HOW TO WRITE SOP - Connecting Asia€¦ · POSSIBLE FORMAT OF A SOP 1) Title Page –This can...

HOW TO WRITE

STANDARD OPEATING PROCEDURE (SOP)

Walaikorn Rattanadechakul, Ph.D

Expert on Plant Import Export System and Agriculture Factor

Office Agriculture Regulation, Department of Agriculture Thailand

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Regional Workshop on Facilitating Trade for Agricultural Goods in ASEAN

29-30 July, 2019, Da Nang, Viet Nam

Procedures are essential for making an organization as efficient

as possible. An organization already has processes – they’re the

repeatable works or do every day.

Example: document checking, inspection report,

approving consignment, issuance PC, etc.

A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is, on the other hand, the

documentation of the process. It helps establish things like what are

the different steps, what’s the scope, who’s in charge, etc.

Regional Workshop on Facilitating Trade for Agricultural Goods in ASEAN, 29-30 July, 2019, Da Nang, Viet Nam

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SOPS ARE HELPFUL FOR 2 THINGS…

• Onboarding officers – It’s hard to remember the exact step-by-step of

every process. Documentation makes it easy for your officer to get up

to speed on how to execute processes

• Enforcing Best Practices – There’s always an instance of a process

that is more efficient than the others. You can establish this process as

the “best practice” with a standard operating procedure, making sure

that all of your officers follow the best variation of the process.

• Both of these benefits can have a significant impact on your

organization, making the work of your officers more efficient.


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ELEMENTS OF WRITING A SOP

Considerations

Before we dive into the nits and grits of how to write an SOP, you should

have a good idea of what the document includes.

Does it also serve being a part of a process for introducing a

Quality Management System (QMS) in line with an ISO-standard?

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POSSIBLE FORMAT OF A SOP

1) Title Page – This can include the name of the process, the name of the

department that the SOP applies to, etc.

2) Table of Contents – If the document is too long, you can always make

a table of contents to make it easier to navigate.

3) Scope – Some processes can span different departments, teams, etc.

* To make sure you don’t make the SOP document overcomplicated,

* specify the scope of the procedure you’re documenting.

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4) Terminology – Define any complicated term. Think, abbreviations,

acronyms, etc.

5) The procedure – process documentation, map, etc.

6) Supplementary Information – This can be just about anything,

depending on the process.

For example, Information on the machinery & equipment (where’s what), health & safety warnings, etc.

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7) Metrics – Being able to measure process efficiency is always useful.

By defining the metrics in your SOP, you can always check back on

whether the process is efficient over time. If, for example, you

discover that a process is not as efficient as usual, there might be

something wrong with the process.

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PROCESS DOCUMENTATION

• Process documentation is a workflow with the exact steps needed to

carry out a process.

• A workflow diagram can be extremely helpful with analysis. By seeing

how the organization works from a top-down perspective, you can

identify it’s potential flaws, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.

On top of that, the workflow diagram can be extremely helpful for your

officers, as a means of double-checking what needs to be done, who’s

responsible, etc.

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PROCESS DOCUMENTATION

• Define the scope: In order for any documentation to succeed, it’s crucial at the start to determine what the scope of the project is; which processes will be covered.

• Define the inputs and outputs: Make sure you are clear what will be included in the information being gathered for the documentation and what format the outputs from the project will take.

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• Be aware of the audience: Documentation is only useful if it is

understood by the people it is being created for, so make sure you are

aware of your audience and their expectations and requirements.

• Gather the information: This can take the form of the team

brainstorming the steps required to complete the process being

documented, or it can also include wider sessions with staff and

stakeholders to gather as much data and information as possible.

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• Organize: When the information is all in and the steps are defined for

the process, you need to organize them all into a sequential list,

ensuring that it accurately reflects how the work is done to complete

the process and isn’t too complicated.

• Visualize: Presenting the list in a workflow diagram is the key output of

the process documentation, making it easier for everyone involved to

see how the process works, so care and attention needs to be taken to

ensure clarity and practicality.

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• Share and get feedback: The brainstorming and feedback sessions as

part of the creation of this documentation were important, but further

sessions afterward will be even more useful because those involved

will have the visual aid to stimulate discussion and debate.

