You can have the best memory in the world, but there comes a time when you need to get the ins and outs of your business down on paper. Let’s hear it for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)! SOPs take all of that institutional knowledge you have in your head and put it somewhere other people can access it and use it.
SOPs? They’re kind of a big deal, especially as your company grows. This past year, not only has Oh Snap! brought on a ton of new staff, but we’ve needed to make sure we had plans in place to make sure everything continued smoothly while I was on maternity leave. (Spoiler: it did.)
I get it, though – as a small business owner it’s hard to think through all of the knowledge you hold and turn it into systems and processes for other people to use. In the short-term it might feel easier to do it all yourself, but the long-term will be a big gotcha! And let’s face it: life has a habit of chucking curve balls at us, so even if we think we’ve got it all handled, there might be a situation where we’re suddenly OOO and can’t be on the phone or email walking team members through day-to-day tasks.
Over the past year, the Oh Snap! team got ahead of those gotchas with:
1. Process Simplification and Enhancement. We’ve updated our internal processes to be more efficient and simple, and we’ve worked to make sure that clients and team members all understand (and love!) any changes.
2. SOP Development. We’ve written down every process in an SOP (and I mean literally everything, from client strategies to time sheets). This has helped us standardize our processes and systems across the board – guesswork and frantic emails no more!
3. Team Training. Team buy-in matters! We’ve hosted a bunch of team trainings over the last few months to help us develop and grow as a team – and to make sure that everyone is up to date on the new processes and knows where to go to access what they need.
A social media agency has a TON of moving parts. It’s a fast-paced, creative environment, and we’re creating work that spans multiple platforms (any of which could change up their algorithms or expectations at any moment)! Having SOPs (and SOPs for our SOPs…) has made life so much easier and more efficient – and removes the risk that a doctor’s appointment or much-needed vacay could cause the whole house of cards to come tumbling down.
If you’re a busy small business owner and you’ve been slacking on your SOPs, this is your rallying cry, friends! Get those processes out of your head and on to the page so that when you’re hiring (or just want to step back from the coalface) things carry on smoothly. Do it for your socials. Do it for your account management. Do it for every part of your business, and kick back knowing that the entire future of your business doesn’t live only inside your head!
Need some help whipping your social media SOPs into shape? You know who to call.