5 Ways to Make Better Policy in Your Agency
Crafting effective policies is a top priority for proactive governments. By adopting strategic approaches, agencies can create regulations that truly serve their communities. These are our top pieces of advice for proactive governments looking to make the best possible policy for residents:
Don’t recreate the wheel. When you’re beginning to create policy on a new issue, research the issue in neighboring governments to understand how they regulate the issue. Maybe there’s parts of their policies you want to adopt, or avoid!
Check the federal & state landscape. Are there conflicting state and federal statutes you need to take into consideration? Do your homework to make sure your government isn’t going afoul of any statutes you need to be in compliance with.
Avoid duplication. Run a search through your existing policies to make sure you haven’t already addressed the issue. We often see governments make 90% identical policies to ones they already have. Practice good policy hygiene and make sure you’re not creating redundancy.
Maintain a system of record. Once your policy is finalized, make sure it lives in a single source of truth that houses all of your present and historical policies. This will save you hours of time trying to find historical records in the future.
Begin with the end in mind. When you publish a policy, think about the person who is going to be reading it. Is your policy clear, not too academic or technical, and easy to understand? Save yourself time answering questions by making it more user-friendly for residents to navigate.
Want to hear more advice from people who have seen a lot of policy making? Drop us a line here.
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