The Best SOP is the One You’ll Actually Use
Standard Operating Procedures come in a lot of forms, and people often ask us which one is best.
You can pretty much bet on our answer being the same every time: the one you’ll actually use.
I know that sounds like a smart alec response. But it's the truth. There's no point in building robust, comprehensive SOPs if no one on your team is in the habit of using them or keeping them up to date.
Start Here: Evaluate Before You Build
Before you decide how to document anything, get clear on your business needs and your team’s capabilities. When those are clear, your documentation requirements will be obvious.
Not sure where to start? Here are the questions we ask to assess SOP needs with our clients:
Your Team
How many team members do you have, and what are their roles and capabilities?
Does your team use digital technology proficiently?
Do you have existing rhythms and routines that already guide behavior?
Your Bandwidth
How much time and capacity do you and your team have to create the SOPs?
How much time and capacity do you have to keep them updated?
Your Processes
How developed are your current processes?
Are they broken down into tasks?
Do they need improvement?
Are they creating the experience you want — for your team and your clients?
Are they getting you the results you want?
Are most of your processes executed digitally, in-person, or a mix of both?
Do you have existing documentation to build from, or are you starting from scratch?
Who will primarily be using the SOPs — you, your team, or both?
How often do your processes change? How agile does your documentation need to be?
The End Game
The goal of these questions is to figure out three things: how heavily you can lean on digital tools, how much capacity you have to build and maintain documentation, and how flexible your SOPs need to be.
Don't get caught up in the how until you've answered those questions.
The SOP isn't the goal—clarity and consistency around how work gets done is. And there are a lot of ways to get there.
Want to Talk It Through?
If you'd like to work through these questions with us, book a Discovery Call and we'll figure out the right path together.