Currently I have the following already penned out:

 user account creation/termination

 distro group creation
 public folder creation
 adding IP phones to AD
 creating a "service" account
 creating a mail contact
 backup and restore a DC
 fsmo roles
 aduc cleanup
 AD administration tips & tricks

user account deactivation (e.g. disable first, then move somewhere, remove from all
groups)

- OU right delegation (e.g. grant someone access to do just password resets)

- permission assignment (e.g. state that you cannot assign permissions to users
directly must be done via groups).

group policies

- drive mappings/login scripts

- removing a mail account and/or mailbox

- adding/removing a computer from the domain

- rights assignments by groups per employee type

- user password requirements

- intruder lockout settings

- user lockout procedure (from an internal security stand point, disgruntled worker)

- patch management
- upgrade procedures

There's a few off the top of my head

THE WELL WRITTEN SOP – CRITICAL FOR

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
BY MARCIA WEEDEN
The well-written SOP provides the baseline against which thoughtful and effective
improvements can be planned and implemented.

Many companies put off documenting their processes and procedures because they are too
sheepish to admit that these are not yet in a state of perfection. Perfection, however, is
never a requirement for the well-written SOP.

Standard Operation Procedures, or SOPs as they are commonly known, are snapshots of
a company’s life force, which is always in a state of flux and change. When they are well-
written, they become one of the best tools for making improvement decisions.

What Makes for a Well-Written SOP?

A well-written SOP will be structured in three tiers of information as shown in the figure to the
right.
The top layer states why the SOP is being written, what specifically is its purpose, and when
and where should the information be applied (the scope.)

Before anyone starts using the SOP, you want to ensure that they will be able to understand
and utilize the instructions correctly. Allowing employees to learn as they go, which means
learning by making mistakes, can be very costly to a company and even put it out of
business. State upfront the pre-requisites and qualifications necessary for using the SOP.

Things sometimes are left undone when employees are unclear who is responsible for
carrying out certain activities. Who hasn’t heard the excuses? “It’s not my job. I thought so-
and-so was supposed to do that. That’s our responsibility?” Eliminate blaming and
squabbling by having responsibilities stated in black-and-white.

Defining responsibilities also means people can readily determine who the go-to person is
when they have questions. This reduces the chances of errors, gives employees confidence,
instills pride, and expedites work.

SOPs are almost always tied in with something else. Departments have activities unique to
their functions, and these activities may each require one or more SOPs. Employees must
answer to their departments as well as to the company policies that apply to all workers. The
company, in turn, has outside requirements driving it. By providing references to the
standards or regulations that apply to a SOP, internal or external, compliance becomes
easier.

As a company grows, corporate level policies typically begin to develop with the nitty-gritty
details being left to the lower levels. Corporate has the bigger picture and establishes the
larger goals that the company is striving to obtain.

If a liability issue arises, records show that the company did everything correctly and as
intended. For everyday operations, records tell which tasks have been completed, when, by
whom, and what needs to be done next. List the records involved with the SOP to eliminate
the need to track down information.

Rather than wondering how did we ever reach this point, a SOP’s history shows how the
processes evolved and what the thinking was when certain decisions were made.

There is a symbiotic connection of making sure that everyone is working in unison and that
nobody is doing something that will undermine or negatively impact the other. The well-
written SOP helps to ensure that all is in synch.

The second tier of a well-written SOP switches the focus onto activities covered by the SOP.
The SOP’s middle section should define words, terms, or acronyms that may not be
understood by all or may have multiple meanings.
Any policies specific to the SOP should be pulled together in one location. Policies, like
responsibilities, are an area where employees may have strong differences of opinion.
Collecting policies together in writing eliminates headaches. If the policies change, update
the SOP.

Time creating/maintaining an information sharing system, so Support personnel can draw

upon an already asked and answered question instead of re-investigating an issue.

The next component of the middle tier is the processes. Managers in particular just want to
know the basics, i.e., what are the main stages? What starts it, what happens, and what
ends it? Managers are the decision makers so create flowcharts that show the decision
rules.

Do not forget to include what happens if something does not go as planned. Details are not
necessary; the reader simply needs to be pointed in the right direction when faced with a
situation not covered by the SOP. Depending on the industry, actions made be required to
identify and contain non-conformances or reports must be made within a certain time period.

Flowcharts permit the eye to quickly identify the major stages of the processes when fast
reminders are being sought.

