How to roll out a policy change so people read it

Announcing a policy change is easy. Making sure it was read is harder. An email goes out, a few people read it, and months later someone says they never saw it.

This is a short checklist that works for most changes. It is not legal advice, so check what applies to you.

Say what is changing, first

Lead with what people will do differently, not with the history. Use three lines: before, now, and who it applies to.

Give the reason in one paragraph

People accept a change more easily when they can see the point of it. Be honest and brief. If it is a legal requirement, say so.

Say what you need them to do, and by when

"Read this page and confirm below by March 1." A clear action and a date beat a general announcement.

Put it in one place

Publish the notice as a flipbook with a single link. The policy notice template in the Studio has two pages: the change itself, and a page to confirm. Share the same link by email and on your intranet or notice board, as a QR code if you like.

Ask people to confirm

Switch on Read and acknowledge. Each reader confirms with their name and email, and you see who has and when. This is the one place a reader is deliberately identified, and they are told so.

After you send it

• Check the list a few days before the deadline. Remind the people who have not confirmed, individually and kindly.
• Answer questions in the open. If three people ask the same thing, the page was unclear. Fix it and publish a new version. The link stays the same and readers are offered the update.
• Let people report problems. Switch on reader feedback, and people can flag a page as confusing or out of date with a note.
• Keep the record. Note the date you published, the version and who confirmed.

What not to do

• Do not hide the change in a long document of unrelated news.
• Do not send a new file every time the wording is tweaked. Update the one link.
• Do not treat a read receipt as agreement. Confirming that a policy was read is not the same as agreeing to it, and your policy should say what it means.

Read and acknowledge is part of the paid plans.