Final answer:
Formal written guidance for DON personnel includes official documents like employee manuals, agency reports, and instructional materials. These documents establish clarity and consistency in performing duties and maintaining organizational efficiency. Clear and standardized formal norms support transparency, accountability, and are often simplified through the use of plain language to improve understanding.
Step-by-step explanation:
Formal written guidance that informs and instructs Department of the Navy (DON) personnel in the communication of policy and procedures in the performance of their duties includes various forms of official documentation. This may encompass employee manuals, detailed agency reports to oversight entities like Congress, and instructional materials that make procedures and regulations clear to understand for its audience. Formal norms, such as laws and organizational rules, are often encapsulated in written documents to provide clarity and consistency in the execution of duties.
Examples of this formal written guidance include bureaucratic regulations, required reports to political principals to ensure agency accountability, and employee communication standards, all of which aim to maintain order and efficiency within the organization. The use of plain English in government communication, as mandated by the Plain Writing Act of 2010, exemplifies an effort to make these formal documents more accessible and understandable for all stakeholders, consequently improving compliance and effectiveness.
From NASA's administrative communication strategies to federal student aid procedures, the norm is to provide clear, written instructions to aid agency personnel in carrying out their functions successfully while also catering to reporting and oversight requirements by higher authorities.