Standard Process

1.0 Standard Process

To begin a directives action, the Office of Primary Responsibility (OPR) first consults with the Directives Program. In this meeting, the Directives Program will help determine what type of directives action is needed, explain the overall process to the OPR, and give the OPR any needed templates.

After the initial meeting, the OPR will produce a Directives Review Board (DRB) Request memo, signed by the OPR’s head of office and the OPR’s Head of Departmental Element (HDE) on the throughline. The memo must provide the rationale for why an existing directive needs to be revised or why a new directive is necessary. A development timeline must also be provided. The purpose of the memo is to give the DRB an understanding of the scope and schedule of the proposed action.

Once the memo is complete, the OPR will send it to the Directives Program to begin the DRB review. This review is explained in detail in the DRB Request Memo Review (sub-process 1.2).

If the DRB has concerns with the proposed directives action or timeline, the DRB may request to meet with the OPR to discuss the memo. If changes are needed, the memo will be sent back to the OPR to reevaluate and redraft the memo to address the concerns of the DRB members.

Once the DRB approves the action, the Directives Program will inform the OPR of their official start date, milestones, and deadlines. This notification serves as the official start date for the directives action. (Note: The DRB may ask to have stakeholders from the organizations they represent participate in the development of a draft). In addition, the Directives Program distributes the signed request memo to points of contact throughout the complex for awareness.

Once the OPR has a draft version of the directive, they will send it to the Directives Program to begin the Review and Comment phase (sub-process 1.3).

After the Review and Comment phase is complete, the Directives Program will work with the OPR to begin the Comment Resolution phase (sub-process 1.4).

Once all comments have been adjudicated, the OPR will update the draft directive according to how they responded to the organizations’ comments. Afterwards the OPR will send the latest draft to the Directives Program to begin the Concurrence Review (sub-process 1.5).

If an office non-concurs, the OPR will work with the objecting office to attempt to reach agreement. If resolution cannot be reached, the effort will move into Impasse (sub-process 1.6). The OPR will use results of the impasse to update the final draft of the directive.

Once the DRB concurs on the draft directive, the OPR will develop the approval memo and an action synopsis. The approval memo must explain the reasoning behind the changes to the directive or the reason a new directive was needed and provide background on the effort. The action synopsis will only be needed in the case of a revision and describes the specific changes to the directive.

The Directives program will collect all required documents from the OPR, and compile and submit the approval package (sub-process 1.7).

1.1 Standard Process Flowchart

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