Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

As organizations grow and develop, the number and size of its operations, projects, and programs increases. It is therefore more difficult to ensure the quality of the organization's operations and processes, as well as measure and improve them in an effective way. It will require a lot of resources and take many years for an employee to find the best way to complete a given operation. In large companies, it is not certain that the entire organization has the opportunity to utilize the skills of specific employees. A Standard Operating Procedure also called a SOP is a document that clearly describes the purpose of a given operation. It also entails a well-defined and clear criteria or instructions for performing it. It is an effective way to share knowledge as well as unify and standardize an organization's internal processes and procedures. SOPs can be used to train employees, further provide knowledge from experienced employees to new ones, increase employee independence, minimizing the time and resources spent on unnecessary work in the organization. This article will examine the pros and cons of using SOPs from a management perspective. In addition, it investigates which formats to use to write SOPs that suit the purpose and scope of the given operation.

What is a SOP

An SOP is a document that describes how an organization wants to act in a given situation. The document clearly explains the situation it is to be used for, why it is. What steps the user of the document must perform and be aware of, etc. There are no specific requirements for how organizations use SOPs, but there are some industry best practices that this article will focus on.

Routine work and set produces are a big part of organizations' day-to-day operations. New employees usually go through a training process. However, this does not mean that new employees altogether understand the organization or that training can replace years of experience in a field. It can take several years of experience, the right skills or knowledge of the organization to find the optimal way to perform a given task. In situation with high uncertainty, it is not easy to know what the best course of action is. This is why SOP is a great tool for minimizing time and resources spent on unnecessary work.

The purpose of SOP from a management perspective

How can managers use SOPs (are there any restrictions)