New Member Profile: Joan Oliver

Direction: Welcome Joan! Please tell us a bit about your business background?

Joan: I have a combined B.A. in French and Spanish literature and B.A. in English Literature. I currently work for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Previous to working for the RCMP, I did short term work for other Canadian federal government departments such as Environment Canada and Transport Canada. I have worked for the RCMP for 20 years, 17 of which have been in a writing capacity, including Communications. For the past 11 years, I have been working in policies and procedures.

Direction: Tell us about your work - responsibilities, challenges.

Joan: I work for Polices and Publications Section (PPS), Information Management Branch. Our section manages the official national policies and procedures for the RCMP as well as its historical collection of policies and procedures. As a Senior Writer/Editor in PPS, I predominately edit the policies and procedures written by the Subject Matter Experts (SME). I also lecture on a course entitled Directives Writing, which highlights the specific writing style (Playscript) used for the RCMP manuals. We lecture on three courses per year in different locations across the country. As one of two senior writers, I train new editors to our section and troubleshoot regarding a myriad of issues. The biggest challenge I face is trying to make the teaching policies and procedures interesting.

Direction: Tell us about your audience.

Joan: Our audience is the entire complement of RCMP employees, which includes police officers, employees working in specialty areas such as IT and forensics as well as public service employees.

Direction: What do you like most about your job?

Joan: I love my job because of the variety of subject areas that we deal with in our Section, from operational matters such as fingerprints to administrative matters like official languages. It keeps me ever learning and ever challenged.

Direction: What advice can you give to someone who wants to get into P&P documentation?

Joan: I would advise anyone who wants to get into P&P documentation to ensure that although basic, he or she should be sure to have a thorough grasp of the meaning of P&P, which I find elusive. Many people seem to define these terms differently, especially "policies".

Direction: What’s the biggest P&P challenge that you face in your current environment?

Joan: I believe the biggest challenge in this area is conveying to SMEs that e-mail messages to employees do not constitute official policies and procedures. E-mail messages are only retained for a short period and are inaccessible to employees who may be on vacation or other extended leave for reasons such as education, illness, maternity or paternity. In addition, the technological age also facilitates the publication of information directly on an SME’s website, which is often being considered as official policies and procedures, which of course they are not unless linked to the official policies and procedures in a manual system.

Direction: Tell us a bit of personal information about you - e.g., hobbies, where you live, your family, or other information to help us get to know you.

Joan: I live in the city of Ottawa, the capital of Canada, with my husband and two children. I am also caregiver to my aged mother who had a stroke a few years ago. I love to read, paint, take walks and play the piano (ever a learner). I volunteer at my local church in a variety of capacities, including being the Head of the Sunday School program. I also volunteer at local Bible College, again in various leadership capacities.

You can contact Joan at joan.oliver@rcmp-grc.gc.ca.