How Standard Operating Procedures Work With My Dogs and Your Business Too

I have multiple dogs and keep them on a routine. This helps them know what I expect from them and when to do it. When it’s time to eat, they know it! I feed my dogs twice a day at particular times. They are on a rotation so the first group will go to their stations, eat and go lay down. Then along comes the second group and so on.

What does this do for them?

• It keeps them organized.
• Order is maintained within the group.
• Everyone knows who they go after, where their stations are and that this is their time to eat.

What does this do for me?

• I don’t have to direct any of the dogs where to go.
• If I have to be away, someone could easily feed for me with minimal direction.
• Consistency – everyone learns their place and gets the “job” done.

The same can be true for your business when you create and maintain Standard Operating Procedures, or SOPs.

Does your business run efficiently? If someone were out on vacation or medical leave, would you or another member of your team be able to manage without them?

How do you train someone new? Is everything written down and organized so you could train a person tomorrow if needed?

It’s important to have SOPs in place for situations such as this.

SOPs are often perceived as a wasteful and time-consuming task, especially if they change over time. The fact is nothing could be further from the truth. Having them in place is the only way to ensure consistency and allow your business to thrive while getting repeatable, consistent results.

They should be simple, concise, and able to be followed with repeatable results by anyone with minimal direction or supervision. While there are many programs and templates online to help build SOPs for your business, you can simply open a document file and go through the steps to complete a task. Alternatively, if someone is more visual, you can use Loom or Zoom to record yourself talking and your screen as you complete the task. Once these are complete, simply save the file. Be sure to date and name the file appropriately. Let your team know where they are and how they can be accessed as needed.  

Equally as important as creating these documents, is maintaining them. As you streamline your business and make improvements or processes change, you’ll want to adjust your SOPs accordingly to keep the most current available to your team. It would also be a good idea to schedule to review them quarterly to be certain they are kept up to date. Do you have your business processes and procedures documented in Standard Operating Procedures? If not, you should. If you are not sure where to begin or would like to learn more about how to write them, contact us at PMSpecialist, we are happy to help.