Writing ISO 27001 documentation

Answer: You should keep the documentation as small and simple as possible. So, considering 5 departments, the best approach should be that you propose drafts for the evaluation of department heads. You should consider writing general documents that can cover all departments, including specific sections for specific situations regarding the departments. If you see this approach cannot cover the department need s, then you should consider writing specific procedures for the departments who needs them (in our experience the general documents cover most of the situations).

Regarding scope, you can write a single document covering all departments. This way you can have a systemic view of all your ISMS and avoid excessive administrative work. For more information, please see these articles:
- How to define the ISMS scope https://advisera.com/27001academy/knowledgebase/how-to-define-the-isms-scope/
- Problems with defining the scope in ISO 27001 https://advisera.com/27001academy/blog/2010/06/29/problems-with-defining-the-scope-in-iso-27001/

Examples of documents that can be written for the whole organization are the statement of applicability and the risk assessment report. Examples of documents that should be writen by each department are records of monitoring and measurement.

These articles will provide you further explanation about writing documents:
- 8 criteria to decide which ISO 27001 policies and procedures to write https://advisera.com/27001academy/blog/2014/07/28/8-criteria-to-decide-which-iso-27001-policies-and-procedures-to-write/
- Seven steps for implementing policies and procedures https://advisera.com/27001academy/knowledgebase/seven-steps-for-implementing-policies-and-procedures//
- One Information Security Policy, or several policies? https://advisera.com/27001academy/blog/2013/06/18/one-information-security-policy-or-several-policies/

These materials will also help you regarding writing documents:
- Book Secure & Simple: A Small-Business Guide to Implementing ISO 27001 On Your Own https://advisera.com/books/secure-and-simple-a-small-business-guide-to-implementing-iso-27001-on-your-own/
- Free online training ISO 27001 Foundations Course https://advisera.com/training/iso-27001-foundations-course/