Keep things brief. The person using the SOP may not be the one carrying out the specific
tasks.

The second tier provides the reader with information of what is involved and sets the stage
for the detailed information that comes next.

The third or bottom tier provides the in-depth information. Consequently, it will be the largest
section of the SOP. Whereas the second tier explained the stages, the third tier gives the
tasks involved with each stage as well as the step-by-step instructions carrying out each
task. Sometimes illustrations and/or screenshots are included.

If liability risks are involved and it is critical that all the steps are performed, records are
necessary. Checklists serve both as reminders and records. Set them up in progressive
order. Consider the checklists as the primary records that will be audited. Make sure they
contain “the who, what, when, where, and why” that auditors look for. “The how” is spelled
out in the SOP.

Third tier information sometimes utilizes information not contained in the SOP. For example,
if one of the tasks is to perform a certain test, the test method is cited, but the test
instructions are found elsewhere, such as in a test manual. The required test results are
almost never contained in the test method itself since the test method is how the test is
performed. The company, an outside agency, or a customer will specify what test results are
required. Those specifications are usually grouped with others. Therefore, the exact ones to
 use must be cited with enough information as to where to obtain them and which
specifications apply under which circumstances.

As with the second tier, flowcharts provide the user with a quick visual of what is happening
and the decision points.

Once a company has established a baseline of what it is doing via the draft SOP, the SOP is
then examined for any gaps in policies, procedures, steps, equipment, or understanding.
The SOP is then tweaked and refined into something that is finally approved for use.

Once a year (or sooner if there is a major change, issue, or problem,) internal auditors use
the SOP to determine if employees are performing the tasks as stated previously. If not, then
investigation is done to determine why.

Audit findings may uncover redundancy or obsolete methods. Audits may highlight risk areas
that need to be addressed. Sometimes the SOP is still current and valid, but retraining is
needed, or over the course of the year, changes have been made somewhere and now the
SOP needs to be updated, revised, or replaced.

A well-written SOP is not a static, one-time effort. It has life. It is the foundation on which
decisions can be made with confidence. Its objective is, “Do we know what we are doing and
why?”

The best improvements happen when a company can determine

 what exists
 what is lacking
 what exactly employees are doing
 what is working
 what is obsolete (e.g., regulatory, market or customer needs, equipment, materials etc.)
 what has drifted from the original intention
 if the financial costs make sense
 where the risks lie, and
 where money is being wasted.
Knowing the above eliminates guesswork. A well-documented SOP means the company can
identify which improvements make the best sense and which will give the best ROI.

The well-written SOP is one of the best tools for keeping abreast with change and thus, it is
truly critical for continuous improvement.

About the Author

Marcia Weeden is a writer and quality assurance consultant. You can connect with Marcia
through Writing Assistance, Inc. at www.writingassist.com or by email
through [email protected]
THE VALUE OF DOCUMENTED PROCESSES
BY MARCIA WEEDON
Most companies start small with a dream of what they would like to become someday. Small
companies take pride in “we wear many hats around here.” With relatively simple,
straightforward processes and a few key personnel, it is easy to make changes and keep the
business going.

Success means growth and with that growth, the workload expands. It requires more people
to fill orders or provide the services that customers want. Success also brings in more
customers. New customers might have needs, because of their specialized end uses of your
product or services, other than what you originally anticipated. Their requests for
modifications and exceptions reflect their confidence in your company’s abilities.

In addition to providing customer satisfaction and building your company’s reputation,

accommodating these requests expands the business’s offerings thus attracting even more
customers.

Your customers also encounter their customers wanting more from them thus changing your
customers’ needs and requirements. They logically pass these along to you, meaning more
modifications and work.

As a result, businesses relying on “what is in the heads of a few” find themselves slowly
morphing into behemoths. Somebody typically suggests at this point that perhaps it would
help to document our processes. Most agree, but then the questions start – Who is going to
do the work? Who has the skills? Even with the skills, who has the time? Who drives this?
Quietly, documentation gets pushed back into a low priority.

Refinement of work duties

As a company grows, work duties become more specialized. The handful of personnel who
once did it all evolve into departments. Tasks and responsibilities are divvied up and
assigned elsewhere. The company moves from everybody easily ascertaining what must be
done next to “who takes care of this?”

