October 2005

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<I>October 2005</I></div> <div> <I>The following article was first published in the Eastern Daily Press' 'The Business'  on 12 October 2005</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>In praise of </B><B><U>sop</U></B><B>piness</B></div> <bR> <div> Many years ago, during my service with the U S Air Force, there were times when I, like many before me, found certain aspects of the regulated environment a bit tiresome.  There were dozens of regulations for this and hundreds of procedures for that and occasionally it felt as if using one's brain was actually discouraged.  I just accepted it as part of being in the military, where, if for no other reason, doing things `by the book' might some day keep me alive.  </div> <bR> <div> However, as I progressed in my role as a communications intelligence analyst and took on responsibility for rapid and accurate reporting to national authorities on the mission we were tasked with, I came to understand more clearly the need for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) in this sensitive arena.  SOPs helped keep things focused and ensured that only information on activities that met strict customer criteria was reported upon.  </div> <bR> <div> So what's this got to do with small business in Norfolk?  Well, 30 years on and since starting to work mainly with smaller, growing businesses I have come to even more fully appreciate the importance of having a standardised way of doing things.  I meet organisations every week that have few if any organised systems in place for running the business.  They carry on with their day to day work, depending largely on the experience (and the memory) of their staff to ensure that their products or services are delivered in a similar manner to each customer.  And, in so doing, they are leaving their businesses vulnerable in several ways.</div> <bR> <div> I think that even the smallest businesses can benefit from Standard Operating Procedures for most of the key processes that affect their operations.  Those benefits include:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Reducing risk in the business.  When a key process is understood only by one person (too often this is the owner) there is serious risk to the business should that person be off work with a protracted illness or should they decide to leave the company.  </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">SOPs can prove a valuable resource for training your staff.  If you have the procedures for a business-critical process clearly documented, it is far easier to train new staff and bring them up to speed quickly, and also it provides the means of multi-skilling existing staff.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Above all, SOPs can help any business to ensure that they deliver consistently high standards of</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Quality - by working to clearly defined standards, achieved by proven and repeatable methodologies. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700dc00000000.png" HEIGHT="15" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Customer service - by removing the vagaries of `personal service' where one employee might be excellent with customers, whilst others are awful.  Training all customer-facing staff to one set of standards and measuring their performance against those standards is the best way to keep your customers happy.</div> <bR> <div> Try asking your staff whether they all know how to perform key tasks in the same way to the same standards, or survey your customers on whether they were treated to a consistently high level of customer care.  The responses you get might surprise you.</div> <bR> <div> Far from being cumbersome, bureaucratic barriers to success, properly thought-out and consistently applied Standard Operating Procedures can make any business a better place to work and more successful at providing high-quality goods or services to satisfied customers.</div> </td> <td valign="top" width=180 BGCOLOR="#CC3333" TEXT="#080000"> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>