Policy Matters

Administered by the Blog Committee, Policy Matters posts are written by members on a variety of topics. From think pieces to how-to's, editorials to news round-ups, there is something for every policy administrator. Interested in contributing a post? Let us know by emailing admin@acupa.org.

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In Search of Innovation

Posted By Jennifer Gallagher, Utah Valley University, Monday, February 1, 2021

Policy Management Solutions for Digital Landscapes

When I stop to think about the enormity of what we’re tasked to do, it almost sounds like an impossible riddle: How can one effectively manage a living machine with hundreds of interlocking and evolving parts, each owned by different entities and moving at different speeds along separate but intertwining paths? As policy administrators, we know it’s not so much a riddle as it is just another day in the job.

At Utah Valley University, our policy administration process involves tracking and managing hundreds of policy drafts and documents through separate review and approval stages, coordinating the necessary entities and stakeholders from drafting to review to approval of each individual draft, and publishing and maintaining approved policy documents (both publicly online for current versions and in a digital archive for those no longer effective). And this represents just a fraction of the responsibilities and services with which our office is tasked. Even under normal circumstances, effectively managing our office’s complex workload can be challenging. Toss in a global pandemic and a sudden, unceremonious switch to a digital-only environment, and we were left scrambling to adapt—an exercise in simultaneously reinventing the wheel while still keeping the cogs in motion.

In the past, technology was a supplement to our processes, never the backbone. We utilized a combination of both third-party and in-house developed applications to manage different areas of our responsibilities: project management software (Monday) to track development and progress, cloud storage (Box) to share drafts, email newsletters (Outlook) and blog posts (online) to inform the campus community of policy developments, and our own homegrown policy publication software (TOPS), which allows us to upload and publish policy drafts in different stages of development and following approval. And while this worked fine for us in the pre-COVID past, it was admittedly never optimal, and its disadvantages have become even more obvious and obstructing now more than ever.

Consequently, we have been searching for better ways to optimize our office’s processes for this new digital-only landscape and beyond. After nearly a year of adapting as we go, we now have a better idea of the benefits and challenges of remote work in relation to the unique needs of our office. We’re now working with a business process analyst to decide between purchasing a comprehensive out-of-box policy management application or custom building our own tools within Teams and other Office applications.

Both options come with advantages and drawbacks. Purchasing an out-of-box application is a quick and relatively painless solution, but finding one that will work seamlessly with our institution’s complex policy process has been a challenge. Many of these policy management applications include additional features that are not applicable to our process while missing features we do need. Additionally, the initial hurdle of implementation and ongoing licensing costs and training are also considerations. And while building our own solutions would allow us the flexibility and customization needed, the time needed to complete the project is time we spend in the current state with our current challenges.

However, I know our office isn't alone in the growing pains we've faced over the past year. I think most of us fortunate enough with the flexibility to transition to remote work have experienced both the challenges and benefits of this new digital landscape. And I've been wondering how others have reinvented their own wheels. For those of you who have used policy management applications, which have you used and what have your experiences been? Have you found them to have helped in the transition to and continued practice of remote work? What challenges do you still have? And if your institution doesn’t use licensed policy management software, what other solutions does your office implement to aid with your processes? Have you encountered additional challenges with continued remote work? And how has your office adapted to these challenges?

Tags: covid-19 Jennifer Gallagher project management technology work remotely

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Project Management

Posted By Margaret Denton, Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine, Monday, February 17, 2020

The special sauce in policy development

Often organizations want to build a strong policy development process, but struggle on identifying the how. My institution initiated a plan to develop a formal policy program based on our first policy on policies (POP). We went through various program designs, sponsors, and stops and starts. Until a project manager (PM) was assigned, developing clearly defined next steps (who, when, what, and why) was a challenge. Our PM helped us develop a well-defined process with the following steps.

Project Management Process

Step 1: Identify the goal of the project.At the planning stage (following a presidential charge to develop a POP), our PM worked with the team to answer fundamental project management questions: What are you hoping to achieve? How will we measure that? What does success look like? After numerous planning meetings, we were able to identify our policy goals: 1) establish a university-wide policy review process to ensure strong guidelines to comply with internal processes and external regulations and 2) standardize the format and essential elements of all policies.

Step 2: Map out the scope.Our scope included an approval process to arrive at a new policy, the procedures, the marketing effort, committee structure, policy writers, comment period, and decision makers. Our PM made sure our project scope included the deliverables and the timeline for those deliverables.

Step 3: Develop a full outline. Your institution’s culture dictates this next step. Should the process begin all at once, a measured socialization process; or a slow rollout or some-type of hybrid? For us, the timeline addressed each area identified in our scope: policy (interim vs permanent), the procedures (public or internal), the marketing effort (website design, communication channels, and presentations), committee structure, policy writers, comment period, and decision-makers.

Step 4: Finalize your plan. All steps in the plan must be clearly identified and developed into a defined timeline. Our plan had to be vetted not only among the policy working group and concerned stakeholders, but also the senior sponsors to the program. Failure to keep all members involved in the final plan would inevitably guarantee a slowdown in progress.

Our Lessons Learned

Change is inevitable. Do not be afraid to readjust your plan. At our initial request, the PM designed the plan relying upon our request to work with a slow rollout in the hope we could gently socialize the process to all the stakeholders. However, this process created confusion and pushback in an uninformed manner. With the support of our PM, we were able to pivot to a full-roll out and we managed to get the project back on track quickly.
Avoid scope creep. Stick to the goals as set by the project management plan. One thing our PM consistently reminded the group: no scope creep! There is always lots to do. Ideally, the team should document the additional needs and schedule time/people to address independently of the current plan. At times, your project scope may change and/or expand. Revisit your plan from the top and adjust all steps accordingly.
Manage the delays. Delays may not be avoidable, but lapses in communications are avoidable. Our implementation rollout plan included a revamp of the location and look of the university policies, which resulted in a significant loss of time due to changes in team personnel. However, at all times, we kept the stakeholders and participants (e.g., marketing department, IT team) apprised of changes in the timelines.
Practice makes perfect. Recognize the need to spend time expounding the new process with the decision-makers and with those who will be tasked to employ the new policy regularly. Although the new process was reviewed and approved by the President’s Cabinet, we underestimated the need to “walk through” the first few policies. This caused a setback in comprehension and adoption as policy approvals inadvertently drifted back to prior processes.
Conduct a project postmortem. Assess how the policy development went from start to finish, including any bumps in the road you experienced. Did it run on schedule? If not, did you readjust/get back on schedule? What caused the delay? What would you change for the next policy rollout? Were there any major wins/lessons learned that will significantly impact your next policy rollout? You should also compare how your results fared with your initial plan. By taking this time to reflect, you will all but guarantee that your next policy under development doesn’t fall victim to the same mistakes.