Why standard operating procedures are important for growing businesses
As your business grows, the number of people who know how to do everything to run the company becomes fewer and fewer. The people with institutional knowledge of a business’ procedures are now CEOs or directors. The best use of their time isn’t to work with each new hire on process questions.
It’s officially time to document the way your organization gets work done by documenting your standard operating procedures (SOPs).
What’s the purpose of a standard operating procedure?
SOPs free up time and create a single source of shared knowledge for the way things work. This enables employees and teams to be self-sufficient.
SOPs also ensure consistency across your organization and guarantee that customers are getting the same experience, no matter who they work with. SOPs make sure that internal documentation and processes are carried out in the same way, so that data and output align. In addition, SOPs prevent employees from re-inventing the wheel each time they carry out existing or related procedures.
Having standard operating procedures creates clarity in your organization as well. They answer questions like:
Whose responsibility is this task?
Why is this task important? How does it help the business?
When should I be carrying out this task?
What’s the best way to get this task done?
How do you write a standard operating procedure?
There are a few steps we suggest taking to write a standard operating procedure.
Create a template for your SOPs. A shared template ensures that everyone is recording the same type of information in a consistent manner, so that your SOPs are easier to understand and stay updated. You can get started with our Certum Solutions standard operating procedure template.
Identify the best person to write the SOP. This should be the person who performs the procedure often and has intimate knowledge of how to get it done.
Document the procedure. Fill out your business’ SOP template. Break down the steps into different sections, and break those sections down further, if needed. Be clear and concise. Use short sentences. Don’t be repetitive.
Review the procedure. If a manager or colleague also performs the procedure, ask them to review it for completeness and clarity. Ask other co-workers to read and potentially carry out the task according to the instructions. Flag any confusing wording or points of misunderstanding.
Edit the SOP draft. Make any updates to confusing wording or steps in the process. You may want to repeat the review and editing steps a couple of times before the draft is complete. The person responsible for overseeing the procedure should be the final approver.
Share the SOP. Make sure that the employees and teams who use the standard operating procedure receive a copy of it. This may mean sending it out via email and chat, posting it to an internal wiki, or printing out copies. Make sure to review the procedure with everyone who performs it – employees may already have different ways of doing the same tasks if there wasn’t a standardized procedure in place before.
Keep it updated. The best practice is to keep the SOP updated every time there’s a change in your process. As a failsafe, set calendar events or reminders to periodically check back on the steps outlined in the SOP. If it’s out of date, work with the team to document, review and edit the steps in the process.
What’s the SOP format?
The way you write and format your standard operating procedures depends on your business, but we can get you started with our Certum Solutions SOP template (To download, click the link, select file, choose download and make your choice.) and some sections we recommend including as you start out.
Header information: Include this information at the top of each page of the standard operating procedure for clarity. This should include your company name, the document’s title, the version number, its effective date and the page number.
Revision information: Each time the process is updated, revise your SOP. Indicate the changes and dates of the revisions on the first page of the standard operating procedure.
Purpose: Create a simple statement explaining why you’re writing the SOP. Explain how the procedure helps the business or ladders up to bigger goals. Add any necessary background information.
Scope: Clarify who’s responsible for carrying out the tasks described in the SOP and when the procedure is used.
Definitions and acronyms: Create a shared understanding of the terminology you’re using by writing out important definitions and acronyms used in the procedure. This keeps everyone on the same page.
Procedure: Clearly document every step in the procedure you’re describing. Use plain language and keep your sentences short. Don’t repeat yourself. Continue to break each step down further if you need to. Include screenshots to aid understanding, if applicable. The procedure should be thorough and answer any questions that a knowledgeable newcomer might have, so it will likely be your longest section.
References: If the procedure requires tools, applications, templates, examples or other documentation, list them out and link to them, if possible.
Grow your business with clarity on best practices using SOPs
Standard operating procedures will help everyone at your growing organization stay on the same page, create shared understanding about roles and responsibilities, and ensure that knowledge of best practices is passed on to everyone who joins your team. They’re a critical part of freeing up your time and creating efficiency in your business – which means you can spend more time doing the parts of your job that you love.
