally, I have Diamond Status with Hilton which seemed to make no difference in any of the three conversations.

Now I stay in a lot of hotels around the world each year and this has never happened to me although I have had many adventures in lesser hotels – which is to be expected. When I shared this with the manager he just said, “I am sorry, but that is our policy.”

It got me thinking about policies. It is easy to write policies but harder to write policies that get the right outcome. In this case, in an attempt to stop street people from sleeping in their lobby the hotel developed a policy that disenfranchised their own guests. They were also evidently unable to differentiate between a street person and a hotel guest. How dumb is that? Yet we do the same thing in organizations all the time, especially when we write policies to solve problems that could and should be solved in other and better ways.

Following his lead, I will never stay at his hotel again. It is my new policy! I learned from the best. What policies do you have that are counterproductive to what you are trying to accomplish?

Ten suggestions for ministry policies

Policies are an important part of organizational structure but they can be put in place for the wrong reasons, hinder or help ministry and either protect or control. Here are some things to think about in regard to policies.

1. Policies should protect the organization from practices that could hurt it. Financial policies, for instance, are designed to minimize fraud or waste and to properly control spending. HR policies, likewise keep the ministry legal and protect its staff.

2. Policies should cut down on the number of decisions that need to be made. Rather than taking situations one by one, a policy means the decision can be made once rather than over and over.

3. Policies should not be used to control people who make unwise decisions. Reactionary policies usually hurt others in the organization. If there is a problem employee, deal with the individual rather than write a policy that impacts everyone.

4. Policies should serve people, not control people. Organizations that seek to control people through policies are unhealthy organizations. Policies are not meant to control but should empower staff in healthy ways.

5. Policies should be reviewed annually. It is amazing how many ministries have policies from years ago that make no sense in today's world. Review, add, and delete on an annual basis.

6. Policies should have a good rationale. If a policy cannot be explained easily it probably should not exist. 

7. Policies should be minimal to protect the organization but not restrict opportunity. Have as few policies as you need to protect the organization. 

8. Policies should be fair to everyone. Policies that carry advantage for some but disadvantage to others need to be carefully scrutinized. 

9. If you are writing policy find out what others have done so that you are not starting from scratch. Others have probably thought of things that you have not.

10. Communicate policies clearly. No one likes a surprise.