A Complete Guide [+ Free Template]

In 2019, I used to be a contract author with no concept what SOPs have been, counting on psychological checklists and scrawled notes.

Then, I joined an company the place SOPs ensured constant, high-quality content material. At first, I resisted the detailed checklists — they felt mechanical. However after seeing how the company delivered seamless content material for dozens of purchasers, I turned a believer.

Their SOPs remodeled my workflow: clear analysis pointers saved me targeted, templates halved drafting time, and QA checklists caught errors earlier than purchasers noticed them.

After I returned to freelancing, I created my very own streamlined SOPs that maintain my work constant {and professional} — all with out company bloat.

For writers, SOPs aren’t creativity killers; they’re like private assistants, dealing with the routine so you possibly can deal with crafting nice content material.

By the top of this information, you‘ll have the instruments and insights to write down SOPs that save time, eradicate errors, and scale your productiveness. You’ll even uncover prime templates and instruments to make implementation easy.

Desk of Contents

• Required Entry: Social media administration platform (HubSpot’s Social Media Administration Software program in Marketing Hub), model asset library.
• Software program: Meta Enterprise Suite, present model.
• Sources: Social media calendar, authorised hashtag listing, content material approval type.

Maintain the listing clear and particular so customers can collect every thing wanted earlier than beginning the process.

6. Process

This part ought to define every step of the method in a transparent, logical sequence.

Start every step with an motion verb and embody any mandatory particulars, branching paths, or conditional steps. Advanced procedures could require sub-steps or determination factors.

Constructing on our earlier instance, an SOP on “Scheduling Social Media Posts,” the process part would state:

1. Open HubSpot scheduling dashboard.
2. Choose the suitable social channel.
3. Add media content material (If video: Confirm format compatibility. If picture: Test that dimensions match platform necessities.)
4. Write publish caption following model pointers.
5. Add authorised hashtags.
6. Set publication date and time.
7. Submit for required approvals.
8. Confirm scheduled publish seems within the content material calendar.

Current the steps chronologically and specify any variations or determination factors. Embody cautionary notes or suggestions the place related for course of readability.

7. Visible Aids

Use photographs, diagrams, or screenshots for example the steps. Visible aids could make advanced processes simpler to grasp and observe. Like this:

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8. Security and Compliance

Spotlight any security precautions or regulatory necessities. Ensure that staff are conscious of any hazards, together with what must be executed to deal with them safely.

9. Troubleshooting

Present options for frequent issues that may come up throughout the process. This part can save time and scale back frustration by serving to staff resolve points shortly.

10. Approval and Revision

Embody a piece for approvals, noting who has reviewed and authorised the SOP.

Additionally, add a revision historical past to trace updates and adjustments over time. This ensures the SOP stays present and correct.

11. Contact Data

Provide contact particulars for somebody who can reply questions or present additional steering. This ensures staff know the place to show in the event that they need assistance.

Professional tip: Earlier than writing any SOP, collect examples of comparable procedures which have labored properly in your trade. This may present invaluable insights into what info to incorporate and the right way to construction it successfully.

HubSpot’s free SOP template, for example, outlines duties and processes on your workforce. It consists of sections like function, scope, procedures, and obligations.

You possibly can customise it together with your firm brand and add charts or diagrams within the appendix.

This user-friendly template makes certain your SOPs are complete and straightforward to grasp.

Get Your Free SOP Template Here

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At my company, I noticed how completely different stakeholders interacted with SOPs, every bringing their very own perspective to make the paperwork simpler. By means of this expertise, I discovered to contemplate everybody who touches a course of.

• Management supplied a high-level imaginative and prescient for a way SOPs ought to align with enterprise targets.
• Managers helped refine the practices and ensured easy implementation.
• However most significantly, the ground-level staff (like myself and my fellow writers) supplied essential enter about what truly labored in observe.

I found that the most effective SOPs weren’t simply authorised by administration — they have been formed by the folks doing the each day work.

These have been the workforce members who knew the shortcuts, workarounds, and potential pitfalls that wanted to be addressed.

Lastly, don’t overlook your prospects. Whereas SOPs primarily handle inside processes, these operations can considerably influence the shopper expertise.

Maintain your viewers in thoughts and design an SOP that streamlines inside processes and enhances shopper satisfaction.

Professional tip: Many SOPs fail as a result of they do not embody enter from front-line staff. Whereas administration approval is essential, the folks doing the precise work must be your major supply of knowledge.