Personnel are dedicated to tweaking what customers want or need. If the business is
manufacturing-based, there may be a cascading chain of changes. Service activities may be
job-specific or apply across the board.

Changes may be for one customer or many. Changes could be permanent or a one-time
occurrence, or apply only to a few under certain circumstances. Sometimes, personnel are
required onsite at a customer’s either temporarily or permanently.

Ordering and logistics are concerns. If you can control the suppliers, you can control the end
product. How are raw goods, materials, and finished goods moved and handled? What gets
warehoused? What gets shipped and how?

Departments develop for operations, human resources, testing, quality, and information
systems. Employees, contractors, customers, and end users all have different training
needs.

No business exists without money. As sales, salaries, taxes, purchases, and operations
expand, somebody needs to monitor the coming and going of the monies.

Hardware and software must be in place to handle the activities and data along with systems
that keep everything confidential and secure.
Either employees or contractors carry out these duties. All of them need to know what to do,
how to do it, when to do it, and for whom.

Personnel turnover
Smaller companies love Person X, the employee who knows how everything is to be done
around here. The danger with Person X is that tonight might be his or her multimillion lottery
win or when a new job offer comes through. A college degree, a significant other, child, or a
parent can also place their priorities before yours.

Even the most loyal employee may make an unplanned exit from the company. People
become ill, have accidents, have loved ones suddenly in need, or die.

Beyond the company’s walls

As valiant as a company may be with staying on top of how it functions, events and
influences exist beyond the company’s walls that require work, adaptations, and compliance.

Regulatory requirements exist for labor, taxes, environmental impacts, product safety, and
quality, to name a few. In the event of lawsuits, well documented processes can prove
exactly what a company did, when it was done, and who did it. Liability and its
accompanying fines are often reduced or avoided entirely when compliance can be
demonstrated.

Regulatory issues aside, the marketplace changes via technological advances or the
introduction of new products and services. To remain competitive, companies must adapt,
complicating “business as usual” even further.

Then there is the economy. Many companies struggle when business is slow. Well
documented processes show what can be consolidated, eliminated, or improved for output
and cost reductions.

If anything is to be moved off-shore, how does the company ensure that workers half a world
away know what to do?

Catastrophic events
Nobody wants to assume that a catastrophe will happen to them. We have all seen news
stories of factories destroyed by fires, yet other catastrophes can befall a company.
Tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes can level a business in minutes. Nobody could have
foreseen the scope of destruction from Hurricane Katrina or the business interruptions from
the 9/11 attacks.

What does a company do to recover? Those with documented processes and records,
particularly those backed-up securely off-site in water-and-fire proof locations, have better
recovery and survival rates than those who put documentation aside for another day.
In the event of the unfortunate or lawsuits, good documentation is among the best insurance
a company can have.

Planning for the future

Documented processes capture changes made over time and their consequential benefits
and challenges. Annual reviews of documented processes highlight what is obsolete,
redundant, what needs updating, what is working, and the adequacy of or need for policies.

Innovation can take place with confidence because documented processes provide excellent
ideas for the types of changes possible or directions to take. A process in hard copy, black-
and-white may also evoke ideas that might have not otherwise been apparent.

Certainly, many changes occur as a company evolves from rolled-up shirtsleeves, “let’s get
this done” workdays to subsidiaries, private jets, and gleaming corporate headquarters.

Good documentation assists well-planned, business growth, while helping to make business
dreams a reality, by providing clarity, history, road maps, insurance, and checkpoints.

Step 1: Understand how you are going to present your SOPs

There are a number of formats you can choose from when defining how you’ll
structure and present your standard operating procedures. The international
standard you probably use if you work in a large company is ISO-9000, or some
variant of that.

ISO-9000

As we go forward with the article, we’ll be keeping things broadly in line with
ISO-9000, but we’ll also build off that foundation. A solopreneur might want
something a little different, and as good as the ISO method is
for documenting SOPs, it has limitations in regards to how actionable it is.
We’ll look to improve on that with the use of tools and tech!
For anyone who wants to stick as closely as possible to the ISO-9000
structure, I’ve built this structured template below which you can start using
right now.

This template is designed to adhere to the ISO-9001:2015 Quality Mini-Manual

standards.

