Welcome to the Policies and Standards Focus Area. I plan to blog post here weekly with news of progress for those that don't want to delve into the forums / mailing lists. You can subscribe to these updates via RSS at the side bar.
The first project I want to start as part of this Focus Area is to build and release a complete set of policies and standards. Whilst we are doing it I want to analyze what is out there today; what works and what doesn't, and then compile those findings into a Guide to writing Better Policies and Standards for anyone who finds themselves writing there own.
Everyone needs Policies and Standards yet I believe in general there is significant room for improvement to make them more engaging and more effective.
The first few tasks to get this project off the ground are;
1. Analyze the current issues with P's & S's (I just posted to the forums a second ago so please add your 2 cents worth ASAP)
2. Develop a template for a policy and standard. We will be able to use the glossary that Paul Zedeck is creating for standard definitions and ensure consistency.
3. Develop and maintain an "org chart like" Visio diagram of a reference hierarchy of policies and standards.
This "reference hierarchy" can then also serve as a task list and people can volunteer to write specific policies or standards and submit them for review.
The forums should start functioning like traditional mailing lists very soon and we have file storage areas in which to easily store our Word documents.
Of course it goes without saying that if any company would like to donate their policies and standards or anyone has anything which would make a solid base then please contact me. We can make sure there is nothing sensitive and or 100% anonymize them before they are placed online.
If you would like to volunteer to help please post to the forum.
http://www.ism-community.org/forums/68.aspx