Standard Operating Procedures

It has been estimated that people working in organisations can waste about 15 – 20% of their time by re-doing things that are wrong, chasing things without result, querying incomplete instructions, doing other people’s jobs and so on because there is no clarity or agreement on the process to be followed.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOP’s) are crucial documents that contain necessary instructions on how to manage critical processes in an organization.  If you don’t have a process documented, you don’t have a process but a set of haphazardly performed tasks leading to confusion and non-performance of the individual and organization.

SOP’s are many times deemed to be inflexible and restrict innovation. On the contrary they enable innovation due to continuous review and involvement of all the people in a complex business process.

Some of the benefits of clearly defined SOP’s include:

  • Consistency in performance as SOP’s set the standards that need to be adhered to and achieve the desired outcome.
  • Improved individual and team performance; SOP’s clearly state what is to be done within what timelines and who is responsible. Thereby easing communication and motivation.
  • Change is not made haphazardly but discussed with all the relevant people hence ensuring there is less resistance to transformation.
  • SOP’s create continuity in the business. The workplace changes and so do employees. Well maintained SOP’s that are continuously reviewed, ensure that operations run smoothly even if key members change roles or leave the organization.
  • SOP’s reduce training time thereby resulting in new employees quickly achieve peak performance rather than being in the ‘deep end’ trying to understand how things work resulting in elongated periods of probation, demotivation and even resignation.
  • SOP’s factor in the statutory requirements of the organization hence act as an important legal protection for the organization.

We provide consultancy services and assist our clients to review and develop new Standard Operating Procedures that are;

  • Relevant to the current business operations
  • Lean and efficient
  • Able to deliver the desired outcome in a consistent and effective manner

 

This is done in 3 key stages;

  1. SOP Review – an on-site visit to review the clients existing SOP’s and identify areas of improvement; including review of the content and format of the SOP’s. The format suitable for the organization shall be agreed upon at this stage.
  2. SOP Development – work hand in hand with process owners/department heads to begin developing the SOP’s within agreed timelines.
  3. Implementation – provide the necessary support to ensure that developed SOP’s are implemented effectively.
  4. Internal Auditing Training – A team from within the organization is selected and trained to carry out Internal Audits to ensure that the SOP’s are being implemented and continuously reviewed and updated. In addition to training we guide the team for the first time on how to effectively implement the audit plan.