If you export this template, it will be structured with a title at the top followed by
the steps on the left as a contents page. Then each section will be presented
individually in full. The image below shows broadly how standard operating
procedure documentation is presented.
Using Process Street to help you establish SOPs in line with ISO-9000 allows
you to also follow those procedures in an interactive way. Two birds, one
business process management system.
Which format you choose to work with will be dependent on a number of
factors. If you work for a large multi-national you’ll need to have standard
operating procedures which adhere to the company’s internal policies and
standardizations. If you’re a solopreneur, you may want to have a much
simpler layout of your SOPs for your own reference.

There are three main approaches to take:

Create a simple checklist

You can write a simple checklist which outlines the different tasks involved and
looks more like a to-do list than a report. This kind of approach has benefits for
the solopreneur, or small teams, who don’t require detailed instructions. The
advantage of this approach is that it offers a very quick option and allows people
to create standard operating procedures as and when they perform new tasks –
rapidly noting down the steps they took for future reference. This flexibility can
aid startups who are trying new things on a regular basis.
The disadvantage of this approach is that the lack of detail results in difficulties
when trying to analyze the process. If the detail is not recorded
then optimization and improvement are harder to attain.
Create a complex linear checklist

It doesn’t have to be too complicated, but this should be like a beefed up version
of the above. This checklist should record as much detail in the process as
possible. You can consider whether a single task requires a sub-checklist of
further tasks to spell it out. You can understand how you’re going to document
workflows; when do tasks involve multiple people and how do they fit in
together? Including detail means you have more variables to iterate when you
come to optimizing the process.

This approach is the one favored by us at Process Street. Our goal is to have
processes so watertight that anyone could take over the task and be able to
complete it. This was one of our methods for improving our customer support
process. When we hired new members of staff, we gave them this checklist with
detailed instructions and explanations and gave them level 1 support in their first
week.

If they found something difficult, or couldn’t understand it, then there was a
problem in the process. This system built optimization into the execution of
the process. It wouldn’t have been possible without having a detailed process
to begin with.
Map out a process flow diagram

A flow diagram is a useful means of visualizing your standard operating

procedures and understanding how the constituent parts come together to form
a coherent whole. Flow diagrams are, in general, less actionable than a linear
structured checklist. However, flow diagrams are extremely useful for
communication of processes. A process flow chart will help you explain your
process structures to others while also easing the analysis of a process when
you come to iterate and improve.
For the purpose of this article, I’m going to be discussing the methods to
construct a detailed checklist. This approach results in well-documented
processes while also providing highly actionable instructions.

Step 2: Gather the relevant stakeholders

We’re strong believers in the power of collaborative creation. If you’re going

to be creating standard operating procedures for particular tasks, processes, or
workflows, then you should probably contact the people who will be, or are
already, responsible for those duties.

If you’re a manager and have a team of people working each day on a set of
tasks, you’ll want to understand the thoughts of your team in regards to best
practices. After all, these are the people you pay to perform these tasks day in
day out. Teamwork is vital for any business.

Building processes collaboratively not only brings in more expertise and

scrutiny, it also provides a sense of ownership over the process to the people
who are following it. By working in this manner, the process feels like less of a
diktat and more of an agreement.

Step 3: Work out your purpose

What are you looking to achieve as you build these standard operating
procedures?

Are they brand new? In which case, you’re trying to create systems which
function. But you also want them to function well, and you need to make sure
the priorities within the process are aligned with the priorities within the
business.

If you’re looking to produce standard operating procedures which cover

existing processes and workflows, then you have a few more points to consider.

What are your pain points?

Where are your existing processes letting you down and what can you do to
change that? Maybe you don’t know – and this is why you’re documenting; to
investigate. Or, more likely, you’ve recognized that the current system is too
slow or the final product is not consistently of a high quality. You have a pain
point which you wish to target.

We spoke to one of our Process Street users who runs a chain of healthy
restaurants across Canada called iQ Food Co about how they
approached process management. He told us a story of one of the clearest
process related pain points he had experienced. Payroll kept going wrong.
There always ended up being mistakes.

To tackle this, he created a detailed process breakdown of the tasks

involved and made sure that it was held to every time. He responded to the
poor quality with clarity and detail – making the process longer if necessary.
With a possible hint of humor in his voice, he told us: “We have eliminated 100%
of mistakes“.

Step 4: Determine the structure of your SOP

If you’re in a large company, the standard operating procedures will take the
form of a quite formal report.

The typical approach to a report like this is to include a cover page with the
title and all the relevant reference details, followed by a list of chapters,
before embarking on the processes themselves.