Step 4: Decide the scope and format.

After I began creating SOPs for my writing enterprise, I made the error of making an attempt to suit every thing into easy lists. It wasn‘t till I experimented with completely different codecs that I discovered what actually labored for various conditions.

The secret is to contemplate who’ll use the SOP and what instruments they will want.

For instance, when documenting my analysis course of, I wanted greater than a fundamental guidelines. I needed to think about which databases I take advantage of, my note-taking software program, and the way I arrange sources.

This helped me select a format that coated all of the important components with out turning into overwhelming.

Listed below are the simplest codecs I’ve encountered.

• Step-by-step written listing: Supreme for easy, simple duties.
• Hierarchical listing: Helpful for advanced procedures with many steps and determination factors.
• Flowchart: Nice for processes with a number of outcomes.
• Easy guidelines: Excellent for duties that must be repeated persistently.
• Video: Efficient for visible learners and demonstrations.
• Interactive course: Partaking and complete for detailed coaching.

Keep in mind, easier is normally higher. I’ve discovered {that a} fundamental step-by-step listing works completely for simple duties, whereas I save flowcharts for processes with a number of determination factors.

Professional tip: Create a tough draft in two completely different codecs and time your self following each. The model that takes much less time to finish whereas sustaining accuracy is normally your most suitable option.

Step 5: Collect info.

In my transition from scattered notes to correct SOPs, I found that thorough info gathering makes all of the distinction.

Quite than simply writing down what I believed I knew about my content material creation course of, I took time to analysis trade finest practices and doc my precise workflow.

One eye-opening train was timing myself whereas finishing a writing challenge and noting each step, software, and useful resource I used.

I used to be stunned to seek out I used to be skipping steps I believed have been important whereas repeatedly utilizing useful shortcuts I might by no means documented.

Right here‘s what I’ve discovered works finest:

• Begin with analysis into trade pointers and finest practices.
• Doc your present course of as you truly carry out it.
• Word which instruments and sources you depend on.
• Determine potential challenges and bottlenecks.
• Search for methods to include confirmed methods from others in your subject.

I additionally evaluate any present documentation or procedures I’ve, even when they‘re simply tough notes, to make sure I’m not lacking any essential steps.

Professional tip: File your self finishing the method whereas narrating what you are doing. This can make it easier to catch small however essential particulars, like keyboard shortcuts or verification steps, that you just would possibly in any other case overlook to doc.

Step 6: Define and write the SOP.

After I sat down to write down my first critical SOP for my content material workflow, I shortly realized I wanted a transparent construction.

By means of trial and error, I discovered that organizing the doc thoughtfully from the beginning saves numerous revisions later.

Let me stroll you thru the important elements I now embody in each SOP.

• Title web page. I be certain to incorporate the fundamentals: a transparent title, the date created, and who it is for. For my content material creation SOPs, I additionally add model numbers to trace updates.
• Desk of contents. For longer SOPs (something over two pages), I’ve discovered {that a} easy desk of contents helps me and others shortly discover particular sections once we want them.
• Preparatory info. That is the place I listing every thing wanted earlier than beginning the method. For my analysis SOP, this consists of required software program, database entry, and template hyperlinks.
• Methodology and procedures. That is the center of the SOP — the precise step-by-step course of. When documenting my content material creation workflow, I break it down into clear phases: analysis, outlining, writing, and modifying. I embody screenshots the place they assist make clear steps.
• High quality management. I embody a guidelines of what “good” seems to be like, serving to to make sure consistency each time I take advantage of the SOP.
• References and glossary. I maintain a small glossary of technical phrases and hyperlinks to associated sources. This has confirmed particularly useful once I have to reference model guides or shopper necessities.

Professional tip: Write your first draft as if explaining the method to somebody who’s by no means executed it earlier than. Then, take away any steps that really feel apparent to your precise viewers. This helps keep away from lacking essential particulars and overexplaining easy duties.

Step 7: Proofread, check, and revise.

My greatest lesson in creating SOPs got here from watching my rigorously written directions crumble throughout precise use. I discovered that regardless of how clear I feel my writing is, testing reveals blind spots.

My course of now’s easy however thorough:

1. I proofread for readability and technical accuracy.
2. I run by the method myself, following my very own directions precisely.
3. I time every step to make sure the tempo is lifelike.
4. I ask somebody unfamiliar with the duty to observe the SOP whereas I observe.

