A remarkable specialization has naturally evolved in our business services.  A common thread in my work with clients this past year has been developing Standard Operating Procedures (SOP).  This skill began while I was working with the federal government.  There was a need to have all the specific procedures and processes in writing.

Why is it so important to have a developed SOP?  What if the time came for me to move on to another opportunity and into another position?  All the other secretaries, executive assistants, and I working with the federal government understood the importance of coverage and supporting each other.  What if one of us had a medical or family emergency?  How would we know how to fill in and properly provide the assistance to the staff they supported?  Of course, in general, we answer the telephones, arrange conference calls, set up travel, serve as timekeepers, provide the necessary assistance with training, sort mail, and other administrative duties.  However, what is often misunderstood is the fact that each office has a different personality and set of preferences.

While a generic SOP of contacts and general procedures can be copied, it must be properly detailed and tailored to the needs of each specific office environment and supported staff.  What are the travel preferences?  What are the routine tasks and reoccurring projects?  What tasks are more crucially followed?  What is special about each office?  All these questions must be answered. 

I found as I was developing the SOP for the office I supported that it evolved with the turnover of staff and supervisory focuses.  Overall procedures changed with different developments in systems. The SOP had to be tweaked ever so often and updated properly.  The intention was to provide a training tool for the next secretary or any others covering in my absence.  The SOP also ended up serving as a valuable reference guide for me in consolidating contacts and templates all in one central binder.

As I have grown in this administrative assistant business, SOP development has transferred over as a valuable end product I can deliver to our clients.  As I work with clients, I jot down all the procedures and processes and consolidate them into one document.  I can reference this document as I assist them with growing their businesses, pass it on to train another assistant to carry on the client’s needs, and/or deliver it to the client as a tool in their office management structuring.

One of my client’s goals is to run like McDonald’s.  As budget and staffing needs evolve, the SOP remains as a training tool that can evolve and be inherited by the next staff.  Developing an SOP helps to clarify and simplify the routine work flow.  As something is put down in writing, the client can review it more clearly and understandably.  The client can see what is entailed in delivering routine projects and tasks to either understand the time it takes or to further streamline and eliminate unnecessary steps.  This further helps in the overall day-to-day efficiency and functions.

As I have a degree in education, I find writing an SOP very easy.  I write it in everyday language, so it’s easy to understand and follow.  I breakdown the steps as simply and detailed as possible so that anyone can follow the procedures and processes.  This is another reason it sometimes takes time to develop the SOP.  A step that may be taken for grant it may actually need to be spelled out.  It is sometimes helpful to have the SOP practiced to discover missing components.

I have enjoyed providing SOPs to my clients.  It is a substantial product of the business and not just a service I provide.  Depending on the depth and complexities of the procedures and processes, it may take time to learn each client’s world.  Just like the different offices that I worked in the federal government, each client has their specialties, preferences, different projects and services, and systems they work and utilize.  Those systems require training and instructional detailing. 

I deliver a working SOP as the client’s needs will change and evolve over time.  It’s important to review the SOP periodically to match it and adjust it as needed.  It can also serve as a realignment tool as unnecessary habits and behaviors re-emerge or as new and unnecessary processes may emerge.  It is what I have heard referred to as a best practice in business development.