Creating Consistency
The goal of any business in any sector is to be able to automate as many processes as possible in order to minimize overhead expenses. Prior to automation, your business must be able to provide consistency across all processes. And, in order to provide consistency, you must first establish your business standards. It all starts with developing and documenting your Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs.
A well-defined SOP maps out every business process, in the same format, by describing the purpose of the process, discussing the intended audience, identifying roles and responsibilities, crafting timelines and hand-off points, and documenting a detailed workflow to sustain the process through completion. It is also important to note that some SOPs will detail full business lifecycle processes that involve multiple stakeholders, while other SOPs will focus more on individual processes. Let’s take a deeper dive into each section of a well-crafted SOP, to review the expectations and benefits of each one respectively.
Prior to initiating the documentation of a detailed SOP, it is important to identify and document the internal information regarding the SOP. This information should include the title of the process, what role or department ultimately owns the process, what date will the process be implemented, revision number, last revision date (if a new process, still leave a field cue for future revisions), and initials of the representative that approves the process for roll-out. There may be additional fields your company will choose to utilize here for tracking purposes, such as what number SOP the process is, or frequency of use. There are plenty of data points that can be collected and documented, and they will differ slightly from one industry to the next. Ideally, you will be able to fit all of your internal information into the header of your document. Be cautious of integrating too much information, thereby crowding the SOP and making it difficult to read through and comprehend. Consider utilizing a table in your header to house this internal information in a clear format. Conversely, you can structure your document with a table of contents that includes this information, in addition to general content headers.
Once all of the internal information regarding your SOP has been collected and cohesively documented, it is time to start crafting the SOP content. The first section you will address is the Purpose of the SOP. Use this section to describe a summary of the purpose of the process you are documenting. An example statement would be, “The purpose of the Documenting an SOP process is to detail the steps required to document an internal SOP at Crum Consulting.”. It is also good practice to include relevant background information relating to the core purpose of the SOP under this section. An example would be, “This SOP provides a comprehensive explanation of the repeatable and sustainable steps required to create an internal SOP at Crum Consulting. It is through this repeatable and sustainable process that we, as a company, are able to provide consistency to our team members and clients alike. By providing consistent expectations, and executing said expectations in a repeatable fashion, we will be able to achieve clear, sustainable results and create brand loyalty, both internally and externally.”. New and seasoned team members can equally benefit from a concise explanation of the processes they interact with on a daily basis, as it provides them with the why behind the process, allowing them to invest in the process.
The next section to focus on is the Scope of the SOP. This section can be approached one of three ways. The first approach would be to identify the intended audience (external) and/or role (internal) that will interact with or be affected by the process you are documenting. An example would be, “This process will involve the Operations department and Human Resources department. This process will directly affect every department at Crum Consulting, through the execution and roll-out of each occurrence.”. The second approach instead identifies the where/how the SOP may be relevant. An example would be, “This process will be utilized to create, refine, and otherwise maintain every internal process executed at Crum Consulting.”. The third approach is a hybrid, or combination of the first two approaches. In this approach, an example would be the combination of the first two examples listed previously. The approach you choose to take may differ from SOP to SOP, depending on the owner, topic, or author. Which approach you choose to use is entirely dependent on your internal preferences.
The next section to detail is the Prerequisites of the SOP. You will use this section to outline information required before proceeding with the listed procedure. There are a number of data points that could be housed here. For example, you may include additional software, apps, or other types of digital programs that will be required to execute the process. You could also include email contact information for relevant roles and/or departments that will play a part in your process. Another example of prerequisite information to consider would be hyperlinked SOP titles that cross-reference with, or must be executed prior to, the process you are documenting. You could also include hyperlinks to supporting material, such as relevant reports, worksheets, or other types of job aids. This section is an important step, as it will help to ensure whoever is executing the SOP will be able to prepare themselves prior to initiating the process, thereby providing a higher level of efficiency and quality of work.
