If you want a systematic approach to doing business that will enable you to repeat steps that bring success to your company and improve your business on a daily basis. In that case, you will need working procedures that your company’s staff will use.

So, how can you ensure that your staff use and will continue to use your working procedures? Clear, accessible documentation reduces confusion and increases the likelihood that staff will use the procedures. Let’s answer this question.

Why Do You Need Working Procedures?

Suppose you know that your business is a system composed of many different subsystems in the form of processes that enable normal operations of the company. In that case, you know that you need working procedures for each of the processes in place.

But, many times, I have seen how entrepreneurs put a lot of effort into systematizing their companies. They create and document all working procedures. However, their staff members don’t use them. Simply, these entrepreneurs struggle to ensure that their staff will use the already prepared working procedures.

These documented working procedures are official documents that you should maintain and keep up-to-date to ensure clarity and compliance. But if your staff members are not using them to bring results to the company, you will not achieve the results you want to achieve.

Often, these procedures are stored on paper, on an intranet, or on a server. It is important to keep all your procedures and related documents in a central location. In such a way, you will make them easily accessible to your staff members. Simply, such a central location ensures easy access and helps you maintain consistency and efficiency across your whole organization.

Introduction to Standard Operating Procedures

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are essential tools for any organization aiming to maintain consistency and efficiency in its day-to-day operations.

SOPs provide a clear outline of the steps involved in completing a specific task or process, ensuring that everyone in the business follows the same methods. By documenting these procedures, you will ensure that your company will reduce confusion, improve accuracy, and simplify internal processes.

Remember that implementing SOPs helps organizations to ensure consistency in their business processes, making it easier to train employees, execute policies, and ensure compliance with company standards.

Whether your business is large or small, having well-defined procedures in place is crucial for achieving efficiency and delivering reliable results. SOPs are not just about following rules—they are about creating a foundation for success in every process and task your organization performs.

Related: How to Develop a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

Working Procedures VS Work Instructions

Understanding the distinction between working procedures and work instructions is crucial for effective business operations, as both are similar but serve different purposes in guiding employees and ensuring consistency across organizational tasks.

Working Procedures (Standard Operating Procedures)

A working procedure is a comprehensive set of instructions that defines a particular way of performing a process, or part of a process, in relation to time.

Simply, they represent the fine-tuned formalization of a process, essentially a sequence of tasks within a company. Procedures are operational guidelines that reflect how policies can be implemented, acting as guides to action that are defined while keeping in view the company’s objectives, policies, and resources.

Со, а procedure is a set of written instructions that define the necessary steps required to perform the activities in the process itself. On the other side, a process defines what needs to be done, while a procedure defines how it needs to be done.

Working procedures are established ways of performing particular tasks that may involve a step-by-step approach needed to achieve ultimate results. They are meant for handling repetitive and regular events effectively and are relevant for controlling and coordinating activities.

In the organizational context, procedures outline the roles and responsibilities of employees and help prevent interference between workers or overstepping boundaries, which can lead to mistakes and misunderstandings.

Work Instructions

A work instruction describes how to carry out a specific activity through detailed steps. While a procedure contains step-by-step instructions for multiple activities, a work instruction focuses on a specific activity.

Simply, work instructions are highly detailed documents that describe individual work tasks in depth, following workflows and including best practices for each activity. They provide specific guidance and step-by-step instructions on how to perform a particular task or job.

Work instructions are the most detailed descriptions of a task, typically carried out by one person from start to finish in one sitting.

These documents clearly and precisely describe the correct way to perform certain tasks that may cause inconvenience or damage if not done in the established manner.

Key Differences Between Working Procedures and Work Instructions

Here are the differences between these two types of documentation in a nutshell:

• Level of detail and scope. Procedures are broader in scope and less detailed than work instructions. Also, they are more detailed than processes but not as detailed as work instructions. Procedures may include a group of related actions in one step, while work instructions have higher resolution, where each step is one action.
• Purpose and application. Procedures state the accepted way of doing something, while work instructions describe how to do something. In an organization, procedures are useful to outline the roles and responsibilities of employees, while work instructions guide how to do something effectively.
• Organizational level. Procedures span across multiple departments and many people, so they are good for big jobs like “Employee Benefits”. Work instructions, on the other hand, are tasks done in one sitting from start to finish by one person, like “Completing a Vacation Time Request Form”.
• Frequency of change. Work instructions change more often than processes and procedures, as they deal with operational details that need to be updated regularly. Procedures that are more strategic in nature tend to stay the same for longer periods.

