FREE What Does SOP Stand for in Business? [ Procedures, How to Integrate ]

SOP or standard operating procedures are a set of guidelines or a manual, when used in terms of business, is essentially the worker policy most companies have today. The uses of SOP in business can indeed benefit the company.

SOP in retail marketing has their own standard operating procedure as well. It involves what the person in charge must do when a shipment has been either delayed, damaged, or is unable to be transported. The SOP here would be that the person in charge would need to contact the delivery company and request the estimated time of arrival of the goods and the reasons for the delay in delivery.

Standard Operating Procedures for Small Business

Remember, a standard operating procedure is a set of guidelines or rules every employee of a company must follow so as to create a sense of orderliness and uniformity among employees of the company. Now, you may be wondering what the standard operating procedure for small businesses are. Well, here they are:

• Standard work schedules
• Fixed date of pay
• Employee attendance
• Employee performance
• Customer service
• Store policies

 

Basically, anything that makes a business a business is a standard operating procedure. Every action made to improve the business is a part of the SOP. For further reference and convenience, please feel free to check out our Sample SOP Templates to allow you to easily grasp the definition of standard operating procedures.

How to Integrate SOPs into Business Process Structure 

• Simplify the business process structure. Don’t misunderstand. A complex business process structure can be used, however, using a simple business process structure would allow you to add extra processes to the structure.
• Match your standard operating procedures with parts of the business process structure that are relevant to it.
• Always monitor whether the addition or renewal of a standard operating procedure is benefiting or degrading that portion of the business process structure.

 

You may have noticed that standard operating procedures sound military in nature. You are not completely wrong. Standard operating procedures are partially contributed by the military, due to its strict standards and guidelines for every soldier’s action. Our sample SOP include army SOP template if you are interested, for more reference. 

Why Should We Have MOPs and SOPs for business?

MOP’s (not the things you use to clean your floors) stands for Maintenance Operation Protocol. Both SOP and MOP are used in small businesses as a set of guidelines or outlines on what to do when certain situations occur that is not part of your training or you’re not capable of handling. MOPs are used as a means to maintain or keep a piece of equipment in working condition, while an SOP, as discussed earlier, is a set of instructions or guidelines to be used as a means of performing one’s task efficiently. Now, the reason for the need of both MOP and SOP is because these two procedures can be used hand in hand, in the sense that both processes can complement one another in which the SOP of maintaining a piece of equipment is the outline for the MOP.

If you need any further reference, feel free to search for our SOP format, and free SOP template.