In order to solve problems at work, you often have to make policy changes. Unfortunately, a policy change doesn’t always work out how you hoped it would.

Below are some suggestions for measuring the effectiveness of a policy change and what to do once you’ve determined whether it’s working or not.

Ask Two Simple Questions

There are two, simple questions you should ask yourself when trying to determine whether or not a policy change is effective.

The first question is, “Are we still noticing the problem?” At some point, someone saw there was a problem with the way work was being done. There was either a bottleneck in someone’s workflow, mistakes were frequently being made, or something else was happening that caused problems. Eventually, someone noticed, brought up the problem, and worked on a solution.

The question is, are you still seeing that problem or has it gone away? It’s possible that the problem has been reduced, but isn’t totally gone yet. That may require some simple tweaking instead of a complete policy overhaul. But either way, you should be able to get a quick idea for how effective the policy change was by simply looking at the task that inspired the change in the first place.

The second question is, “Has our solution caused other problems?” Just because you solved one problem doesn’t mean you didn’t accidentally create another problem. What problems are people having with the policy? How hard are those problems to deal with? Are they bigger or smaller than the problems you were trying to solve?

Digging through your work processes and talking to involved team members about these topics will help you figure out if the solution is better or worse than the cure.

Take Advantage Of Employee Surveys And Interviews

One-on-one interviews and employee surveys are good ways to encourage your employees to tell you what is slowing them down at work and what parts of their workflows need help. Be sure to emphasize that the company is looking for problems to fix in order to make everyone’s life at work easier.

Otherwise, they may be afraid to speak up in case they look like they’re complaining.

Approach the questions in such a way to get them to talk about the new policy. Ask them what is working, what isn’t working, and what problems they’re still seeing.

Take this feedback into consideration when you’re trying to determine whether you should keep, alter, or remove a policy.

Ask Managers About What Problems They’re Seeing

Managers generally have a higher-level view of what’s going on with their team. Be sure to lean on them for information that you’d otherwise miss if you focused on talking to people who may not always understand what their coworkers are doing.

Managers are probably best able to answer your questions about who’s affected positively by a given policy, who’s affected negatively, and what they think could be done to solve any other problems that have popped up.

When You Get Your Results, Take Action

Once you’ve analyzed everyone’s feedback and you’ve looked at the related KPIs and whether they have improved or declined, it’s time to act. Acting might mean scrapping the policy entirely, optimizing it to make it better solve the problem, or it may mean enhancing an already successful policy to make it even better.

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Katie Casaday is a marketing content writer at eFileCabinet where she specializes in computer software and document management topics. She graduated from Utah State University with a BA in Global Communication. She has experience writing about B2B technology companies and besides enjoying writing, she loves nature and taking hikes with her companion, a Border Collie named Margo.