10 Steps to Create a Clear Standard Operating Procedure

A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a technical document that clearly details each task step-by-step necessary to execute a work instruction. Implementing an SOP makes it easier to achieve the goals of a company’s quality management system regarding the deployment of process improvement actions. The SOP ensures the safety, quality, and efficiency of employee interventions. How can you create a clear and effective SOP? Lemon Learning invites you to read this article.

Step 1: Identify Needs and Objectives

Before writing an SOP, conduct a thorough diagnosis of the assistance needs for each job role in all relevant departments. Clearly defining the objectives of the guide to be created will help identify the necessary educational resources quickly. This also sets the framework for the team responsible for designing, launching, and monitoring the adoption of the SOP.

Step 2: Analyze Existing Processes

To optimize work organization within the company, establishing a knowledge base that references procedures and SOPs is essential. It is recommended to digitize business processes extensively. This facilitates their evaluation, as specialized dashboards allow for periodical analysis of KPIs and activity-related charts. Focus on understanding the reasons behind observed declines in operational productivity.

Step 3: Involve Stakeholders

To engage users and achieve set objectives, the process should ideally involve all stakeholders within the company’s organizational structure. A survey among workers, department heads, or union representatives can greatly aid in this critical step of SOP development. They can highlight deficiencies in existing SOPs and articulate current needs for effective task support.

Step 4: Define the Process Steps

Put yourself in the operator’s shoes to identify the sub-objectives for completing each necessary task. Structure the process steps to ensure coherence and ease of understanding for everyone. Each step description should start with an action verb. Initially, you might draw inspiration from an SOP example already used by a business partner.

Step 5: Write Clear and Precise Instructions

When creating the SOP, avoid excessive use of complicated technical terms. Clearly specify the use cases for the proposed guide. To facilitate understanding, accompany work instructions with concrete application examples.

Step 6: Use Visual Aids

Images are more effective than words in conveying a message. Visual content helps make SOPs more engaging and facilitates quick comprehension of instructions, enabling employees to better memorize the correct actions. Choose high-quality professional visuals that can be quickly downloaded. Examples of visual aids include videos, charts, diagrams, screenshots, etc.

Step 7: Test the SOP

Ideally, select a digital guide that displays personalized instructions on demand for the concerned work procedure. Over at least a week, end users should evaluate the tool’s performance by analyzing access ease, usability, information quality, content readability, etc.

Step 8: Train Users

Training may be necessary for some employees to effectively use the company’s digital SOP management tool. Lemon Learning is an intuitive solution that helps employees quickly master business web software through interactive learning directly integrated into the tool.

Step 9: Collect Feedback and Adjust

Employees who regularly use the SOP should provide feedback to the project team regarding their user experience. You can then enhance strengths and try to correct the limitations of the solution’s implementation for each job role. This is beneficial for the continuous improvement of business processes.

Step 10: Document and Disseminate the SOP

After final validation of the content and format by the expert team, create and make the final technical document accessible to all concerned employees. An IT integration can enable real-time data collection on SOP usage, allowing for necessary adjustments.

Consider the needs and work realities of all stakeholders before drafting an SOP. The process steps should be clear, precise, and concise.