The Five Rules Nobody Tells You About SOP Implementation

Part 3: If People Can't Find It... They Won't Use It

In the last newsletter, we talked about Rule #2: Managers Make SOPs Matter. Managers have to train from the processes, coach from the processes, and reinforce their use.

But there's a problem.

What happens when the employee can't find the process?

Or even worse…

When a manager can't find the process during the training of new employee or managing an existing employee.

If a manager struggles to locate the SOP they need, and then they bail on their search, what lesson have they just taught their reporting employee?

That they do what any reasonable person would do.

They wing it or they ask somebody.

"Hey, Susan... how do I do this?"

Susan answers the question. The employee gets back to work. Problem solved.

Except it isn't.

Because Susan just became the process.

Or Susan doesn't know the correct way either and just taught their peer the wrong way.

And when that happens 10, 20, or 30 times a week across your company, you've created exactly what we've been trying to eliminate - People-dependency.

This brings us to Rule #3: If People Can't Find the SOP, they Won't Use the SOP.

People follow the path of least resistance.

If asking Susan takes 15 seconds but finding the SOP takes five minutes, they're going to ask Susan.

Every. Single. Time.

So if you want employees to use your processes, finding the answer has to be as easy, if not easier and quicker than asking someone for it.

Here are three ways to make that happen.

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1. Stop Organizing SOPs Like a Filing Cabinet

Most companies organize their SOPs by where the document happens to live.

Google Drive.
Dropbox.
SharePoint.
A binder.
Videos somewhere else.
Maybe a few more inside somebody's head.

That's not a system.

That's SOP Chaos.

Putting all those documents into one giant folder doesn't solve the problem either. You've just created a more organized version of the same mess.

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2. Organize Processes Around the Employee

This is where your organizational chart becomes incredibly useful.

Don't make employees search through every process in the company. Show them the processes that apply to their position.

Your CSR should see CSR processes.
Your Service Manager should see Service Manager processes.
Your Accounts Receivable person should see Accounts Receivable processes.

This is one of the reasons we built TouchStone around People → Positions → Processes.

Instead of asking: "Where did somebody save that SOP?"

The employee can ask: "What processes belong to my position?"

That's a much easier question to answer.

They can click on their position on your org chart and immediately see all of the processes that belong to them.

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3. Make the Process the First Place They Look

This is where management comes back into the picture.

When an employee asks: "How do I do this?"

Don't immediately give them the answer.

Ask: "Did you check the process?"

If they can't find it, help them find it. If the process doesn't answer their question, improve it.

But don't become their human Google search.

Every time you answer a question that's already got an SOP, you make asking you easier than using the process. And that's how people-dependency gets reinforced.

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The Bigger Picture

This isn't really about keeping your SOPs neat and tidy. It's about building a business that doesn't depend on certain people being the only people that know certain things.

We had a client whose estimator was the only person who knew their estimating software intimately. After all, he was the company's only estimator. And he was the one who chose and purchased the estimating software for the company. And he was the only employee who was trained on the software.

In fact, he was quite proud that he was the only person who understood the software and knew what it could do. And, he felt like it gave him job security.

Then the estimator got a better offer from another company and gave our client 2-weeks notice. We had to scramble to get the processes documented for who to estimate and manage a project using their project management software.

Additionally, if your employees have to find Susan, or the Service Manager, or you, every time they need an answer, you haven't really systemized the business. You've just moved the dependency around.

Operational Independence happens when the knowledge of how your business operates belongs to the business, not to a handful of people.

That's how you build a company that can grow with control and confidence. And ultimately, it's how you build a business that can run whether you're there or not.

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Action Item

Try a simple test this week.

Choose one employee and ask them: "If you forgot how to do one of the important tasks in your position, tell me what would you do. Show me how you would find the answer."

Don't tell them where to look. Watch what they do.

If they can quickly and easily put their hands on the SOP, great.

If they start searching through folders, asking coworkers, or looking at you for the answer, you've just found your next implementation problem.

Because if people can't find the process, they won't use it.

Next in the series: Rule #4: Every Process Needs an Owner.