How to Write Standard Operating Procedure / SOP for Your Virtual Assistant

Standard Operating Procedures or SOP’s is a succinct way of saying "document your day to day processes to make it repeatable." Whether you call it a blueprint or a guide, it solves the same problem: educating your Virtual Assistant about the processes in your business. The knowledge of how to run your business shouldn't exist only in your head.

As author Michael Gerber famously wrote in the book E-Myth: Revisted

“You need to be working on your business, not in your business.”

Gerber emphasizes the importance of working on the business's development and growth, rather than getting bogged down in day-to-day tasks, which can be resolved by hiring a Virtual Assistant.

What type of SOP should you develop for your Virtual Assistant? And why should you write a Standard Operating Procedure for your Virtual Assistant?

While SOPs can come in different forms, we advise doing the easiest and quickest for you to create. It can be as simple as a Google Doc, or you could include diagrams and charts. The goal is to educate your Virtual Assistant in a way that will make them perform reliably and consistently for your business.

Know that it is an investment in your business

It’s easy to carry on performing the activities without documenting them or training your Virtual Assistant to do them. You may have told yourself, “I know better than anyone else; why would I waste the time training someone?"or “I can perform this task in 30 minutes rather than spending 2 hours documenting and training a Virtual Assistant on this."

Yet, if you want to scale your business and develop it into a process-oriented organization, you need to think differently. Consider breaking complex tasks into smaller tasks that a Virtual Assistant can perform without relying on dependent systems.

What are the steps to developing an SOP for your Virtual Assistant?

First, identify and summarize the task. Next, describe its purpose and end result. And finally, specify when it is to be performed while defining any situations that may arise. Even if you don't create SOPs for your entire business at once, break it down into quarterly initiatives - for example, you can start with 2-3 SOPs for each facet of your business at a time. You may develop SOPs for tasks like:

• initial screening calls to prospective clients

• a checklist for posting a blog

• qualifying inbound leads

• how to set up a new vendor in your banking or bill pay system

• a checklist for writing a social media post

• following up with unpaid invoices

Consider the structure and scalability that a well-documented SOP for hiring a Virtual Assistant can bring to your business. Leveraging your SOPs for this process helps make your operations scalable, prevents process failures, ensures standards compliance, and reduces errors and corrective actions.

And, it's worth it to note that long-term, you might eventually consider selling your company. Your Standard Operating Procedures add significant value alongside your client list and products. Well-documented routines demonstrate to potential buyers that your company is organized and can run smoothly without your direct involvement. No matter what your future plans, it's important to write a Standard Operating Procedure for Your Virtual Assistant.