When creating standard operating procedures (SOPs), it’s essential to include key SOP sections that provide clear guidance for users.
Whether you're documenting safety protocols, operational tasks, or compliance SOPs, there is essential information users must have in order to perform the procedure correctly and efficiently. Over the years, we’ve reviewed a lot of SOPs. Some good, some bad. Unfortunately, many lack the key information that’s important to support the SOP user, which explains why a lot of SOPs aren’t used!
In this blog, we'll outline the essential SOP sections to include and why they are important. If you follow these best practices, you’ll be able to design an SOP that’s not only thorough but also easy for users to understand and follow.
Why Is This Important?
When an SOP user doesn’t have all the information they need in the order they need it, the impact can be severe: serious mishaps, inefficiencies, or non-compliance.
SOP users generally seek information in a particular order. Use your SOP to address questions users will have. A common mistake is focusing solely on the steps — although essential, they’re only part of the picture.
Understanding how users interact with SOPs is vital for organizing content effectively and improving procedural clarity. SOP sections may differ somewhat based on the industry, but there is basic information that every SOP user needs. Avoiding a new experience with every document helps team members follow procedures and routine tasks more smoothly.
Section Navigation: A Quick Note
Typically, an SOP may include sections like “Description,” “Purpose,” and “Scope” at the beginning. These sections are necessary for training and employees unfamiliar with this task, but those already familiar with the procedure may not have a need for this information. Some users just need a refresher on how to do the task.
For example, a new accounts rep looking up what documents they need needs the “Materials” section. An employee resetting their password needs a step-by-step. A manager may only need a steps summary.
So, how do you create an appropriate format for all intended audiences?
If your SOP is online, incorporate in-document navigation with a table of contents, allowing readers to skip directly to the sections they need without excessive scrolling. Some SOP platforms even offer personalization options, tailoring the document to specific user preferences and showing necessary information for the end user.
Key Sections in an SOP
No one goes to all the trouble to write and manage SOPs just to have them sit on a shelf. If people aren’t using SOPs, you open yourself up to serious problems, liability, failed audits, and unnecessary operational costs. If done right, SOPs can also drive profitability. The outcomes our clients have experienced include increased efficiencies, improved quality, faster ramp-up, and standardization.
Our goal is to share guidelines about what information to include in SOPs so that your users can perform their jobs with precision and speed.
General Information
This section addresses the fundamental questions most SOP users need at the beginning: What, Why, Who, and When.
- Description/Scope: This section answers the question: What is the task? This information is a brief overview of the specific task so that the reader knows what the document is about. Ensure it distinguishes the task from similar procedures and briefly outlines who it applies to.
- Purpose: The purpose will help to explain why the task is performed and help individuals make informed decisions. This improves the likelihood that they will focus and complete the task accurately. A good purpose statement will also include the expected results of completing the task.
- Who Performs/Responsibilities: Specify who should perform the task and who holds overall responsibility for ensuring it’s done correctly. You may want to outline specific areas of responsibility or list the people involved. We recommend using job titles instead of individual names, and standardize those titles across documents.
- When Performed: Clarify when the task should be performed, whether at a specific time or under certain conditions. Many tasks need to be carried out when something happens, such as when a customer calls or an error occurs. Be sure to clearly define the conditions required for the task.
Prerequisites
People often try to complete tasks without the critical step of understanding proper prerequisites or necessary precautions, which can lead to costly mistakes or put themselves and their companies at significant risk. List the necessary prerequisites, such as approvals, knowledge, materials, tools, and terminology, that users must have before starting the task.
- Required Approvals: Specify any approvals or signoffs needed before starting the task. For example, if someone needs budget or supervisor sign-off, include that information. Be as specific as possible. If security clearance is needed, include what level and how to obtain the clearance.
- Pre-Knowledge: Outline the knowledge required to perform the task safely and correctly. Pre-knowledge typically includes information like training courses, certifications, or a working knowledge of safety regulations. This can also include industry standards or regulatory requirements.
- Required Materials, Tools, and Equipment: List the items users need on hand before beginning the task, including any special setups or configurations. Lacking necessary materials before starting a task can lead to errors or delays. Clearly specify how to obtain the required items. If equipment needs specific setups, configurations, or calibrations, be sure to provide the specifications and settings needed.
- Terminology: Define any specific terms users must understand to complete the task. Only include the terminology you need for the task – no need to overdo it and include too many terms or definitions. Stick to only the relevant information to the task.
- General Warnings and Precautions: Provide warnings of any dangers or problems that could arise before starting the task. This is an important section for an SME to be directly involved in since they have industry knowledge and know all the nuances, tricks, and lessons learned.
Detailed Steps
This section is a step-by-step guide of how to complete the necessary steps of a task, providing detailed instructions on what to do first, second, third, and so on. Here’s how to organize the steps:
- Step/Action: List each action in the order that it must be completed. Start each step with a verb. Think of this as a “step title.”
- Details: Provide additional details on how to perform the step. You can also include any items that will aid the reader in understanding the step, such as images or videos.
- How To Do: Briefly describe how to perform the step, breaking it into sub-steps if necessary. This will provide the most detailed information about business processes.
- Who Performs: If a step involves multiple people, note who is responsible for each step.
- Result: Indicate the desired outcomes of each step, so users know they’ve completed it correctly.
- Warnings/if an Error Occurs: Warn users of any specific dangers or errors that could occur during each step and explain how to handle them in the best way possible.
Troubleshooting
Provide guidance on what to do if something goes wrong. It's helpful to anticipate common issues and offer troubleshooting guidance. Include resources for further assistance, such as manuals or emergency contacts.
Related Information
It’s important to provide users access to any related policies or guidelines they need to reference. If your SOP is digital, include hyperlinks to related information, such as:
- Links to Related Documents: These could include related policies, processes, or FAQs.
- Links to Standards: If the SOP supports regulatory compliance or accreditation, provide links to relevant standards or regulations. These can either be internal links to your policy and procedure system or links to external websites.
- Diagrams and Forms: If needed, include any attachments that might be helpful for users.
Feedback Forms and Tests
Feedback forms can be a useful tool to help you improve the quality and accuracy of your SOP content. Do users fully understand the SOP? Are there any areas they find confusing? Maybe one of your veteran workers noticed that an important step was omitted.
Feedback forms also allow users to be part of business continuous improvement. Has someone in the organization figured out a better way to do a job? Just like a suggestion box, a comments box gives the employee a way to share tips and lessons learned.
Testing SOP users can give you even further insight into SOP comprehension. Are there certain questions that multiple users get wrong?
Ensure Your SOPs Have All the Essentials with Zavanta
To ensure your SOPs are complete and effective, Zavanta is an end-to-end SOP software solution that simplifies the process from start to finish.
With its intuitive interface, Zavanta prompts SOP authors for all the information the user needs, ensuring that no critical information is left out. The system does the formatting, so that authors can stay focused on the content. No matter who the author is, SOPs always have a standardized look and feel.
Zavanta automates all phases of SOP management including reviews, approvals, translation, publishing, updating and SOP implementation.
Ready to create consistent, user-friendly policies and procedures? Contact our team to learn how you can enhance your operational effectiveness. Or learn a bit more about what you can do with Zavanta by accessing our free demo hub.
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