A repository, five levels: the REDPPP method
Behind the acronym REDPPP lies a remarkably simple logic: Rules, Directives, Policies, Procedures, and Processes. It is a structuring framework that organizes all your internal documentation into complementary layers, each answering a specific question.
Rather than mixing everything into a SharePoint folder titled "Important Docs (v2 final FINAL)," this framework invites you to clearly distinguish the why, the what, and the how of your organizational practices.
Here is how each level works—and most importantly, what you can do with them starting tomorrow morning.
Policies: Your strategic compass
Policies define the framework and guiding principles. They embody your mission, your values, and your legal obligations. They rarely change, and that is precisely their strength: they provide a stable reference point for the entire organization.
Immediate Action: Take an inventory of your existing policies. You should find essentials like the code of conduct, privacy policy, HR policy, health and safety, information security, or document management. If some are missing or haven't been reviewed in years, you’ve just identified your first project.
Structural Tip: Each policy should contain five elements:
- objective and scope;
- guiding principles, roles and responsibilities;
- legal references;
- effective dates;
- review.
This simple template ensures consistency from one document to another.
Procedures: The concrete instruction manual
If a policy says what to do and why, a procedure explains how. It details every step, identifies the actors involved, sets deadlines, and specifies the tools to be used. It is the bridge between strategic intent and reality on the ground.
Immediate Action: Identify your three most critical processes (e.g., recruitment, IT access management, complaint handling). For each, verify that a written procedure exists, that it is up to date, and that it is accessible to those who need it. Not hidden in the deepest, darkest corner of SharePoint, but truly accessible.
Typical content to replicate: objective, detailed steps, actors involved, deadlines and controls, associated documents or tools.
Directives: Agility at the service of the framework
Directives are often the forgotten link, yet they are invaluable. More targeted than a policy, sometimes temporary or contextual, they allow you to regulate specific situations without rewriting the entire body of documentation.
Think of a directive on the use of generative AI, a cybersecurity instruction on passwords, or communication guidelines in case of a crisis. They can be integrated into a policy or distributed as notes, guides, or memos.
Immediate Action: Spot the gray areas in your current practices—those topics where "everyone knows we have to do it that way" without it being written anywhere. Write a short, clear directive for each. This is often where non-compliance risks hide.
Processes and Work Instructions: The operational backbone
A process describes the logical sequence of activities (talent management, budget management, incident management…), ideally in the form of a flowchart or diagram. Work instructions, meanwhile, go down to the most operational level: the step-by-step guide to creating a user account, the end-of-process checklist, or a form user guide.
Immediate Action: For each key procedure, ask yourself: is there an associated process diagram? And for your team’s repetitive tasks: do we have clear work instructions? These two levels are what reduce errors the fastest and speed up the integration of new employees.
The Lifecycle: The key everyone neglects
Having good documents isn't enough. You must also manage their lifecycle: creation, validation, distribution, revision, and archiving. Without this mechanism, your policies become obsolete, your procedures multiply into contradictory versions, and organizational knowledge quietly erodes.
Immediate Action: Implement a version and approval register. For each document, record: who wrote it, who approved it, when it takes effect, and when it needs to be reviewed. Simple, but transformative.
Where to start tomorrow morning?
You don't need to build everything at once. Here are three high-impact first steps:
- Map out what already exists: policies, procedures, and even informal directives.
- Standardize your templates using the typical content presented above.
- Establish an annual review cycle with clearly identified owners.
Document governance is not a bureaucratic exercise. It is what allows an organization to know what it does, why it does it, and how it does it — consistently, compliantly, and efficiently. The REDPPP framework gives you the structure. Now you just need to put it into motion.
Ready to move from theory to action?
The training course ➡️Techniques for Writing Policies, Procedures and Work Instructions gives you the tools to structure, write, and maintain your internal documentation—from policy to operational step-by-step guides. Action plan, templates, document lifecycle: it’s all there, with no prerequisites.
