Architecture
New Policy
The Problem
Aspen Institute had an incomplete and dated library of operational guidance and rules scattered across confusing and conflicting intranet pages, old memos, hard to find emails, and fuzzy oral history.
What management needed:
To ensure compliance and manage risk, while also standardizing confusing & redundant decision-making processes that were taking up a lot of time.
What Staff Wanted:
Clear written guidance on what was allowed and how to do things, as well as more transparency into why rules were needed and how decisions were made.
What Happened Next:
Pherabe built a new framework for organizational policies that included a standard policy template requiring solid rationales for every rule and clear explanations of roles and responsibilities. She developed a list of policies that needed to be codified, revised, or created over time to cover all major areas of work, and most importantly launched a new policy review team representing all major central operational and programmatic areas to ensure what was being proposed was workable & supported by all.
The Solution:
A comprehensive, inclusive, and transparent process for the development, review, and approval of new policies that has transformed the way business gets done, minimizing risk and maximizing efficiency, so staff have the guidance and tools they need to focus on the mission.