FAQs are clarifying documents. They should assist your stakeholders in understanding the directive or other document the FAQ attaches to.
FAQs are transitory documents. They are stop-gap measures in situations where editing the original document is not possible at that moment. When the source document is reopened, existing FAQs should be incorporated in some way into the revisions, and the FAQs should be removed.
FAQs are purely supplementary documents and should never be required reading! They are not regulatory instruments. We cannot stress this enough. FAQs are not the place to announce major changes to process or to outline new requirements or exemptions. New requirements/exemptions need to be incorporated into a legally binding directive, and procedure changes and other announcements should happen via bulletins.
The fundamental problem with the FAQ format is it’s not user friendly. There is no natural order of the questions, and users are essentially forced to read everything to find their one question.
Do use plain language. If part of the problem is the language of the original document, (a) redraft the original language as soon as possible and (b) use better, clearer language in the FAQ. Prioritize clarity in language over excessive precision. The source document is where the precision must lie.
Do organize longer FAQs by subsections. If there are a large number of sections, include a table of contents or consider breaking the document into multiple smaller, more focused FAQs.
Do use real frequently asked questions. What sorts of questions are coming through the CCC?
Don’t create questions you wish the stakeholder would or think the stakeholder may ask. These sorts of questions should have been dealt with when drafting the original document. Exceptions should be rare.
Keep it short and simple. Don’t go into more detail than strictly necessary. Answer the question, clarify what must be clarified, and for the rest, point to the page, paragraph, or requirement number in the original document.
Don’t include “questions” that are clearly answered by the source document (e.g., don’t ask “What is LLR?” in an FAQ about D006).
Don’t simply repeat or paraphrase requirements. In situations where repeating language from the original document is necessary (e.g., the location of the answer in the source document is unclear), point the reader to the page, paragraph, or requirement number in the source document. Paraphrasing is dangerous. You can unintentionally misquote or otherwise alter the meaning of the original language by quoting it without the surrounding context.