FAQ Fields

1. Topic

• What it’s for: The name or subject of the FAQ — the short label used to identify and find it in the register.

• What to include:

  • A concise subject that makes the question identifiable at a glance.
  • Think of it as the title in a knowledge base article.

• Examples:

  • "Approval process for purchase orders under £5,000"
  • "Data residency for customer PII"
  • "Browser support policy"

2. Question

• What it’s for: The full question raised — stated as clearly and completely as possible.

• What to include:

  • The question as it was asked, with enough context to understand it without referring to the answer.
  • Include who the question was aimed at if relevant (e.g. “Asked of the data team: …”).

• Examples:

  • "Will the solution need to support purchase order approvals for amounts under £5,000 without requiring a second approver, or will all POs require dual approval regardless of value?"
  • "The current specification says customer records must be stored in the UK. Does this apply to analytical data derived from customer records, such as anonymised purchase behaviour data used for reporting?"

3. Raised By

• What it’s for: Who asked the question.

• What to include:

  • Name, role, or organisation of the person who raised the question.
  • This helps trace the question back to its source and understand the context.

• Examples:

  • "Sarah Jones, Business Analyst"
  • "Procurement team (raised in workshop, 2 March)"
  • "External auditor — Data Governance Review"

4. Date Raised

• What it’s for: When the question was raised.
• What to include: The date the question was first asked or recorded.

5. Answer

• What it’s for: The formal answer or response given to the question.

• What to include:

  • The full answer, with enough detail to be self-contained.
  • If the answer is a decision, state it clearly.
  • Include who provided the answer if that adds important context.

• Examples:

  • "Single approver is sufficient for purchase orders under £5,000. This was confirmed by the Finance Director on 5 March. The solution will implement threshold-based approval routing."
  • "Anonymised and aggregated analytical data does not constitute personal data under UK GDPR and may be held in the US data warehouse. This interpretation was confirmed by the Data Protection Officer. Source data containing PII must remain in the UK-hosted operational database."

6. Date Answered

• What it’s for: When the answer was formally given.
• What to include: The date the answer was provided or agreed.

Relationships

Traceability

Work and Reference