• Optimize the Process: If any improvements have been suggested and

test them and they prove to be successful, apply them to the process

documentation. It is intended to be a living document that remains

active and used for as long as the process is active.

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• Monitor: Now that there is process documentation in place, a key part

of organization process management is to continually monitor the

efficiency and outputs of the process to see whether the implemented

changes are having a positive impact and also to see what else might

be causing issues.

• Share again: Once the process documentation is signed-off by

whoever needs to sign it off, it should be shared as widely internally as

possible. If this is the first time you have been through this procedure,

it should be used as an exemplar for documenting other processes.

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FIVE STEPS TO CONSIDER WRITING A SOP

• Step 1: Gather the Team

• Step 2: Define the Scope

• Step 3: Documenting the Procedure

• Step 4: List Relevant Information

• Step 5: Define Metrics, Improve the Process & Update the SOP

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STEP 1: GATHER THE TEAM

• Before you can even document the process, you’ll need to pinpoint all

the important information.

• Chances are, you’re not the one who carries out the process on a daily

basis. While you may have a good general idea of what the process

consists of, you probably don’t know all the small details that can

really affect the outcome.

• So, to really get the procedure down correctly, you need to consult

with the employees that do it on a regular basis.

• Set up a meeting and call all the relevant employees. Ask them to take

you through the process step-by-step, explaining every little detail.

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STEP 2: DEFINE THE SCOPE

• Sometimes, processes are interconnected. They can span different

teams, departments, etc.

• If you start documenting the process without really defining the scope,

the end result might end up being too long & complicated.

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STEP 2: DEFINE THE SCOPE

For a real-life example, we can look at a procedure for producing a SOP

• A writer creates a draft of a SOP

• An editor reviews it & gives feedback

• The expert team is being consulted on its relevance and details

• The expert team sends feed back

• This feed back is being processed by the writer

• Again an editor review is needed

• The SOP is finalised and submitted for approval

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STEP 3: DOCUMENTING THE PROCEDURE

• This is the bulk work of writing a standard operating procedure

actually creating the documentation.

• The most basic option here is using a checklist. This tends to look

less like a SOP and more like a grocery list.

• You write down the exact tasks needed to be completed for the

process to be successful.

• Checklists, however, are very limiting. For more complex processes,

you have different events & outcomes, so you can’t really fit all that

into a simple to do list.

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STEP 4: LIST RELEVANT INFORMATION

• In most cases, simply looking at a process flowchart isn’t enough to

give you all the information about how to carry out the procedure.

• You might, for example, need to know where a certain piece of

equipment is located. Or, you might need to know the login

credentials for some online software.

• Hence, you should list out any information that’s necessary to finish

the process.

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Examples:

• Methodology – What is the right way of carrying out a process step?

This can be just about anything. For example, let’s say you’re on

boarding a new employee. The process step could be “input employee

information to HR software.” The additional information would be the

type of information – name, last name, date of birth, etc.

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Examples:

• Necessary Tools – If you need to use certain tools to complete a

process step, you should mention how to do that. For example, “use

machinery in room 201” or “use madeupcrmsite.com and use the

credentials provided at randomlink.com”

• Health and Safety Warnings – If the procedure can be hazardous to

someone’s health, you mention that in the SOP, as well as any

necessary precautions needed for working on the process.

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STEP 5: DEFINE METRICS

IMPROVE THE PROCESS & UPDATE THE SOP

• In principle the SOP is finished, but maybe some elements need to

be revised or better defined.

• First, you need to define the right metrics. You can’t really improve

something you can’t measure.

• Get your definitions all right

• Within the phytosanitary world the changes are happening every

day, a scheme for revision could also be part of the SOP.

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CONCLUSIONIMPLEMENTING THE SOP

• Make the SOP accessible for all of the inspectors.

• The best option is to make it online (accessible by laptop/tablet)

• Other options are have it printed.

• Where should it be filed/located.

• There should be a signed original SOP filed at a central place.

• Who should be in charge of the original SOPs, a quality manager?

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

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HOW TO WRITE SOP - Connecting Asia€¦ · POSSIBLE FORMAT OF A SOP 1) Title Page –This can...

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