A standard operating procedure (SOP) cane be defines as a document that provides directions and instructions on how teams and members within an organization must go about completing certain processes.
Generally there are three types of Standard Operating Procedures namely:-
a) Step-by-step Format;
b) Hierarchical Format;and
c) Flowchart Format
Below are the general steps to take when writing a standard operating procedure:
- An organisation must be able to determine the corporation goals in creating the SOP;
- In order for the standard operating procedure, an organisation required to determine the stakeholders and creators which to include who will be responsible for drafting the document;
- An organisation also must be able to define the End-User whom will eventually engaging in the procedures;
- Another crucial step is for the organisation to determine the scope and format of the SOP as stated above;
- Items that should be included in the SOP;
- In order to ensure the effectiveness of the SOP, an organisation need to review the review the standard operation procedure;
- An organisation need to train the members of the organisation in order to familiarise the SOP;
- Test and Tweak the SOP in Practice
- Implement SOP—and Revisit Regularly
Source: https://helpjuice.com/blog/standard-operating-procedure