Guidelines
Recommended practices or principles that provide direction for decision-making and behavior without being mandatory requirements.
Read summarized version with
What are Guidelines?
Think of guidelines as suggestions with weight behind them. They point you in the right direction without locking you into a single path. Unlike policies or procedures that demand strict compliance, guidelines give you room to use your judgment. They represent what has worked well in the past, helping people produce consistent results while still being able to adapt when the situation calls for it.
In the world of business documentation, guidelines sit somewhere between "you must do this" and "figure it out yourself." They describe approaches that tend to work, helping teams stay aligned without boxing them in. You're encouraged to follow them, sure, but if your specific situation calls for something different, that's okay too. This distinguishes them from a protocol, where compliance is mandatory.
This makes guidelines especially useful when rigid procedures just wouldn't make sense. They give employees enough direction to stay on track while trusting them to make smart calls based on what they're actually dealing with.
Key Characteristics of Guidelines
- Recommended, Not Mandatory: Guidelines suggest what works well but leave room for you to make the call. Policies demand compliance; guidelines encourage it.
- Flexible Interpretation: There's space for professional judgment here. What makes sense in one context might not fit another, and guidelines account for that.
- Advisory Nature: Guidelines advise rather than command. They offer suggestions, not orders.
- Supportive Documentation: They work alongside formal policies and procedures from the policy manual, filling in the gaps and clarifying what "good" looks like in practice.
- Quality-Focused: The goal is good outcomes, not checking boxes. Guidelines acknowledge that there's usually more than one way to get things right.
Guidelines Examples
Example 1: Documentation Style Guide
Say a company puts together guidelines for internal documentation. They recommend consistent formatting, clear headings, and plain language. Writers generally follow these for the sake of consistency, but when someone needs to write a technical spec for engineers or a brief executive summary, they can adjust. The guidelines provide direction without pretending every document should look the same.
Example 2: Customer Service Guidelines
A support team might have guidelines covering response times, tone, and when to escalate issues. Reps use these as a baseline, but they're not robots. If a customer has a particularly tricky problem, extending the usual response window makes sense. If someone prefers a more casual conversation, the rep can adjust their tone. The guidelines help, but judgment matters too.
Example 3: Code Review Guidelines
A dev team creates code review guidelines that cover things like checking for security issues, making sure tests exist, and keeping code readable. Developers follow these, but they also know when to prioritize. Reviewing a payment processing module? Security gets extra attention. Working on a high-traffic feature? Performance moves up the list. The guidelines set expectations without micromanaging. For more prescriptive step-by-step processes, teams would use a standard operating procedure.
Guidelines vs Protocol
Both provide direction, but they work differently. Protocols leave little room for interpretation. Guidelines assume you'll use your head.
| Aspect | Guidelines | Protocol |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Recommend best practices and point you in the right direction | Spell out exact steps that must be followed |
| Scope | Broad enough to allow interpretation | Specific and detailed for consistent execution |
| When to use | When flexibility and judgment matter | When consistency and compliance are critical |
| Enforcement | Following them is encouraged, not required | Compliance is mandatory |
| Flexibility | High, you can adapt to circumstances | Low, you follow the prescribed steps |
How Glitter AI Helps with Guidelines
Creating guidelines shouldn't take forever, but it often does. Glitter AI changes that. By capturing screen recordings and turning them into clear, visual documentation automatically, Glitter lets teams document their recommended practices without the usual time sink. You end up with guideline documents that actually show people the preferred way to do things, not just tell them.
Visual documentation tends to land better than walls of text. Annotated screenshots and step-by-step visuals make guidelines easier to follow and more likely to stick. Teams can adopt best practices without getting lost in lengthy written explanations, and the flexibility that makes guidelines useful stays intact.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does guidelines mean in business?
In business, guidelines are recommended practices that point people in the right direction without being mandatory. They suggest what tends to work while leaving room for professional judgment when situations call for a different approach.
What is an example of a guideline?
A documentation style guide is a good example. It might recommend certain formatting, tone, and structure for internal documents. Writers generally follow it for consistency, but can adjust when a technical spec or executive summary needs a different treatment.
Why are guidelines important?
Guidelines give teams consistency and direction without being rigid. They're a way to share what works well while still trusting people to adapt when their specific situation requires something different.
What is the difference between guidelines and policies?
Guidelines are recommendations you're encouraged to follow; policies are rules you must follow. Guidelines suggest the preferred approach and assume you'll use judgment. Policies define required actions and often come with consequences if you don't comply.
How do you create effective guidelines?
Start with practices that have actually worked, document them clearly with examples, explain why each recommendation matters, and leave space for people to exercise judgment. Tools like Glitter can help by creating visual documentation that's easier to follow than text-heavy guides.
Turn any process into a step-by-step guide