Understand Your Business Processes

Before you can create effective standard operating procedures, you need a thorough understanding of your business processes.

You can start by identifying all the tasks and steps involved in your daily operations. Simply, map out each process, noting the responsibilities of every employee and the resources required to complete each step. This detailed approach allows you to see where procedures are needed to improve efficiency and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

Related: Business Process Mapping

Also, you must ensure continuous analysis of your business processes, because in this way, you can identify areas where errors occur or where consistency is lacking. This understanding is essential for creating SOPs that address real needs within your organization.

When you know exactly how each process works, you can develop procedures that help your team complete tasks correctly with optimal use of resources and meet regulatory compliance standards. This groundwork is the first step toward building a more efficient and reliable business.

Related: How to Build a System: Step-By-Step Guide

Implement Work Procedures

Why do you need to focus on implementation? Because it is clear that in a large number of companies there is a kind of standardized form when it comes to documenting procedures, but that little that can be done in a different way during implementation is an excellent opportunity to provide a competitive advantage for you.

You need to make sure your employees understand the new standard operating procedures and have the tools and resources they need to follow them. Start by yourself – provide clear instructions and training sessions that explain each procedure, the responsibilities involved, and the correct steps to complete each task. If you want to change your organization, you will need to start with yourself and ask what your employees would like most when learning new procedures.

However, if communication is not at the desired level, your implementation will just remain at the same level as other companies that struggle with procedure adoption. Effective implementation also requires open communication that goes outside your building.

You must encourage your employees to ask questions and seek input if they are unsure about any part of the process. You want to use open questions, where someone can give you different thoughts related to the procedures you are implementing.

Next, assign managers or team leaders to support staff as they adjust to the new procedures, and regularly check in to ensure everyone is following the procedures and address any challenges quickly.

By focusing on training, support, and clear communication, you can help your organization adopt new work procedures smoothly and consistently. In such a way, everything that was in your documented procedures without any practical application becomes much more structured and functional in real workplace situations.

How to Ensure That Your Staff Will Use Your Working Procedures

Now, let’s look at essential steps you can take in order to ensure your staff members will use your working procedures.

1. Document Your Working Procedures

First, you need to have documented working procedures in your company. The entire document should include all necessary steps, detailed steps, and any tools needed or materials required for each procedure.

You can’t expect someone to use and implement the specific procedure in their work if he doesn’t have something official in their hands, such as the documented working procedure. Yes, as a first you will need to make documentation that will contain all working procedures. This documentation should also include work instructions, especially work instructions for specific tasks that are more complex.

It does not matter if they are on hard copy paper or stored on the server in digital form. It is more important to be sure that they exist and are easily available to all staff who will need to use them. This is the first step you need to check if you want to start building commitment of your staff to your working procedures.

2. Procedures for Using Standard Operating Procedures

Yes, the second step is to ensure you have in place a procedure for using standard operating procedures. This helps ensure staff follow procedures consistently, which is essential for maintaining quality and efficiency.

The next thing you need to use to increase commitment and responsibility level about working procedures in your staff members is to create a special procedure for using the procedures. Probably sounds like a wild idea, but believe me, this is something that will help you in your efforts to develop a stable, systematized company.

Clear instructions on how to follow procedures are essential for ensuring consistency across the organization.

3. Enforce Policies and Procedures

You need to enforce policies and procedures to maintain consistency and compliance across your business. To do this effectively, set clear expectations and communicate the importance of following standard operating procedures. Make sure employees know what happens if they don’t follow procedures and provide regular reminders and training to reinforce best practices.

Do regular audits and reviews to check procedures are being followed. Use these to identify where additional support or training is needed. By enforcing policies and procedures consistently, your business will reduce errors, stay compliant with regulations, and create a culture where following procedures is the norm. It will also help your employees to do their job accurately and efficiently.

