Convincing your employees to read pages of dry policies and procedures, especially on a regular basis, is never the easiest task. While documentation of your business processes is important for consistency and clarity, this documentation only becomes valuable if your team members actually reference it.
So what’s the key to making your standard operating procedures (SOPs) more interesting to your team? Here, 10 members of the Young Entrepreneur Council explore this question and share their top tips for making your company’s SOPs something your employees actually want to use and read.
Members represented from left to right.
Photos courtesy of individual members.
1. Gamify the experience
A creative way to encourage your employees to use and read your company’s SOPs is to gamify the process. For example, you could create a game or competition that rewards employees for successfully completing tasks in accordance with their SOPs or for identifying and correcting any errors or inconsistencies in the SOPs themselves. This can make the process of using and reading your SOPs more fun and engaging, while also encouraging your employees to participate more actively. Additionally, you can involve employees in creating your SOPs and incorporate their feedback to identify potential challenges or roadblocks upfront, ensure procedures are relevant, useful, and easy to understand, and foster a sense of ownership and commitment, making its use is more likely. – Lauren Marsicano, Marsicano + Leyva PLLC
2. Try an alternative format
Use a tool like Notion to create SOPs in a format that is easy to digest and can contain a mix of text and images. No one wants to read a 20 page document, but adding some life through Notion will make SOPs easier to navigate and more enjoyable to read. -Josh Weiss, Reggie
3. Consider how people consume information today
An SOP is crucial to ensure the consistency and quality of your product or service. But let’s be real: most SOPs are boring, so no one really wants to read them. So how can you make sure your employees actually use and read your SOPs? One key tip for encouraging employees to use an established SOP is to think about how people consume information today. We see everyone using their phones, not holding books, right? Therefore, writing a thick manual with dry and boring language meant to sound official is not ideal. Always keep the SOP short and sweet. Nobody wants to read a novel. Make sure it is as easy to understand as possible by using clear and concise language. Even better, make it a live document that can be interacted with on a smartphone using embedded videos and helpful links. – Richard Fong, Trusted Technology
4. Focus on the value you provide them
One tip for making your business SOPs something your employees will actually want to use is to involve them in the SOP creation process while focusing on the value the SOPs can provide to them. Instead of viewing SOPs as another set of rules and regulations to follow, emphasize the ways SOPs can help your employees get more done in less time. This can help shift the focus from compliance to the benefits of following SOPs. For example, as an employee, using an SOP as a tool to get time back in your day is a much more attractive and motivating proposition than using an SOP to replace your creative decision-making with a factory-line style process. – Rob Hoffman, contact studies
5. Make them searchable
A great way to make sure your company’s SOPs are something your employees will actually want to use and read is to make them easy to access and search. Creating a central repository or knowledge base for all SOPs ensures that they are quickly accessible via keywords and search terms, making it easy for employees to find the information they need without going through pages of irrelevant content. By making SOPs easily accessible and searchable, you ensure that your team has quick access to any pertinent information when needed, increasing their interest in following the procedures outlined in these documents. -Pratik Chaskar, Spectra
6. Make sure they are complete and easy to understand
One tip for making your business SOPs something your employees will actually want to use and read is to make sure the SOPs are easy to understand and comprehensive. This means that they should be broken down into simple steps and should include all the relevant information. This is effective because it ensures that employees can quickly and easily understand what they need to do and why without feeling overwhelmed or frustrated. Additionally, a comprehensive SOP will help keep employees on the same page, which can help improve efficiency and accuracy. – Rachel Beider, MODERN MASSAGE PRESS
7. Lead by example
As the leader of your organization, you must lead by example. The best leaders convey their vision at every meeting while demonstrating the regularly applied SOP. For example, if you’re explaining a task to a team member and why it’s important, always tie that task back to your SOP or mission so you can create a mental connection. When praising team members, highlight how they achieved success by following the SOP. This will encourage others to do the same. Developing team habits is easier if they believe in why they are doing it. -Andy Karuza, Nacho Nacho
8. Update them regularly
It can be difficult to get staff to reference SOPs on a daily basis. Instead, schedule regular updates to existing SOPs so that everyone can contribute to improving that documentation while also refreshing their memories. The use of SOPs is especially important during new employee training, and this ensures that the new employee and her trainer are familiar with the most up-to-date processes. – Firas Kittaneh, Amerisleep Mattress
9. Consider your design and layout
Researchers state that 83% of human learning occurs visually, so using concise, easy-to-read bullets, graphs, and charts can be extremely helpful in getting your point across. You can also use color codes to distinguish different types of information or create headings and subheadings to help organize material. Remember to keep SOPs short and clear. Nobody wants to read a long document filled with dense paragraphs. Try to break the information into short, easy-to-digest sections. For long processes, use hierarchical steps with main steps and sub-steps. Employees are a part of the company’s audience and, just as with customers and external audiences, better engagement with information depends on delivery. A reader does not need coercion when the content is attractive. -Tonika Bruce, Lead Nicely, Inc.
10. Cut the filling
One tip I have for making SOPs more valuable is to remove the padding. When creating a resource that employees use regularly, having unnecessary information is detrimental. Identify the critical steps and information that must be described in an SOP and eliminate the rest. By keeping only the crucial information, your team members are much more likely to use the SOP, as they will be able to quickly and efficiently gather the information they are looking for. -Jared Weitz, United Capital Source Inc.
Source: news.google.com