Best Practices
How creating standard operating procedures helps your ed program thrive
Creating standard operating procedures may not sound like the most fun ever, but good SOPs can revolutionize your administrative process. While there’s plenty of room for creativity in education, creativity can only happen if you have a strong operational foundation. It’s easy to put off establishing and documenting processes when there’s so much to do, but you can save staff so much time and frustration with this simple step.
Whether you’re depending on paid staff or volunteers, SOPs make every member of your team a little bit more independent and potentially a lot less frustrated. This simple guide to creating SOPs gives you everything you need to standardize procedures across your education program.
What is a Standard Operating Procedure for an ed program?
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a document that describes a process step-by-step so everyone on your team knows how to do it. They may include screenshots, photos, or links to help any staff member follow a process. Education programs use SOPs to make sure the people on their administrative and instructor teams can figure out how to complete everyday processes like registering students, or occasional tasks like issuing a refund.
SOPs are often stored online or in a shared folder where all members of the team can access them. Some programs also choose to create a printed copy, but keep in mind that SOPs are living documents. They can change with technology, as needs change, and when someone discovers a more efficient way to do things.
Why education programs need SOPs
Every organization can benefit from SOPs, but they’re especially important if you have a small staff, or work with volunteers who may come and go. Nonprofit burnout is a real threat, and you want people to be able to take vacation without fielding dozens of phone calls or leaving the office unable to function.
Imagine a big storm is expected in your area and you need to reschedule all of Thursday’s classes. You shouldn’t have to call Betsy, who happens to be at her daughter’s wedding in California, to figure out the process for doing that. Instead, you can just open up your SOP document and be guided step-by-step through the process.
Then, of course, there’s staff turnover to consider. You shouldn’t have to reinvent the wheel every time someone leaves your team. And productivity is lost if new employees need to be taught step-by-step how to handle each task, or worse, are left to muddle through and hope they did it right.
Education program procedures that need SOPs
You can create SOPs for almost any process that happens in your office. The need for specific ones varies depending on your program and its procedures. However, there are several processes that every program should standardize.
- Posting classes to your course catalog
- Registering students over the phone
- Canceling a class
- Rescheduling a class
- Issuing a refund
- Waiting list administration
- Creating a new student profile
- Emergency response plans
The good news is that if you already use a quality class registration software like CourseStorm, some of these procedures may already exist. Just visit our knowledge library to get step-by-step instructions for many of these processes.
How to write a Standard Operating Procedure
The process of creating SOPs will require some upfront effort, but you’ll save tons of time and headaches in the long run. Having a standard procedure means there’s no guesswork and tasks get done right the first time. Here’s our SOP for how to create an SOP.
- Title your SOP with the name of the task
ex. Add A Class to The Course Catalog - Include the scope and purpose. In other words, what is the goal of this SOP? Are there other SOPs that might be similar? Make sure your team understands when they should use this one.
Ex. Add a single course to the course catalog. Procedure for adding multiple courses at once can be found here. - Work step-by-step through the process, noting each step as you go. Make sure you list all parts of every step and include enough detail for someone who has never done it before. Don’t assume the reader knows what library you use for stock photos or how to set kids class age restrictions. Include any images, screenshots, or links that help clarify each step.
- Share it with the team to make sure you’ve covered all of the essential steps. Ideally, you should get feedback from someone who does the process regularly, and from someone new to it.
- Include a revision date. Everytime you update the procedure, change this date. That way people know they have the most recent version.
- Share the SOP with your team. An SOP only works if everyone knows where to find it, so make sure each member of your team has access to the place where SOPs are stored.
Following these steps will help you make useful SOPs that save time and improve the quality of customer service that students can expect from you.
What to do if your procedures are too complicated
Sometimes writing out a procedure can help you realize that the processes you have in place are just too complicated. When that happens, look for opportunities to simplify. You may be able to automate some steps: like waiting list management or introduce the right technology to simplify your process.
Learn how the right enrollment tool can save you time and effort.
Natasha Wahid
Natasha is a seasoned marketing leader with a curious mind and a passion for storytelling and community. A mission-driven person, Natasha has spent the majority of her career in industries that impact people, including HR and education technology. A firm believer in lifelong learning, Natasha is currently sharpening her roller skating skills and dusting off her Italian.