𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 - 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁!

This might be how it feels once you get that procedure approved and issued, but it's not the end of the road.

Your job doesn't end there, remember to evaluate your document throughout its life cycle in a periodic review over time! So how often 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 you re-evaluate?

This will be dependent on your industry expectations and the regulations you need to follow. In the therapeutic space, 2 years is often the go-to frequency.

But what's most appropriate? According to the new ISO Guide for Plain Language, you should evaluate your documents:

1️⃣ 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗱 You should make changes based on the results of the evaluation during its development period.

2️⃣ 𝗙𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗯𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 Keeping potential readers in the loop adds their perspective about the readability and usability of the document.

3️⃣ 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝗳 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗼𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 Authors should re-evaluate regularly so as to know if the document is still relevant. Do you re-evaluate or is it one-and-done? Might be time to revisit your documents!