Standard operating procedures (SOPs) help employees finish their work according to organizational guidelines. These documents enhance workplace consistency, quality and productivity by outlining detailed steps to complete a task.

Explore the top 10 benefits of SOPs to elevate your operational efficiency and prepare your company for growth.

What’s an SOP?

SOPs are written documents that outline business process steps. They detail the entire workflow, describing the scope, tasks and relevant people. 

The purpose of a standard operating procedure is to help employees efficiently complete work while following company policies. These resources also assist with employee training and onboarding so people can quickly adjust to new roles.

There are four types of SOP formats:

• Step-by-step.
• Checklist.
• Hierarchical.
• Flowchart.

Each SOP format suits different situations. For example, flowchart SOPs are best for processes with multiple decisions and outcomes, and checklists are perfect for repetitive tasks. But regardless of the type, written SOPs are a powerful way to organize company practices.

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10 Benefits of Having Detailed Procedures To Follow

There are dozens of benefits to SOPs — here are the 10 most impactful ones.

1. Consistency

Process consistency is one of the strongest benefits of SOPs, as standardization ensures everyone completes tasks similarly and remembers crucial steps. And with Scribe, you can make sure that SOPs include every important detail. Our AI tool follows along as you perform a task, detailing each step and creating a thorough guide. Using this document, employees can complete a process the same way every time, which results in consistent outcomes.

2. Improved Employee Onboarding and Training

SOPs set new hires up for success by providing them with step-by-step work instructions, clarifying how to comply with company policies and offering answers to a process’s frequently asked questions (FAQs). These resources put essential information in one place so new hires don’t waste time tracking down details or figuring out who to ask.

To refine your training and employee development SOPs, start by opening our Job Aid SOP template and have an experienced worker complete their daily tasks with Scribe running. Our process documentation platform will follow your employee’s exact workflow and build a detailed guide with images. New employees can follow these Scribes to learn the best ways to complete processes.

3. Increased Management Productivity

SOPs are valuable tools for managers, too, helping them clearly understand duties like meeting with clients or using complex project management software. And if supervisors need to delegate tasks, they can share SOPs with teammates rather than spending time explaining how to do assignments. 

4. Efficiency

SOPs are a powerful way to enhance overall business efficiency, as these guides allow employees to follow straightforward instructions without stopping to ask questions. And clear documentation reduces the risk of team members skipping a step, ensuring they won’t have to double back to complete something they missed. 

5. Fewer Risks, Increased Compliance

SOPs describe procedures in detail, mitigating organizational risks by ensuring nothing is left up to interpretation. And if an employee is in doubt, the SOP points them toward someone who can help. These documents also cover industry regulations, so as workers carefully follow instructions, they comply with legal requirements.

To draw attention to possible issues employees may encounter, consider including a “Risks and Warnings” section in your SOPs. Add details about how to address these problems if they occur, including points of contact. 

6. Quality Control

SOPs improve quality assurance by outlining each task’s necessary steps and intended outcomes. Say an accountant needs to prepare a quarterly report. A related SOP could include steps like collecting data from accounting software, cross-checking information against bank statements and summarizing the results. No matter which team member completes the task, the expected result is always the same: an accurate report ready for leadership review.

When writing quality control SOPs using Scribe, you can add eye-catching tips and alerts to highlight vital steps and common mistakes and include extra advice.

7. Knowledge Sharing and Retention

If high performers leave the company, it’s essential to retain their knowledge so you can train their replacements. SOPs make knowledge transfer easy — simply have your best staff members document exactly how they do a task so you can pass the technique on to others.

Using SOP software is a great way to collect small details that high-performing employees might not think to mention. Our complete guide on building a transition plan shows how Scribe helps managers retain employee insights.

8. Standardized Customer Service

Consistent, high-quality customer assistance strengthens consumer trust and builds a powerful brand image. Client relations SOPs ensure your representatives follow a regulated process and script. And if they need to call another employee for assistance, the guide lists who they should contact. This information helps employees answer customer questions accurately and standardizes their responses.

9. Highlighted Performance Gaps

SOPs are an excellent way to find and solve gaps in operational efficiency. Say you’re writing an SOP for managing a customer support team and ask employees how they resolve open tickets. Staff members tell you they’re entering client information manually, but you recently adopted a tool that can do it automatically. Based on this interaction, you’d know to write a process improvement document that includes detailed steps on using the new software and FAQ responses about the tool.

10. Company Growth

When an organization scales quickly, leadership can run into roadblocks they’ve never encountered. This may require some restructuring, and a digital SOP is the best way to outline and disseminate that information. These documents help you maintain quality and performance while your organization grows. 

Perhaps a hiring manager previously handled all aspects of employee training and onboarding because the company had a low hiring volume. But when recruiting efforts double or triple, one person can’t onboard each new employee. 

In that case, leadership may decide to hire more HR representatives to welcome the growing workforce. The original hiring manager can create an SOP that tells new HR team members how to onboard incoming employees — that way, each recruit has a consistent, thorough training experience.

Define Effective and Thorough SOPs With Scribe

Writing clear SOPs is a necessary part of a successful business. Whether you’re onboarding new employees or retaining knowledge from your top staff members, these guides help define company standards. 

Creating SOPs may sound intimidating, but AI tools like Scribe and our in-depth SOP templates make this process painless. As you perform a task, Scribe tracks your on-screen actions and builds a detailed, accurate guide with annotated screenshots and text. This document is ready to use instantly, but you can also make edits like redacting sensitive information and adding media. 

Sign up for Scribe and get started by checking out our list of SOP examples for inspiration.