From there, you will move onto the Responsibilities section. This section should identify the roles and/or departments that have a primary role in the SOP, and describe their responsibilities related to the SOP. It is also good practice to include contact information where relevant. An example would be:
Operations department (ops@company.com): identify and manage ongoing list of active and new processes, document all processes using approved SOP template, elevate completed SOPs to Human Resources for storage and dissemination, execute biannual refinement initiatives and report all changes to Human Resources
Human Resources department (hr@company.com): store all approved SOPs in an organized fashion, disseminate all new and revised SOPs to relevant departments and all department heads, prompt Operations department to fill any gaps in documentation
This section should serve as a snapshot view of who and how this SOP will be directly interacted with.
The next section you will address is the Procedure. This is going to be the meat of the SOP, where you will provide the steps required to perform this process. These steps should provide a comprehensive view of the who, what, when, where, why and how details. Most commonly, this section should be formatted in a chronologically numbered, step by step flow. For on the job processes (the physical realm), you may reference certain locations, tools, pieces of equipment, or other logistic details. In certain instances, it could be helpful to include images of these details in order to provide a visual representation to an otherwise unidentifiable component; this is especially helpful for new hires that aren’t yet versed in your logistics, or team members with little to no experience with such logistic details. For digital processes, it may be helpful to include screenshots of each step, with relevant fields and information highlighted, to provide the visual representation. This step will provide your team members with an extra sense of security and confidence as they work their way through the process, and has the potential to dramatically reduce human errors and trainer intervention.
The next section to focus on is the References of the SOP. Here you will list resources that may be helpful when performing the process. For example, you may choose to include internal policies relating to the SOP, governing entity codes or policies, or associating internal SOP hyperlinks. This section should also provide hyperlinks to any resource identified within the Procedure itself. These could include additional SOPs, articles, websites, etc. This section should serve as a consolidated snapshot of all resources available to use in relation to and support of this SOP.
The final section to detail is the Definitions portion of the SOP. You will use this section to identify and define frequently used terms or acronyms in the SOP. It is also good practice to provide additional and/or relevant information needed to understand the definition in the scope of the SOP. An example of this would be, “SOP = Standard Operating Procedure; an internal process, documented using Crum Consulting’s repeatable, sustainable template, to be executed in a consistent manner.”. This section not only provides the reader with a quick reference list of terms, but also allows the author a bit more freedom to use short-hand language throughout the document.
There is one last optional addition to consider utilizing in support of your SOP - a flowchart. Not every SOP you create will benefit from a flowchart; the smaller in scale the SOP, the less impactful a flowchart becomes. Instances to evaluate the value of adding a flowchart include: SOPs that operate across two or more departments, SOPs that contain if/then steps, SOPs that contain one or more hand-off points (this can include role to role, department to department, third party steps, and approval steps), and SOPs that are high-level business flow proven processes, to name a few. The addition of a color-coded flowchart to a well-crafted SOP provides an additional quick reference visual cue to represent the Procedure as a whole.
Now that we have reviewed each data point that should be represented in your SOPs, and the importance and relevance of each one, you are ready to start establishing and documenting your business standards. In order to initiate this structure, it is good practice to create a template of your approved SOP format. This template should include fields to prompt all of the internal information related to the SOP (process title, owner, implementation date, revision number, last revision date, approval initials, etc.), as well as each section header we have just reviewed. It is helpful, under each section on the template, to include 1-2 sentences describing what information should be included in each section respectively. It is also common practice to include your company’s brand logo or favicon, which could be housed within your header table with the rest of the internal information. It is important to note that the file type of your template should be one that has the capability to be duplicated for use, to ensure the template remains an unedited legacy file. Human error is bound to happen, so having a separate legacy file and/or version history capabilities will help to mitigate those unfortunate “whoops” moments.
Once your template is ready for use, the next step would be to write out a list of processes your company executes; from the highest level proven process (business lifecycle style), to the most specific niche topic process (how to use the copy machine to copy a document). Then, prioritize the documentation of each process, based on chronological order of the process within the business lifecycle, and the importance / frequency of the process. All that’s left from there is to sit down and knock each one out!
When you’re ready to take the next step, we’re here for you.