If you work in a startup or a small company, this level of formality isn’t always
kept to. Nonetheless, this approach is founded on common sense structure and
it’s a good idea to follow it.
Within the Process Street platform, we’ve constructed our export features to
deal with this and to present the online processes report-style when exported
to Microsoft Word. This way, we’re able to operate by our processes with the
flexibility of the platform while also giving clients who need it the ability to save
processes as PDFs for reference purposes in line with ISO-9000.

Step 5: Prepare the scope of the procedure

If you’re forming a set of standard operating procedures for a particular aspect

of a content marketing team’s work, you should be focusing on them and their
needs. Learn where to draw the line to stop you wandering off into other teams
or departments.

You can discuss how a workflow may span multiple teams, but you should know
from the beginning whether that is the case or not. Define the limits of your
investigation or you’ll end up with mission creep.

What are you dealing with? What action initiates the process you’re working on?
What action finishes the process you’re working on? Define your scope.

Step 6: Use a consistent style

Again, if you’re working for a large multinational, everything you do is going to
be more formal than Gary and his startup of one.

Whether you’re going to be using sharp formal language or not depends on the
professional setting you’re in. However, we do have some tips and tricks bui lt up
over time which are broad suggestions applicable in all scenarios.

1. Start with action commands. Always use a verb at the beginning of a

statement for a task. This kind of language makes it clear what you have to do
and it packs a punch.

2. Be concise. Don’t waffle in a SOPs report. Be clear and convey the important
information only. Talk to the air rather than the reader.

3. Make it scannable. Normally, that might be considered blog writing advice, but
when listing detailed instructions for a particular task within the workflow, put the
actionable sections first and follow with the explanation. Don’t make readers sift
through paragraphs of text every time they want to follow the SOPs.
Step 7: Use correct notation, if applicable

If you’re at a large company, they may have a system which you have to learn
and follow. Some of these systems are a little idiosyncratic and tied to the
company. Most, however, will use a standardized form of notation like BPMN.

No one says you have to use BPMN or any variation thereof, but systems like
that are useful in you’re in a corporate environment or one where you have to
work closely with people from other companies. Think of tools like BPMN as
universal languages, the Esperanto of business process management.

You may be able to employ some of these mapping techniques and

methodologies later in the process if they’re visual rather than textual.

Step 8: Work out all the necessary steps of the process

Now it’s time to put in the hard graft.

Collaboratively walk through the process from start to finish noting down every
step which must be taken along the way. Allow for input and discussion across
the team, and record down any further steps which are suggested.

Then, once you have the spine of the process, go through and look at each task
you have recorded. Are there sub-tasks which can be added to that task to
further explain either how it is done, or by recommending productive ways to do
it? If so, include the sub-tasks too.

This extra detail is important to make an easy to follow process. Within Process
Street, you can create sub-checklists in tasks to tackle this need. Sub-
checklists provide a simple way to make processes appear straightforward while
also adding actionable detail.

Step 9: Try to assess potential problems in the process

Once you have your process on paper, it’s time to think about whether things
can go wrong. And if they can go wrong, where would that failure likely
happen?
If you’re using your standard operating procedures to govern a manufacturing
process, which can be accounted for easily by numbers, then you can run the
calculations. Maybe your process results in high output in terms of production
but puts strain on distribution? You know your business better than I, you can
make those assessments.

We noticed in our content creation process that in-depth articles created a

degree of risk. If the work was being finished too close to the deadline, then
there was always the possibility that the deadline would be missed. More
likely, the deadline won’t be missed, but less editing and iteration can occur on
an article – which risks a reduction in quality.

We tackled this by simply attaching earlier submission deadlines to articles. This

way, the whole team can work one or two weeks ahead of schedule and risk can
be minimized. Sometimes the most effective changes to a process can be
some of the most simple.

Step 10: Determine metrics against which the SOPs can be judged
To know whether your process is performing well or poorly, you need to have
metrics to judge it against.

It is not good enough to assume the process is simply working. We need to

understand how it is performing so that we can optimize it.

If you’re constructing SOPs for a sales process you may be looking at metrics
like:

 How many leads are generated per week?

 What is the average length of a sales call?

 How many conversions are we getting each week?

 What are our sales totals per week?

Once you’ve established what questions you’re asking, you can act upon
them. How were you performing against these questions previously? Has the
new process improved these numbers? What long-term targets do you want to
set for staff to work towards?

