Creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) is a valuable exercise for businesses, but it’s not necessary to create an SOP for every single task. It can actually be counterproductive to do so because creating SOPs for the sake of SOPs isn’t helpful either. Instead, it’s important to carefully select the actions that are most important to document for any organization.
Intention.
If you created an SOP for everything you did, you’d not have adequate time to do what needs to be done in the business, no matter what role you play. Sure, you could hire someone whose only job is to create SOPs—in fact, everyone on the team should be creating SOPs. It’s so much more powerful and effective when the person who “did the thing” creates an SOP than to delegate it to someone else who may lack the nuanced information the team member who “did the thing” does because they were in the thick of it.
When to create SOPs
In general, an SOP should be created when a task or process is performed 3 times or more, whether it’s something that’s currently being done or something that is planned for the future. It’s essential for the person who performs the task to be the one who creates the SOP, as they have the most knowledge about the nuances of the process.
examples of Standard operating procedures to Create
- Webinar process—even if you put on a webinar once and you loved it, there’s a chance you’ll want to do it again (so make it easy!)
- How to onboard new clients—what do you need to do and send them? What do they need to fill out?
- How to send Thank You gifts to new clients
- Your Business’ Referral Program Process—our program is aptly called Friends with Benefits
- Podcast episode from A → Z process—even if you outsource parts of the process, like the editing and show notes, you still need to document it. (Or ask your editor to help add to the SOP)
- Your sales process
- How to best take care of your buyers/clients/customers “best practice” document
- Schedule a consult call—let’s chat about how we can work together to help create the systems and processes that have you and your team screaming in pleasure
- Sign up for an Assessment—let Business Laid Bare deep dive into your internal operations so we can pinpoint exactly 1) what systems you need and 2) how to implement them so they grow with you.
- Need more SOP ideas? We’ve got a list of 50+ ideas you can grab here!
