5 Mandatory Sections For Every Company Procedure To Maximize Its Effectiveness and Results
Talking about SOPs doesn’t have to put your team in a slumbering daze — their importance is undeniable.
For a company to execute at its optimal level, it must have standard procedures operationalized and implemented the same way by everyone on the team. When there are no procedures, there’s no consistency, a ton of confusion, and everyone does things differently.
It is hard to delegate without standardized processes or if everything is in your head.
Look at the essential functions of your business that need a procedure or current procedures that require a massive overhaul.
Leaders, managers, and owners struggle with creating procedures because it’s a skill.
To think through a process and document steps clearly and concisely so that nearly anybody can quickly learn takes a certain savviness in written communication.
The most common procedure failures are:
No explanation of why the procedure matters to everyone.
It’s confusing.
Too much text.
No visuals.
No formatting.
No step-by-step process.
But that can all change — one procedure at a time.
Here’s how:
Section 1: The Purpose
In the first section of the procedure, you state its purpose.
Explaining the why is key to helping your team understand the importance of the procedure.
Here’s a portion of the purpose section of my Procedure for Procedures:
“We base X’s mechanical functioning on Working Procedures (or simply, “Procedures”). With hundreds of human and mechanical operating processes in action at any one time, keeping X organized and efficient in any other way would be impossible.”
Section 2: TL;DR
The Too Long; Didn’t Read section is a quick outline of the procedure.
This is where you add the essential steps in a simple and concise checklist:
Step 1
Step 2
Etc.
When your team begins to execute the procedure, this section is a quick reference without them having to read the entire procedure (or skim it).
Section 3: Who Does What?
Every procedure must clearly articulate who is doing what in every section of the procedure.
Here’s how this section should look.
[AREA OF RESPONSIBILITY] [JOB TITLE]
Process Sales Order: Dedicated Account Manager
Approve Sales Order: Director of Operations
Ship Sales Order: Shipping Coordinator
Etc.
A word of advice: if you can limit the handoffs or too many hands in a procedure, the better. So much confusion and mistakes occur in the handoff.
Section 4: The Procedure:
This section is the soul of your procedure.
It’s where you execute a process in a step-by-step sequence that produces a crucial outcome. It’s also where your SWAT team gets to work.
Here’s how the sections should start:
Step 1: Outline Procedure [WHAT?] — [WHO?]
Step 2: Formalize Procedure [WHAT?] — [WHO?]
Etc.
Step 5: Procedure Rules
The rules are the things to keep in mind but fall outside the step-by-step process.
For example, a few rules for a procedure for procedure are:
Anything we do 1x per year gets a procedure.
Anyone who owns or is involved in the procedure should be able to execute it perfectly once trained on it. Try to design procedures so anyone off the street can execute them.
When you own a procedure, you must constantly review it, eliminate waste, and improve it.
If you want to build a successful business and install a successful team into that business, procedures are one of the most critical components.
