Policy Statement

Policy statements are necessary to clarify intentions, describe the policy administration process and define policy particulars. Policy statements protect an organisation from misunderstanding that may lead to unauthorised behaviour or lawsuits.

There are three main parts of a policy statement. The first part of a policy statement gives an overview of a policy and the intention for its creation. An organisation can have different policy statements that address different areas. The second part of the policy statement describes to whom the policy applies, who monitors the adherence of the policy and the process, and to whom an appeal has to be addressed in case of disagreement.  The third part of the policy statement should describe the entire policy in detail, the policy application process, how misunderstandings should be sorted out, and the term (time period) for which the policy will remain effective. The main purpose of policy statement is to avoid confusion by making the expectations clear. Let us list out the salient features of policy statements:

• Should have well defined objectives within an accountability framework.
• Should be approved in accordance with project approval requirements.
• Should employ sound project management principles.
• Should be adequately resourced by departments.
• Should have a comprehensive and coordinated definition of the overall scope of the project.
• Should be managed in a manner sensitive to risk, complexity and economy of resources.