Worksheet4 Help with policies and procedures
Help with policies and procedures | 4.4
The starting point, again, is what policy and procedure documents the cluster’s members already have, and in particular any that they or outside assessors (such as Supporting People teams) have identified as examples of good practice.
Set up a Dropbox account for the cluster (see Worksheet 7 – ICT and Resource Sharing), and start a folder headed Policies & Procedures with two sub-folders – one for finished articles, and one for work in progress. Then ask cluster members to load any examples of good practice into the “finished articles” folder.
Develop a complete list of essential policies and procedures, and identify any topics that you don’t have in the “finished articles” folder. Do this either through a brainstorming session at a Core Group meeting, or on line using Dropbox (start a list and get people to add to it).
Agree which topics are the top priority for filling the gaps in your list. You could either do this through a discussion at a Core Group meeting, or online using Survey Monkey (this is an easy-to-use piece of software which enables you to design your own on-line surveys – there is a charge for large-scale users with sophisticated requirements, but small surveys such as this can be done free).
When you have identified which topic to focus on, check on the Knowhow Nonprofit website operated by the Centre For Charity Effectiveness at Cass Business School to see if there is a model document or links to other resources which can help you avoid reinventing the wheel.