Simply final week, timing my content material analysis SOP revealed that I might drastically underestimated how lengthy it takes to guage sources. This led me so as to add particular standards for quicker supply evaluation.

Professional tip: When testing your SOP, resist the urge to clarify or make clear steps verbally. If you wish to add verbal directions, these particulars must be written into the SOP.

Step 8: Implement and repeatedly replace.

On the company, I noticed how SOPs developed with altering instruments and necessities. This taught me that even the most effective procedures want common upkeep.

This lesson proved invaluable once I later established my freelance enterprise. What labored six months in the past won’t be optimum immediately, particularly given how shortly writing instruments and necessities change.

Taking what I discovered from the company’s evaluate course of, I now schedule quarterly opinions of my freelance SOPs.

This observe has helped me catch outdated processes like previous key phrase analysis strategies that have been now not efficient. Common opinions additionally assist me incorporate new instruments and methods that enhance effectivity.

To maintain my SOPs present, I:

• Add feedback and ideas proper within the doc once I discover one thing wants updating.
• Assessment every SOP once I undertake new instruments or processes.
• Replace directions instantly if I discover steps that trigger confusion.
• Alter timeframes and necessities primarily based on altering shopper wants.

This method combines the systematic updating I witnessed on the company with the pliability wanted for unbiased work. It ensures my processes keep present whereas sustaining the excessive requirements I discovered throughout my company expertise.

Professional tip: Set a calendar reminder for SOP opinions. Through the evaluate, run by the method precisely as written — you will typically discover steps that could possibly be streamlined or up to date with higher strategies.

In my analysis into SOP finest practices, I related with Leslie Lulham, chief of workers at MarketerHire, who shared a vital perception: “The commonest motive SOPs fail in observe is that they aren’t used.”

This highlights a key problem many organizations face: creating SOPs that do not simply doc processes however truly drive constant execution.

Let’s discover three important codecs and the way they serve completely different wants.

1. Step-by-Step SOP

Greatest for: Clear Course of documentation

Step-by-step SOPs are detailed guides that define the precise sequence of actions wanted to finish a activity. Every step is listed so as, making it simple to observe and guaranteeing consistency in execution.

“You could go in assuming the top consumer is aware of nothing and absolutely element the method,” Lulham emphasizes.

This thoroughness transforms a easy process into an efficient coaching software. Clear, detailed steps assist new workforce members stand up to hurry shortly whereas guaranteeing skilled workers keep constant high quality.

Step-by-step SOPs work finest for:

• New worker coaching.
• Excessive-stakes processes the place order issues.
• Duties with clear, linear development.
• Processes requiring documentation for compliance.

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2. SOP Flowcharts

Greatest for: Mapping advanced determination paths

Whereas linear processes profit from step-by-step documentation, advanced decision-making requires a distinct method.

Flowcharts map out course of steps in a visible sequence, serving to customers shortly grasp each the movement of duties and significant determination factors.

Lulham gives sensible steering on structuring advanced processes: “If any singular step in a flowchart composes a number of actions, it must be damaged out into a number of SOPs, which may get hyperlinked again into the unique movement chart.”

I like to make use of the instance of the onboarding course of for a brand new contractor. The flowchart would possibly embody sending the settlement, organising electronic mail entry, and including them to communication platforms.

Every of those steps includes a number of actions that deserve their very own detailed documentation, linked inside the primary flowchart.

SOP flowcharts are finest for:

• Advanced choices with a number of outcomes.
• Customer support eventualities.
• Troubleshooting processes.
• Duties requiring fast visible reference.

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3. SOP Guidelines

Greatest for: Balancing comprehensiveness with usability

Checklists guarantee consistency whereas preserving processes environment friendly and manageable. Fashionable guidelines design requires a considerate method to consumer expertise.

“I embody a ‘TL;DR’ model on the prime,” Lulham shares, describing her progressive method.

“That is simply what somebody who has already learn the doc might want to refer again to. The remainder of the doc shall be complete and clarify the assorted steps, why we do the duty the best way we do, and embody screenshots,” she provides.

This two-tier method serves each new customers who want detailed steering and skilled workers who simply want fast reminders. It is notably efficient for:

• High quality assurance processes.
• Common upkeep duties.
• Pre-launch verification.
• Security protocols.

Professional tip: Earlier than choosing a format, map out your course of on paper first. I’ve discovered this straightforward step saves hours of revision later, because it helps determine determination factors that may want a flowchart somewhat than a easy guidelines.