Need a Policy Management System? How to find out if you do.

Organizations of all types and sizes are researching and implementing policy management systems globally. While regulated industries traditionally use policy management, most organizations now recognize it as a necessary tool for practical effectiveness. How do you know if it's time for your organization to invest in a formal policy management solution? We explore the deciding factors in this article.

Topics include:

• What is a Policy Management System?
• What types of organizations need a Policy Management Software?
• What size of organizations need a Policy and Procedure Management System?
• Does the number of Policies and Procedures matter?
• The impact of Public Facing Portals
• The cost of choosing the wrong Policy Management Tool
• Conclusions

What is a Policy Management System?

Before you can evaluate if you need a policy management software, we need to start with what it includes.

Many people think of a policy software management or a policy management system as one of two extremes:

• A place to simply upload documents so other people can read them
• An overly complex and expensive quality management or compliance system that's unnecessary for simply storing documents

As with many things, the answer lies between these two end points. A policy management system does two key things: it stores your documents AND tracks every change made to them in a centralized repository with version control.

A valid policy management solution needs to support each of the following stages:

1. Draft or Revise: Creating and editing Policies and Procedures, including applying relevant meta-data and access controls.
2. Collaboration and Feedback: Helping input from process owners, subject matter experts and other key stakeholders through automated workflows.
3. Approval: Handles the approval workflow, signatures and audit trail for each Policy and Procedure.
4. Publish: Releases finalized documents to the proper audience based on security rules, creating a single source of truth.
5. Training and Attestation: Attestation tracks which individuals have read and acknowledge that they understand the Policy or Procedure. Training goes further by using quizzes to test team members' understanding after they read the document.
6. Periodic Reviews: Good policies need regular checkups to ensure consistency and keep them useful for your company's current needs. Consider a yearly cadence for your company's policy reviews.

What type of organizations need a Policy Management Software?

People often link Policy Management Software with Regulations and Compliance. Considering the context, this makes sense.

Organizations that must follow specific regulatory requirements, industry standards or other compliance rules need higher standards for Policy and Procedure effectiveness.

You'll need to manage your policies, get proper sign-offs, keep records of changes, and set up strong data security to stay compliant.

The Accountability Factor

Good governance can help any organization improve operational efficiency, prevent issues and maintain consistency through change. Many organizations require stronger governance and quality assurance processes to meet legal requirements.

This higher level of governance can come from many sources, including:

• External rules and regulations
• Industry standards
• Customer requirements
• Internal quality initiatives

These drivers both determine which Policies and Procedures you need and require you to prove they work effectively. When you have strict regulations, managing policies becomes a complex juggling act of creating, updating, approving, sharing, and training.

Doing all this by hand quickly becomes too much work. A policy management tool helps prevent mistakes, reducing the risk of compliance problems. This drives the need for a Policy Management System earlier than in organizations without these structures.

Now that we've explored which types of organizations need formal policy and procedure software, let's address the next question. How big does your organization need to be before you need a formal Policy Management System?

What size of organizations need a Policy Management System?

The need to effectively manage policies and procedures can begin with just 2 people in an organization. This doesn't mean you need a corporate policy management software with only 2 people. It simply means that the basic process starts very early and grows with your organization.

The Accountability Factor Re-Visited

There's no exact employee count that means you need a policy management software, but you can look at certain patterns.

The higher the accountability, the sooner you'll need a formal policy and procedure management system. Eventually, size becomes more important than accountability level, as larger organizations simply need correct processes to ensure compliance.

Policy and Procedure Lifecycle Stages and Roles

To figure out if you need a policy management platform, take stock of how many different people handle your policies and what jobs they do.

Each stage in the Policy Management lifecycle involves different roles. Roles are groups of people who complete common tasks. The requirements within each role can help determine if you've reached the threshold for implementing a formal policy tracking software.

Let's look at some examples:

Example 1

In our first example, 5 people create the policies and 80 people need to read them. Does example 1 need a policy management system? Probably not, as long as there is a system to distribute any Policies and Procedures.

