Digitize and Automate Your Standard Operating Procedures

In today's business world, everything moves fast. Scale is the name of the game if you want to grow. That's why it's essential to know what processes you need to use to advance your business. It's equally important to know when to change those processes as the customer needs to shift or new competition appears.

Standard operating procedures: are the instructions you follow to make sure every part of your business is working right. SOPs are a set of instructions that help people know exactly what to do and how to do it. They help everyone do their job the same way every time, which makes the whole business run smoother and more efficiently. They also create consistency for customers and ensure high-quality products and services.

For example, imagine a factory that makes car batteries. It might have an SOP for assembling and shipping the batteries so the EV automotive manufacturer can easily unpack and install the batteries consistently every time using robots on its shop floor. Or think about a restaurant that uses recipes as its SOPs to prepare food that tastes the same every day. McDonald's for example, is a master at creating standard operating procedures to ensure highly consistent, efficient processes lead to equally consistent-tasting burgers and fries at the lowest cost possible.

SOPs aren't just for making things. They help keep everything in order, like making sure that customer service calls are handled in a way that makes customers happy every time. They help new people learn how to do their jobs faster, which saves time and money. And when everyone follows the same standard operating procedures, the business can keep getting better because managers have a clear way to measure how well things are going and where they can improve.

Here's the challenge for most businesses: When SOPs are stuck on paper or a whiteboard, it's hard to change them and keep everyone updated. When they're digitized and widely available on the cloud, you can update them quickly and everyone can see the new version right away. Digital SOPs help you adapt quickly and ensure everyone gets on the same page as fast as possible with the new processes.

The other benefit of digitizing your SOPs is that you can capture and analyze the data that comes from your processes, so you can make smarter decisions. Digitizing your standard operating procedures means you can view data to see what's working and what's not, and even use artificial intelligence to help make things even better from there.

Standard operating procedures essentially provide a set of instructions that help people do their jobs the right way, every time. Use the following questions as a checklist to make sure you don't miss anything when you're making your SOPs. Answering these questions means everyone knows what to do, and you can keep making things better over time:

Scope: What processes or activities does this SOP cover?

Responsibilities: Who is responsible for executing each part of the SOP?

Procedures: What are the specific steps involved in this SOP?

Equipment and Resources: What tools, equipment, or resources are required to follow this SOP?

Safety and Compliance: What safety protocols or compliance standards must be adhered to?

Performance Metrics: What metrics or KPIs will be used to evaluate the success of this SOP?

Approval and Authorization: Who has the authority to approve this SOP?

Training Requirements: What training is necessary to effectively implement this SOP?

Change Management: What is the process for making changes to this SOP?

If you want to create and put your SOPs online, including making sure everyone's on board, here's a simple plan:

Evaluate Priorities: Check what SOPs you have and decide which ones to define and put online first.

Select Software: Pick a system that's easy to use and has what you need, like embedding training videos, capturing data for dashboards, and allowing different people access.

Implement Integration: Move your SOPs into this system and make sure they're easy to read and follow.

Conduct Training: Teach everyone how to use the new system and explain why it's better than the old way.

Ensure Connectivity: Connect your digital SOPs with other systems you use, like sales or inventory, so you can truly see how well your business is doing.

By creating and implementing standard operating procedures, business can run like a well-oiled machine, with everyone knowing what to do and how to do it.

You might also need to adjust your SOPs over time as business conditions change, so be sure to continue to evaluate what's working well and what might need to change. It's all about making things easier, faster, and better for everyone. That's how you create a competitive advantage.