In the dynamic landscape of business, success is often synonymous with efficiency, consistency, and seamless operations. One invaluable tool that empowers organisations to achieve these qualities is Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).
The Role SOP’s Have Played In My Life
I’m Rhi, COO (what is a COO), Operations Manager and Long-Term Strategic Business Partner to CEO’s in the online space. I was born your typical, A type, operational geek. From as early as I can remember my school books were tidy, my binders were neatly divided, any plans had to be made 2 working weeks in advance and even back then I kept SOP’s on how I did life. I was hardwired to optimise, my default mode being organisation, productivity & efficiency.
SOP’s have played a huge role in my career, aiding me in gaining promotions, managing teams and getting me into rooms with people I never thought I would be in. And I’m no gatekeeper, I love sharing the knowledge I’ve gained from my own personal experiences, and have made it my mission to help as many business owners as possible build operational structure within their business that fuels their growth, happiness and freedom.
So let’s get into it…
What is a Standard Operating Procedure?
A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a comprehensive document that outlines step-by-step instructions for completing tasks and carrying out processes within your organisation. These procedures are designed to standardise and streamline, ensuring that tasks are executed consistently and efficiently. They are not limited to any specific industry and are adaptable across various sectors, from manufacturing to service-oriented businesses and I truly believe that everyone can benefit from implementing them in their business (and in their life.)
Why do you need them?
SOP’s make you REPLACEABLE. Now when I first explain this to scaling CEO’s their first response is usually something along the lines of “replaceable? I don’t want to be replaceable in my own business!” but when we break down what they ACTUALLY WANT and NEED from their business, they tend to switch up their perspective.
Because what they ACTUALLY want usually looks something like; being able to delegate the things they hate doing, reducing their working hours within a week, being able to take uninterrupted time out of the business. Whilst also; maintaining the same excellent level of service, pushing forward with business progression and everything not falling to shit when they’re not around. And in order for this to become their reality, they need their team to know how to complete all tasks within the business independently and to the expected standard. They need problems that come up in the business to be dealt with quickly and effectively when they’re not around to pick up the pieces. They need to be replaceable.
What makes a good SOP?
A good SOP is one that can be picked up and followed by anybody, and always result in the same, desired outcome. An SOP should be created as if it is for somebody who has no prior knowledge or skills as it pertains to the task or procedure in question, therefore it should include any and all context, resources, policies, links and information needed, alongside a step by step walkthrough in order for the task to be completed the way you’d like it done and to the same standard you’d have completed it to yourself.
It’s also important to consider how you’re displaying this information. Everybody consumes and processes information and instructions differently and as the intention of an SOP is for anybody to be able to use it, it’s important to try and facilitate everybody’s needs. We do this by providing the SOP in the form of a walkthrough video, step-by-step written instructions and a bullet-pointed flow chart to try and make sure we’re covering as many of people’s potential learning styles as possible. (Our SOP Template)
How do I implement SOP’s in my own business?
The first step to implementing SOP’s in your business is compiling a list of all of the tasks that are completed within your business on a daily, weekly & monthly basis. Next is to pick a couple of tasks from the list that are on your agenda for the upcoming week. As you are doing these tasks collate the information needed and create an SOP for them. Keep doing this each week until all of the tasks on your list have been completed and before you know it you have a bank SOP’s for all of the tasks in your business.
Before publishing these SOP’s for use it is important that they are tested and any kinks are ironed out. The way you can do this is once you have completed and SOP for a task, delegate the next occurrence of the task to somebody from a completely different area of the business, providing them with your SOP to follow. If they come back with questions or confusions then you know these aspects of the SOP need to be tweaked and clarified before you publish it as an official document in your company.
The final step to implementing SOP’s in your business is maintenance. As your Company grows and evolves, so will the tasks you complete within it and therefore so must your SOP’s. Once an SOP is created and published it is important to revisit it on a regular basis and ensure it is kept updated with the latest resources and information. We track this in our business by noting when the SOP was last updated and by who so that we can ensure all SOP’s are being kept up to date.
Tapping into your Businesses untapped potential
To conclude, SOP’s are an excellent tool for optimising your operations and scaling your business and they are incredibly under-utilised. When implemented with the proper support, guidance and structure within a Company, they’re able to assist you in breaking caps, pushing past bottlenecks and skyrocketing your growth.
So if you’re looking to tap into your business’s untapped potential, download our 52 Biz Clean Up Ideas to implement SOP’s and more today.
