Part of what we do for our clients is document, analyze, and improve their Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Every time, without fail, after we have finished the first phase of documenting they feel as if the process is complete. Wrong.

When we come to this stage we ask the following… How will you know when a process needs to be improved?” or “What metrics will you use to define a process’s success or failure?”

A lot of times we get the answer, “If things just stop working as well.” OK that’s a good start, but how will you truly know where to look? What to adjust or test? If the entire chain isn’t performing, is it part of the process at the beginning? The middle? Or is it in the end? How do you differentiate between a personnel issue, a software issue, or a process issue?

To start, having a clear definition of what a pass or a fail in each major step in your processes means. If X is the result, that means Y is not performing, let’s focus here. This helps to narrow the focus much closer to the root problem, making your time to solve the issue much shorter and fewer mistakes are made.

To add to this, hold regular reviews for these processes. These could be monthly, quarterly, or even weekly if it is a new process to stay on top of the feedback and outcomes.

And yes, do these even if everything is running smoothly. The world moves fast, we need to constantly look for improvements or keep up with future trends. It is also key to stay ahead of any possible future issues and avoid creating bureaucracy where it is not needed. Lastly, it can be used as a refresher to make sure everyone is on the same page. This is particularly important for processes that are not utilized as often.

This is a similar process an athlete uses when identifying if a change in routine is needed or adjusting diet, or maybe just if an extra day of rest is for the best. They know what their performances should look and feel like when training. They are given strict parameters on when changes are needed. They are constantly monitoring and measuring their competition’s performance improvement and testing different ways they can improve, even if things are feeling great.

To optimize, you first need to standardize. But in order to really optimize, you can’t settle for the standard once the systems are in place.