In the workplace, it's all about consistency. If you're not consistent in your practices, employees won't trust you — or each other. One way to make sure everyone is on the same page is to distribute documents outlining the company's policies and guidelines. If your company doesn't have such documents already, don't just leap to your keyboard to begin writing your own policies. Talk with your superiors first. A written policy, even something you send out as an e-mail or a memo, represents your company. Its content can have legal ramifications. Many companies even have policies that outline the process for writing new or revising existing policies and procedures.

It's not very glamorous, but in the end, consistency scores big points with employees because it shapes as well as supports their expectations.

Larisse was a manager for a company that gave bonuses for completed projects. When the company first implemented the policy, the procedure was simple: Each employee had one project at a time, and each project had a timeline. Each time the employee met the timeline, he or she received a bonus.

The company grew and its market became more sophisticated. Projects became increasingly complex, and employees often handled several projects at the same time. To meet timelines, employees started working together, collaborating and cooperating to finish projects. A manager's dream come true, right? Only until bonuses were due, and then it turned into a nightmare. At first, the company tried splitting bonuses among the various employees who worked on the project. This worked only until employees began complaining that two of them did most of the work, while the others made only token contributions.

Because there was no formal company policy about shared bonuses, Larisse became a frazzled wreck. There was no way she could be consistent because there was no structure to support her judgments and decisions. Employees began to feel that she was fickle and arbitrary, even though she often spent hours pouring over project time logs to determine which employees had made what contributions.

Though the last thing Larisse wanted was yet another set of rules, she finally felt compelled to ask her superiors for a more comprehensive policy. Within a month she — and every employee — received a copy of the new, detailed guidelines for bonus payments. There was the usual grumbling as everyone dissected the new policy. Even Larisse found guidelines that she thought were unfair. But she enforced the policy anyway, because as a manager that was her job. In the end, that consistency restored peace and productivity. And Larisse found great peace of mind, because she no longer had to remember how she had handled a bonus on a previous project and try to figure out if this project had a similar set of circumstances.

Consistency is crucial not only because it establishes standardized procedures but because it also affirms fairness. Even if employees (or managers) disagree with human resources (HR) policies or department procedures, they will accept them when they know everyone else must, too.