bkjohn2018 Governance Writing Style Guide
When to Use
- Creating governance policies, standards, and control documents.
- Editing documents for consistent style and terminology.
- Requests for governance writing conventions.
Workflow
- Define audience and compliance objective.
- Use standard structure: purpose, scope, policy, roles, enforcement.
- Apply controlled vocabulary and consistent modal verbs.
- Remove ambiguity and unverifiable language.
- Validate with style checklist before publishing.
Output Template
# [Governance Document Title]
## Purpose
...
## Scope
...
## Policy statements
1. ...
## Roles and responsibilities
...
## Compliance and exceptions
...
Quality Checklist
- Terms align with approved glossary.
- Normative language is consistent.
- Responsibilities are explicit and accountable.
- Exception and escalation paths are documented.