Writing Standard Operating Procedures, also known as an SOP template, will allow you to standardize your procedures, get started quickly, and provide fast, easy answers to common Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) questions. An SOP template will communicate to everyone the procedure format you want to use. It will provide a handy starting point so you don’t have to stare at a blank page. And will save everyone a lot of time selecting the font, margins, outlining, and answering questions about your company SOP structure.
Why Write an SOP Template?
SOPs are used within a variety of industries ranging from manufacturing (for ISO 9000, AS9100, ISO/TS16949, OSHA), health care (JCAHO, ISO 13485), FDA (ISO 22000, GMP), Information Technology (ITIL, ISO 20000, CoBIT), accounting (Sarbanes-Oxley, GAAP, IFRS), or Human Resources (ADA, FMLA, EOE, FSLA, etc). In fact, so many industries use standards that there are too many to list. The world is awash in standards.
Using accounting SOP as an example, when you use our accounting policies and procedures manual you will easily be able to add in your own company’s policy on keeping records, but keep the standard policy on returned goods, or vice versa.
Procedures Are About Business Processes
Perhaps if everything always executed as planned then we would not need procedures, but this is not the case in the real world. An SOP or Standard Operating Procedure is used to ensure business processes are well thought through.
Each task in a process is performed the same way every time, and important data is recorded, along with errors or deviations so corrective action can be taken. When we use procedures we allow ourselves to learn.
Procedures Are About Learning
We use procedures to plan out process expectations (Plan), collect data (Do), check the data against our expectations (Check), and then take corrective action (Act) on what we have learned. This is the learning loop or PDCA in action. PDCA is the basis of process learning.
Standards are developed to shorten the learning. Why wait for people to get hurt in the factory? OSHA Standards foster safety learning. OSHA SOP procedures communicate safety expectations. OSHA maybe for safety yet the same principle applies to all other standards or regulations. Standards are intended to speed up process learning.
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[…] How to Create a Standard Operating Procedure Template. Clear and simple design makes procedures easy to read. Take a look at this webpage for a Microsoft Word template you can use. […]
WOW just what I was searching for. Came here by searching for writing standard operating procedures template sop accounting
Hello:
I am in education sector and need to write SOP on my company, need your help.
Most of our procedures are focused on business. We do have an article on “What Is Quality Education?” you can view. I would recommend the business sampler, which contains 111 procedures of general business nature that can be customized for education.
i Am gona want to make Sop for HVAC company please help me out through simple tick and point to elaborate the company workers
The best place to start is to purchase the policies and procedures manual There are 100 procedures to choose from that can help you get started.