4. Ensure Clarity of Your Standard Operating Procedures

Your working procedures must be clear enough to become understandable and usable for your staff. Use concise language, short sentences, and active voice when writing procedures to promote better understanding.

Yes, you can’t expect that working procedures will be used and regularly implemented by your staff members if they are not clear enough to be understandable and usable. Well-written procedures, with clearly defined terms and relevant examples, help staff achieve job satisfaction by making tasks easier to follow and complete.

When you work on the creation of working procedures, have in mind that you will not implement them, but your staff will. Their level of education, experience, and way of thinking and behavior are different from yours. So, if you want to ensure that your staff will use the procedures, you need to ensure that they are clear and understandable enough, not for you, but for your staff members.

Test and practice each procedure to make sure they are clear and effective for everyone involved.

5. Staff Involvement in Creating Your Standard Operating Procedures

Involve your staff in creating and approving working procedures related to their work. Involving workers, managers, and all human resources in writing and approving procedures ensures that everyone responsible for implementation is included.

In my practical experience, individuals will accept something if they are involved in the planning and designing of that something. This collaborative approach is in the best interest of the company and supports effective decision-making.

On the other side, the people who work every day on the implementation of working procedures are the people who have high-level knowledge about the needs and requirements of the processes that they manage and operate every day.

Why not use your staff members to create powerful working procedures that your staff members will use in the future?

When staff write or help write the procedures, they are more likely to follow company policies.

6. Continuous Improvement

Ensure continuous improvements of your working procedures to be sure that your procedures work.

Testing and revising procedures, starting from the first draft, is essential for improvement. By conducting testing and making revisions, you can ensure that each procedure is refined and effective. Procedures should be performed and tested in practice to identify areas for improvement, especially for a complex process.

A first-time-created working procedure will not be perfect. That’s the fact. Sometimes, the lack of perfectionism can create resistance to change inside your staff members. So, they will refuse to use these non-perfect working procedures. But, mixing this point in this list with the previous to start the continuous improvement process of the procedures, they will quickly come close to perfection and will show your staff that they work and help them in their everyday tasks.

Consulting additional resources can help you understand the difference between initial and improved procedures and further support your improvement efforts.

7. It’s Not the Employee’s Fault, It’s Because of Bad Procedures

Explain to your staff that if something goes wrong and the specific procedure is followed, it’s not the employee’s fault; it’s because of the bad procedures.

Suppose your staff know that when they are using working procedures correctly in the way they are described, and that when tasks are performed according to procedures, including all necessary safety precautions and protective gear, staff can be confident in their job performance. In this way, the possible mistakes will not be their responsibility, but the procedure’s responsibility. In such a case, you will encourage your employees to use the procedures.

For each mistake, we will ask for improvements, so the same mistake will not happen again. So, the employee’s trust will increase.

8. Develop Employee Handbook

The employee handbook is a handbook especially useful for new employees as part of the onboarding process. This handbook provides them with essential information and guidance to help them integrate into the workplace.

9. Train Employees

It is really important to train your employees on how to use your standard operating procedures and how to be involved in improving them.

Training should include practice sessions where employees perform each step, as well as real-world examples to help them understand and apply procedures effectively.

10. Monitoring and Evaluation

Monitoring and evaluation are key to keeping your standard operating procedures up to date and relevant. Review your procedures regularly to make sure they still meet your business needs and comply with new regulations. Track employee compliance and gather feedback to identify any issues or areas for improvement.

Use this to update and refine your procedures so they remain clear and practical for your team. Provide additional training where needed to fill gaps in understanding or performance. By making monitoring and evaluation a part of your business routine, you’ll be more efficient, reduce errors, and your business will stay competitive and compliant in a changing world.

11. Reward Staff Members for Improvements

Reward the staff members for their support in procedure improvements and their efforts in using the working procedure on a daily basis.

Create and implement a specific reward system that will encourage your staff members to use and improve working procedures. This will increase a high level of awareness about the importance of working procedures to the success of your company.

Here is how you can reward employees while also improving the teamwork experience in your small business.