Three conditions
- The right person. The ownership split in the register also decides who a notification goes to.
- Usable content. What changed, when it takes effect, what it affects here.
- An action. A notification that produces no task changes nothing, however well it is read.
The noise problem
A system that sends every rule to everybody becomes unread within weeks. The first week it is read with interest; after the third it is deleted. The filter is therefore part of the notification: a change with no counterpart in the register is not sent.
Separating urgency
Not every change is handled at the same speed. Those with a near effective date, a heavy sanction, or a change to field practice come first; formal changes queue. Unless that ordering is written down, everyone invents their own.
Closing
A notification closes when the impact analysis is complete and the affected records are updated. The number and age of unclosed notifications is the most honest indicator of whether tracking really works.
More than one source
A notification system fed from a single source misses what that source misses, and never notices. Watching at least two makes omission measurable: a change appearing in only one of them says the filter needs review.