Tasks and SOPs are the basics of your business operations. If you aree wondering how to get your to-do list and your Standard Operating Procedures to talk to one another, then this blog post is for you!
Let’s talk first about why you probably have your to-do list and your Standard Operating Procedures in two separate places. Your to-do list tells you what tasks need to be completed, and your SOPs tell you how to do each task. Tasks and SOPs typically live in two different locations.
Separate Tasks from Processes
Tasks and to-do lists are generally housed in a project management tool or your CRM tool. Contact information for clients, project timeliness, pipelines, sales numbers, and all kinds of other information relating to clients and projects is also stored and managed here.
Your SOPs are usually stored separately in an SOP management tool, such as Google Drive or One Drive. Or you may organize your processes in a tool like Trainual.
Tasks and processes are stored in two separate software systems because of the way they are used. For team members who already know how to do the work, it is easier for them just to see the task and get the work done. Team members who are still learning need more information to complete each task. The SOPs are typically housed in a separate location because they are used for training and reference purposes.
Connecting the What and When with the How-To
The question is how can we get tasks and SOPS to connect? It is powerful to connect your to-do list with your Standard Operating Procedures. As a result, people have not only the “what” needs to be done but also the “how” it needs to be done.
The best way that I found to be able to do this is to make sure that your SOP is housed in the cloud. If your Standard Operating Procedures are in the cloud, you will be able to get the link to that particular process and then place it in the details of your task management tool. That way, whoever is doing the tasks regularly has ready access to be able to go back and review how to do the process.
When the Standard Operating Procedures are housed in a logical and separate place, new employees or employees who need a quick refresher can go through step-by-step to learn how to accomplish the processes.
Tasks and Processes are Complimentary
Your CRM or your project management tool does great at controlling what needs to happen. And your SOP is great at controlling why it needs to happen or how it needs to happen. They can communicate easily through a simple linking process. This allows all team members to have what they need when they need it.
At Process Partners, we specialize in helping service-based businesses define, optimize, and document their processes into Standard Operating Procedures.
To learn more about how we can help, schedule a free consultation!
