The Power of Knowing What to Do

When my parents had their fourth child, I doubt they ever imagined that she would grow up to be an amazing Technical Writer. From playing DI soccer (team captain and first-team All American) to coaching at the college level to finally finding my dream job as a tech writer, I’ve channeled my know-it-all, bossy tendencies into a successful life and satisfying career. 

After working in the corporate world for years, I wanted a change. I had an idea and the timing was right, so I took a chance and struck out on my own. My inspiration was information-based: I thought companies of all sizes could benefit from having their team’s tasks and processes captured and made accessible all in one place. 

I guessed that many companies (like those at which I'd worked) did NOT have anything like this for their teams. Not because they didn't want it, but because they simply didn't have the time or resources to create and maintain it.

I understood that a comprehensive guide of step-by-step instructions could be invaluable to all businesses. It would stop employees from spinning their wheels when they didn't know what to do. It would reduce the time employees routinely took (from their own projects) to provide help or answer questions from colleagues. It would also give managers and leaders the perfect place to add new information and update existing procedures so everyone on the team could always find it. 

We made a game-changing discovery when we started talking to businesses about how we could improve their bottom line by turning their company’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) into an online user guide.

At least 40 percent of the people we spoke with said, “Thanks, but our business doesn’t use Standard Operating Procedures.” 

Guess what?

EVERY company has Standard Operating Procedures

How can we know this? It's simple. The term "Standard Operating Procedure" is simply an official-sounding way of saying "all the tasks and procedures your employees do daily to keep your business running." 

Every company has tasks they need to complete. Every company has processes they need to follow. And the more consistently your employees manage these tasks and follow these processes, the more efficiently your company runs.