The Ingredients and Recipe for Good SOPs

Before you search for a recipe, you need to decide what you want to bake. Chocolate chip cookies or sugar cookies with sprinkles?  

This step will also help you consider your audience: what do they prefer? Do they have any food allergies?  With an SOP system, it's critical to satisfy the informational needs of all potential users. Some may need the big picture, others need the detail.  

With your SOPs, you also need to begin with the end in mind. What is your desired business outcome from the operating procedure?  

Do you need to standardize new employee onboarding?  If so, you need HR P&Ps. Do you need to train employees on a new system? If so, you’ll need “how to” SOPs to streamline the rollout and support ongoing use. Have a specific customer satisfaction issue you need to solve? Standardizing the practice of your star performer into an SOP everyone can follow may be your best solution.  

Every recipe starts with a clear understanding of the required ingredients. Similarly, before you begin writing an SOP, gather all the necessary information, and present it to your users in the right order.  
First off, provide a short description of the process to get your reader oriented. What’s the SOP’s purpose? Why is it important to perform the SOP correctly?  

When is it performed, and by whom? How often? Are there special circumstances?  

Observe and engage with the individuals who perform the tasks since they know all the little tricks and nuances. Talk to the managers or subject matter experts. This will help you capture each step accurately, ensuring that your SOP covers all the essential details. 

Just like prepping ingredients before baking, outlining the steps of the SOP is crucial for writing an effective SOP. Divide the SOP into clear, sequential steps that are easy to follow. Each step should be concise, specific, and actionable, leaving no room for ambiguity or interpretation.  

Just as a recipe often includes additional tips and tricks, your SOP should include tips, tricks, and best practices as well. (Schitt’s Creek fans think about the “Fold in the Cheese” episode!) These can help reduce potential errors, improve efficiency, and ensure consistent outcomes. Add troubleshooting information.  

Consider linking to related policies, safety protocols, and any relevant background information that may aid in understanding and executing the procedure. 

Just like a balance of flavors is crucial for a well-rounded dish, maintaining consistency and standardization is essential for an SOP. Ensure that the terminology, language, format, and style of writing remain consistent throughout the document. This helps users understand and navigate the SOP effortlessly, reducing the chances of errors or confusion. Zavanta users take advantage of guided authoring, content overlays, pick lists, and structured content to support consistency and standardization.  

Once you've written the SOP, it's time to put it to the test, just as you would cook a recipe to taste it. Implement the SOP in the real-world setting and create a process to gather feedback from the users who follow it. Use SOP software like Zavanta to automate an annual document review process to assess and evaluate all SOPs for continuous improvement. This iterative process allows you to identify any gaps, ambiguities, or areas that need improvement. Refine the SOP accordingly, ensuring that it becomes a reliable and foolproof guide for future users. 

A well-cooked dish is best enjoyed with others, and the same holds true for a well-crafted SOP. Train your team using the SOP, ensuring that they understand the process and its objectives. Effective communication is crucial, so make the SOP easy to find and regularly update it as needed. Encourage feedback from users, fostering a culture of continuous improvement. 

Just as a recipe brings structure to the art of baking, a well-written SOP serves as a reliable guide for streamlining business operations. Hopefully, you’ve enjoyed the baking/SOP metaphor. Consider taking a break with some cookies and milk while you learn more about Zavanta. 

Zavanta’s state-of-the-art software fosters consistency with SOPs, policies and procedures, and policy management. It automates the full document life cycle, ensuring content is accurate and available to all employees anytime, anyplace, and in any language.  Contact us if you would like to learn more.  

With practice, you'll become a master chef of SOPs, achieving consistent and outstanding results in your organization. Bon appétit!