Once you have the metrics defined, you can assess the performance of the
process, and assess the performance in relation to the company’s broader
goals.

Step 11: Test the process

It’s time for the moment of truth.

Now that you’ve defined your standard operating procedures, you can put them
into practice. How you implement them is up to you and it depends on the
resources you have available.

Maybe, to continue with the sales example given above, you have a sales team
of 10 and you set 3 people on the new process. This controlled test of the new
potential SOPs will allow you to gather comparative data in real time on the
performance of the two models – existing and new.

If you’re happy that your new business process is better than the previous one
and you want to implement it straight away so that you can start iterating, then
you can test other areas. For example, we have an internal customer support
process, I’ve previously mentioned, which we run every time we deal with a
customer question.

This process was forged over time and now functions smoothly and easily. One
of the methods we used to test how easy it was to follow was to put new hires in
the company on level 1 support in their first week. They were left with customers
and a process. This was a baptism of fire – not just for the hire, but for the
process. If the process was good enough, the job would be done well
regardless of experience.

Step 12: Send the process to superiors

If you’re running your own company, then you may not have any superiors to
send your SOPs to.

Really, it’s more about having someone with experience look over the
standard operating procedures to give you feedback. Someone who was not
involved in the collaborative creation process, and can look at the flows with
fresh eyes. If you’re a small business, this could be an investor, someone from
your network, or even a valued customer!
If you’re working in a large company, this will likely be a mandated part of your
SOPs writing process in order to seek approval on the work. If so, make sure to
send the results of any testing you have undertaken along with the draft SOPs.

Step 13: Clarify the method of optimizing the process

Optimizing the process over time is a crucial step of creating it in the first place.
I’m under the belief that the process should be thought of as a living
document.

No process is ever perfect, and nor can it be. The processes can, however, be
as good as we can possibly make them.

We have a simple checklist here which can help direct the process
for optimizing a process:

Optimizing a process involves a number of the steps we have already covered.

It is important to remember that we work as a team and the processes’ strengths
and weaknesses might be found by the people who follow them each day. Stay
collaborative in the optimization process.

Where you’ll seek to optimize could – and should – be driven by your key
metrics. If they are the means by which you’re measuring performance, then
they will likely guide you in your pursuit of the perfect process.

One of the key steps to improving the process is to consider integrating other
tools and automated components into your workflow.

You can check out a few more articles and ebooks related to business process
automation here:

 The Complete Guide to Business Process Management – ebook

  222 Zaps to Crush Your Current Process Automation

 Best Marketing Automation Software: 10 Tools to Autopilot Marketing Emails

 50 Ways To Save Time & Money with Workflow Automation

 Ultimate Guide to Business Process Automation with Zapier – ebook

Step 14: Run a risk assessment on your process

A risk assessment is an important part of finalizing any project.

If you’re a software firm, you’ve probably already covered this in one of the
above sections where we look at where things go wrong.

However, if you’re in manufacturing, transport, or a range of other industries,

the risk assessment is even more important. Whenever you have actual real
human beings doing something under your direction, you’re responsible for
making sure they’re not going to be hurt in the process.

Don’t overlook safety in favor of speed.

Step 15: Consider creating a flow diagram

Flow diagrams or workflow maps – or whatever nomenclature you prefer – can

be useful in multiple ways:

1. Visual overviews. Sometimes it is useful when presenting information to give

visual aids. These aids can contextualize information from the beginning,
improving the clarity of your more detailed written explanation.

2. Help employees understand their role. Flow diagrams provide employees with
a visual way of understanding what is being asked of them. But that’s not all.
Helping make sure that your employees understand their position within a
broader whole makes the process work better and improves employee
accountability in the workplace, to boot.

Step 16: Finalize and implement the SOPs

Congratulations!

You’ve completed your new standard operating procedures. If you’ve followed

the process from beginning to end, your SOPs are essentially guaranteed to
improve performance. They should have been tested, they have optimization
strategies built in, and you’ve made sure they’re safe.

More than this, by using Process Street to implement your SOPs into daily
business practices in a way which is both easy to use and trackable, you are
putting provisions in place to tackle any hidden normalization of deviance or
any poor processes which may have been slowing the company down.

I promised you a thrilling guide to SOPs. I’m pretty sure I’ve delivered.