People use a policy proposal template for various purposes but a good policy proposal should contain all the required information in a persuasive and concise manner. It may include a brand new system or just a small tweak in your advertising strategy. However, in order to get it approved, it is essential to know how to write a policy proposal.
Table of Contents
Different types of policy proposals:
Surely, you make policies for a specific purpose like to maintain order and peace in a specific environment. In most workplaces, there are major problems that have gotten worse in the past few years. Also, they affect the workforce. Therefore, you would create a policy proposal template. In your policy proposal, state that if someone disobeys the rules then they have to face disciplinary actions such as sanctions.
However, you can create a policy proposal or;
- Environmental Policies
- Health Policies
- HR Policies
- New Policies
- Policy Changes
- Public Policies
- Security policies
Keep in mind that this document is created to deal with a certain issue. It must determine this issue, how it affects the business, and also provides recommendations to solve it.
At first, before creating this document, you have to assemble information and facts. Include data that is supportive, credible, and relevant to the problem. You should state the problem, develop which audience it affects, and then suggest a proposed solution. Now, it’s time to prove your hypothesis with solid facts that you can obtain from scientific studies or survey statistics.
It is highly appreciated if you provide alternative solutions in your policy proposal. You should also have to prove that each solution is of help. Also, you must back this up with serious facts.
Parts of a policy proposal:
An effective policy proposal usually includes the following parts;
Introduction:
In the introduction, you have to provide a brief summary of the proposal that indicates the problem, the solution, the costs, and the advantages. You should determine your reader and likewise any other type of persuasion, you must sound convincing. It will highly help you if you know the different ways to appeal to the audience.
Moreover, you should also know who will read your proposal. Also, find out who has authority to decide that it should get denied or accepted.
Issue:
An issue refers to as;
- The Subject
- Main Argument
- Purpose
- Background Information
- Importance
- Problem
Here, you should answer the following questions;
- Who gets impacted by the proposal?
- What is the reason behind your writing the proposal?
Solution:
In the context of a proposal, the main definition of a solution contains your step-by-step plan, the benefits, and how to overcome any potential hurdles should they occur. Here, you also have to include your required personnel. Their expertise and experience make an addition of a component of persuasion to your proposal.
Qualifications:
To successfully implement the policy proposal, you should list down an overview of the required personnel.
Conclusion of the benefits and the wrap-up:
This is the final step where you have to describe how you can balance the cost of the project against the benefits. For each element of your project, make a breakdown of the projected cost to use. In addition, mention both monetary and non-monetary breakdown of the benefits of the project to the company or organization. This encourages that reader that there is a return of investment.
How to write your policy proposal?
Here are some tips on how to write an effective policy proposal;
Do research:
It is always important to do research so that you can gather facts that to use in your proposal. You should only consider factual information. This is because it adds credibility to what you are proposing. Basically, facts support the change you propose. You can then use them to specify the faults of the existing policies.
Come up with an explanation of the problem:
You should initiate your proposal by determining the issue and how this affects your audience. For example, there is a certain office policy that you believe hinders the efficiency of employees. You should explain your reasons against such and explain why in case if you have an issue with the findings of some research.
Come up with a proposed solution:
Follow your proposal with your proposed solution along with your implementation plans. For example, if the issue is working remotely then you can create an outline of the rules to apply to home workers. Furthermore, create an outline on how to monitor these employees.
Display all of the facts:
You should always ensure that what you display in your proposal are facts and not hearsay. You can draw these from scientific research. You can also state that other companies and organizations also have successfully followed in their new policy.
To support your arguments, you can also cite other credible sources. For instance, other companies that have successfully implemented the remote workplace concept, you can do some research on them. In your proposal, mention the employee satisfaction and cost savings numbers in that company. In order to explain better your proposal, you can use all means if you want to present this with visual aids.
Conclude your policy proposal template:
In the end, provide a precise conclusion that is brief and limited to only one or two paragraphs. The information you have taken in your proposal, here you can make a recap of them.
Cite all of your sources:
The sources you used for your document’s factual information, it is professional and courteous to make a write-up all. Additionally, in your proposal, for all of the research, include a bibliography page you had used as sources.
How to check your policy proposal template before submitting?
Consider the following checks before submitting the final draft of your proposal;
Remove technical terms and jargons
People may like jargon in business but not everyone share the same love for these terms. There is some special meaning of these confusing terms for you but people will understand the simpler words better.
Don’t use passive voice
When you are expressing something, don’t use passive voice because they may sound distant or even deceptive. Your point can become obscure by adding unnecessary words.
Proofread your proposal
You can use different applications to proofread your proposal. In order to detect grammatical errors, you should use Grammarly which is one of the most popular. With this tool, you can also find out the phrases which are stylistically poor. The value of your proposal can be discredited due to sloppy grammar and spelling.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, a policy proposal template is an excellent tool that assists you in introducing your idea, especially to your supervisors who you can supply with the required information. You should present a well-made proposal to your manager. This is because it provides them the impression that you’re genuinely concerned about the company.
Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Make sure your topic should be;
1- Within your field
2- Open to discussion
3- Essential
4- Not general
5- Contains a personal impact
6- Comprehensible
The 4 main characteristics of a policy proposal are;
1- Policy relevant
2- Situated
3- Practical
4- Integrated
A supplement proposal is presented after the commencement of the project or research. The main objective of this type of proposal is to ask for additional support. While, a continuation proposal only applies to multi-year awards according to Michigan Technological University. This type of proposal is written to request the budget for the next phase.
