“That's in the contracting policy!” is a common statement in every legal & compliance department.
Many companies have a policy about concluding contracts and powers of representation. Everyone's name is different (contract playbook, contract policy, bill of authority, etc.), but they all have one thing in common: no one reads them. Okay, except for the legal & compliance department.
And that's not surprising, because contracting policies are often boring, long and consist of 99% of information that is not relevant to that specific contract. And it is often difficult to get to that one percent.
How is that possible? Policies are often written from the sender's perspective. And not from the user's perspective.
At worst, this means that the rules of the policy are not being complied with. And at best, the legal & compliance department gets questions about things that are crystal clear in the policy.
That can and must be done differently. How then? With interactive click guides.
What are interactive click guides?
Think of a policy as a novel that you have to read from cover to understand everything. An interactive click guide is like a video game: the user's actions determine the story and outcome.
For example, this is how you read a policy.
And here's how to use an interactive click guide:
The main difference: with an interactive click guide, the user is the boss and navigates to the relevant information with smart buttons. In addition, the user does not read the entire policy, but only the part relevant to a specific situation.
This is possible because the click guide consists of several layers of information. This allows the user to navigate to core topics and, if desired, dive deeper to read more.
When do you use interactive click guides?
Interactive click guides are ideal for policies with fixed steps, such as policies about contracting processes and authority to represent.
Click guides are also suitable for policies about:
- data breaches
- complaint procedures
- whistleblower regulations
- WWFT compliance
Our thoughts on AI
At Patroon, we love AI. For example, check out our AI tool feitlijn.nl. AI also offers new opportunities to make policies more user-friendly. For example, there are compliance chatbots where users get their compliance questions answered very quickly. However, this is not a good solution for every policy. A chatbot requires the user to ask the right questions, which require basic knowledge about the subject. And that's where the problem lies. Because in addition to a decision function, a policy also has an informative function. This informative function is completely eliminated with an AI chatbot.
How to create an interactive click guide
The purpose of an interactive click guide is to present the right information for the user or the situation. As soon as possible. How do you achieve that goal?
1. Know what's in the policy and who the users are
Make sure you know the policy inside and out. And how the policy is used by your colleagues, for example, find out what questions your department gets most often and make them a top 10. That's a (data-driven!) way to find out what your colleagues need in practice, and to make the policy as close as possible to the user.
2. Look for the major differentiating factor in the policy
The goal is to get the job done text from the policy to translate into a logical decision tree. To do this, you need to map out the various steps and dependencies and place them in a logical order.
You start by determining the very first and most important exit. This is the distinguishing factor that most determines which procedure to follow. This could be, for example:
- Contract value: The value determines which procedure applies.
- Contracting party: the procedure varies by entity (e.g. Belgium vs. Netherlands).
- Type of contract: There are different procedures for, for example, services and products.
There are always several differentiating factors. For example, both the contract value and the contracting entity are important for the procedure to follow. But it's about determining the biggest exit first.
3. Create the complete decision tree
Then you map out all the different routes for the different situations. In addition, the outcome of step 2 (the most important exit) is your starting point. In addition to that important exit, you also identify all other options that determine which procedure to follow and who is authorized to represent. For example, this could be:
- The subject of the contract
- The value of the contract
- The contracting party
To do this, you can use a whiteboard with sticky notes or a tool like Miro or Mindnode.
4. From decision tree to pages
The large flowchart that you created in step 3 forms the basis for the page structure of your new policy. In addition to the various options, you'll probably also want to add informative pages that explain the policy or process.
Completely write out the content for the pages. Also indicate in the text where you want to place a button that allows the user to navigate to another page. It can help to use color or number coding so that you can link the pages to the decision tree.
5. Create your basic design
You now know which pages you need and what information should be on these pages. You can now also determine the different types of page features. For example, you probably have:
- a home page
- explanation pages, explaining a step, process or policy.
- selection pages, where the user makes a choice.
- outcome pages, with relevant information for a specific situation.
Create a design for each type of page. Don't forget the navigation elements. Make sure these buttons are also clearly recognisable as buttons and include an explanation of how the user can navigate through the click guide.
Create a design for each type of page. Don't forget the navigation elements. You can use PowerPoint to do this, or a design tool like Figma.
6. Just fill in!
You now have the content for all pages and the design for the different pages, and you guessed it: it's now a matter of filling in.
7. Interactivity
In the decision tree, you have determined which pages link to each other. You may also have already figured out which goat trails you want to create in the document. In this last step, make sure that the buttons link to the correct page.
Do you use Powerpoint for this? Then work with diamodels for the buttons that appear on each page, for example the buttons in the main menu. You then only have to link it once.
8. Testing
Ask a colleague to test the click guide Are all steps clear? Is the navigation understandable and intuitive? Get as much information as possible and incorporate the lessons learned into your design.
You'll probably learn the most from a colleague who isn't very familiar with the policy.
Why investing in a click guide is worthwhile
Ok. We've reduced the process of creating a click guide to 7 easy steps. But the reality is — as always — a lot more unruly. Creating an interactive compliance guide takes time. Lots of time.
Outlining your compliance processes may also provide insight that not all processes are equally logical. These are valuable insights, which sometimes also mean that you have to go back to the drawing board.
But trust us, it's really all worth it. Because a user-friendly policy, in the form of a click guide, ensures:
- more understanding of the rules
- better compliance with the rules
- less risk
- fewer questions about the policy
- happier colleagues and a happier legal & compliance team (with more time).
Do you need help creating an interactive policy? Then let me know. We are happy to think along with you.
“I'm deeply impressed with how Patroon is reviewing our legal documentation. They remove legal inconsistencies and bring it back to basics.”
- Compliance Manager
