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Guide to Writing Policies
All fraternal policies have the following in common:
- Align operations to the purposes and goals of ΜΒΨ
- Set expectations for behavior across the fraternity
- Communicate roles and responsibilities
Your policies need to provide the right level of information to the people affected by them. When people understand a policy, they are more likely to follow it and incorporate it into their daily life.
Writing Plain Language
Plain language makes better policy, because people have limited time and attention. Plain language (also called Plain English) is communication your audience can understand the first time they read or hear it. By writing plain-language policies, you lower the barrier of entry for people trying to understand and put it to use.
“The more educated the person, the more specialist their knowledge, the greater their preference for plain English. The old argument (or ‘excuse for lazy writing’) that ‘these readers will understand this language’ may be true, but it doesn’t mean they want to read it. Do you?”
— Mark Morris
Using plain language is the opposite of dumbing things down. It's smart. Smart people prefer it.1) Don't assume Brothers can understand technical jargon and complex sentence structures. Of course we can, but we don't want complex jargon in all situations. Plain language makes things easier for all of us.
Resources for Plain Language
- Hemingway App highlights lengthy, complex sentences and common errors
- King County Guide to Concise Writing gives alternatives to overstated, bureaucratic, pompous languagePlainLanguage.gov Guidelines and before-and-after examplesHow to Write Simple English Pages describes simple sentence structure, guidelines, and suggestions to think about your readers and use Basic English
Writing Clear Policy
It is not unusual for Brothers to experience conflict and in-fighting if we lack mutual understanding of our policies. Reach your intended audience with policies that are clear and easy to read. Unclear policy leads to failure producing consistent outcomes, inviting blame and mistrust.
Use language that reflects the policy's intent.
Select words with care. Words like should and may imply a choice. For example,
“Brothers should not smoke during a rush.” This means they shouldn't smoke, but will be allowed if they do. The statement also does not address restrictions applicable to to non-Brothers. “Brothers, prospective members, and friends are prohibited from smoking during a rush.” Better, but only addresses a rush setting. “Smoking is not allowed during official gatherings.” Best. Use as few words as possible to state a case.
Less is more. For example, consider this statement:
All Brothers, under the purview of the National Treasurer, are obligated to ensure that fraternal funds are used only in the advancement of our fraternal purposes.“ This statement implies that only those “under the purview of the National Treasurer” are required to follow this policy. All Brothers are obligated to ensure that fraternal funds are used only in the advancement of our fraternal purposes.” Better, but now the scope may be wider than intended. Perhaps it's a distraction to reference who is obligated at all. “Fraternal funds are used only to advance our fraternal purposes.” Best. Ensure that clarifying a statement does not alter meaning.
Consider this example:
“All active members must …” The word all is redundant. Simply stating “active members” implies all unless an exception is also written. “Active members must…” Best. 1)Trudeau, Christopher R. The Public Speaks: An Empirical Study of Legal Communication. http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=christopher_trudeau
resources/writing.txt · Last modified: 2018/04/12 23:55 (external edit)
