Lewis S. Eisen – ARMA Magazine

Author: Lewis S. Eisen

Lewis S. Eisen, B.A., J.D., C.I.P., offers an approach to drafting policy that has been adopted by groups at organizations such as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the U.S. Government Services Administration, and others across Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. He is the author of the international bestseller 'How to Write Rules that People Want to Follow: A Guide to Writing Respectful Policies and Directives.' Contact him to run a day-long workshop for your chapter or region.

Revisiting Our Views on Non-Compliance with IM Policy

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on June 1, 2021. Posted in Compliance, Featured, Information Governance, Information Management, Uncategorized.

Are we biased when we try to interpret the reasons for non-compliance with information management (IM) policies? Over the past two years, I’ve presented a session titled “Improving Buy-In to IM Policies” to more than a dozen ARMA chapters. We...

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Antiquated Policy Wording: Part 4 — The Problem with “Should”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 26, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Leadership & Management Skills, Policy.

This is the final article of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.” Of the three modal verbs discussed in this article, “should” suffers the worst identity...

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Antiquated Policy Wording — Part 3: The Problem with “May”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 15, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Leadership & Management Skills, Policy.

This is the third article of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.” The word “may” suffers from the same deficiencies as “must,” discussed in Part 2....

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Antiquated Policy Wording — Part 2: The Problem with “Must”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 8, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Leadership & Management Skills, Policy.

This is the second article of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.”(Read Part 1 here.) In traditional policy wording, writers use “must” to indicate...

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Antiquated Policy Wording: Part 1 — “Must,” “May,” and “Should”

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 1, 2020. Posted in Communications, Education, Featured, Leadership & Management Skills.

This article is the first of a four-part series on drafting requirements in IM policies, looking at the problems of using the words “must,” “may,” and “should.” Part 1 — Overview The traditional use of “must,” “may,” and “should” when drafting...

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Good Policy Statements Don’t Micro-manage

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on February 11, 2020. Posted in Communications.

Instructions in a policy statement that amount to micro-management confuse rather than clarify the requirements. I’m sure you’ve seen them – policy statements so detailed that they list the steps required. Take the following example, excerpted...

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Have You Considered Tone of Voice?

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on December 5, 2019. Posted in Communications, Leadership & Management Skills.

Interview with microphone

When we review an old information management policy to see if it needs updating, what do we look for? Too often an organization will revise the operative content but fail to update the tone of voice. Obviously we check for accuracy to make sure...

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Can Information Management Policies Be Both Clear and Concise?

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on August 13, 2019. Posted in Communications, Featured, Leadership & Management Skills, Process Management.

Most information management (IM) professionals would agree that well-written policies are clear and concise. Too often, though, the policies are “dumbed down” because someone is afraid that maybe, somewhere, some individual in the organization...

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How to Break the Mold of Negativity Around IM Policies

Written by Lewis S. Eisen on April 30, 2019. Posted in Change Management, Compliance, Content, Information Governance, Information Management, Information Security (Information Protection), Information Technology.

Diverse people holding emoticon

Most people associate IM policies with notions like requirements and restrictions. Those connotations are unfortunate because that’s not what writing rules is about. Written properly, rules are primarily about getting clarity and about target...

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