The number of authors/collaborators/approvers is small enough to manage manually. In addition, there is no need to track Attestation or Training.

Are there benefits to implementing a policy procedure management software for this organization? Probably. Smart companies set up good policy management tools early to prevent problems, reduce wasted effort, and help everyone follow the rules.

Example 2

Our second example has the same 5 creators and 80 readers as the first example.

But in this case, all 80 people must also confirm they've read and understood each policy that applies to them.

This creates a compliance burden and complexity that requires a proper solution. Even with just 50 documents, you would need to track 4,000 individual signatures for regulatory compliance! Example 2 definitely needs a policy management system.

Example 3

In example 3, policies are shared through the company intranet, so you don't need a system for distribution, sign-offs, or training. Does example 3 need a policy procedure software?

Absolutely. With 25 different people writing and approving policies, you'll quickly run into confusion without a dedicated policy management solution, especially for compliance teams.

What about the number of Policies and Procedures?

Few organizations would have just 5 policies but need to share them with over 100 people. Similarly, needing 25 authors/collaborators/approvers for just 5 Policies and Procedures would be extremely odd.

Since policy count usually grows with company size, you can focus on how many people are involved rather than counting documents when considering a policy management system.

Public Policy Portals

You might need a Policy Management System for reasons not covered above, even if your organization seems too small.

A public portal shares policies and procedures with the general public. Public facing portals don't require logins or security. Anyone with an internet browser can access them.

This creates two unique challenges:

1. Can your portal infrastructure handle demand from a publicly accessible website?
2. How do you ensure you always have the right Policies and Procedures published in the right area of the portal?

The answer to the first question depends on the technology you use to distribute your Policies and Procedures. You can publish policies without a management system, but keeping everything correct and up-to-date is much harder.

You must follow specific steps to ensure the Policies on your Public Portal are correct, current and properly located. Launching a public facing portal for Policies and Procedures without proper preparation creates too high a level of risk for IT policy management.

The cost of the wrong Policy Management System

Choosing the right Policy Management Software impacts whether you should implement it at all. The main purpose of any Policy Management System is to improve efficiency and save time. If you choose the wrong system, it could create more problems than it solves.

Here's what to avoid when evaluating Policy Management Solutions:

• On-premise installations: Installing software locally generates some of the largest costs for both initial setup and ongoing maintenance. Everything from security access to backups to upgrades can add unnecessary ongoing costs.
• Self-hosting cloud providers: While self-hosted cloud options might cost less and take less time to set up, they can create significant risk for your organization. Major Cloud providers like Microsoft Azure have invested heavily in their facilities. A Policy Management System cannot match the same level of reliability and security as a dedicated cloud provider.
• Document Management systems: Document Management systems store files well but lack the special features needed for handling policies properly. Policy Management Systems Corporation offers solutions specifically designed for policies and procedures software needs.
• Legacy systems: Be cautious about older systems—tech that's 10-15 years old often causes problems. A system launched 15 years ago that you plan to use for 10 more years means you're relying on 25-year-old technology!

Healthcare and Hospital Policy Management

For regulated industries like healthcare, specialized solutions such as healthcare policy management software and hospital policy management software offer additional features designed to address unique regulatory requirements. These systems provide tools to help maintain compliance with healthcare-specific regulations while ensuring policy consistency across multiple departments and facilities.

Does your organization need a Policy Management System?

This article aims to help you determine when manual processes and simple policy manual software no longer work effectively. If your organization matches any definitions covered here, we recommend exploring the available policy management systems options.

The best policy management software for your organization will depend on your specific needs, size, and compliance requirements. By implementing a robust policy management platform with proper policy compliance software features, you can ensure your organization maintains the highest standards while reducing administrative burden.

Looking for more specialized assistance? Policy management services from experienced providers can help you implement and optimize your policy management solutions for maximum effectiveness.