Do you have Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for your business?
Why do you need an SOP?
Why do you need an SOP?I can hear you asking. What do cherries have to do with Standard Operating Procedures. I am so glad you asked!
On Tuesday, I spent the early morning with 14 pounds of cherries. Some of the most delicious cherries I have had in a long time. But, with those delicious cherries came lots and lots of pits.
My morning started with my plan of action, my SOP of sorts. I knew the tools that I would need and the approximate amount of time it would take to accomplish the task. Tools were gathered, cherries washed and then the process began.
Update your SOP
Around 5 minutes into the process I found one of my hacks needed refining. If you have ever pitted cherries you know they can leave a nasty stain on your hands and nails. I decided that my hack would be to wear gloves. What I discovered was because the gloves did not fit snugly on my hands, the pit remover tool I used was catching the glove. Every time I retracted the tool, pinching and pulling would occur. Time to refine the SOP to read “one pair of disposal gloves, well-fitting”.
After another 15 minutes or so I found another hack that needed refining. My process was reaching into the basket, pulling an individual cherry towards a small bowl for the pits and then putting the pitted cherry into another pan. After a few minutes, I quickly reached the conclusion that I was wasting time and effort by reaching into the basket for each individual cherry. I increased speed and efficiency tremendously by putting a cup of cherries in my small bowl, pitting them and transferring to the pitted bowl. I probably saved about 45 minutes in the process. Another refinement to my cherry freezing SOP.
Your Business SOP
Do you have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) guidebook for your business? If it is important for cherry freezing, then I believe it is imperative for your business.
Have in one location a list of the tools needed for each job and the steps needed to complete. As you work through those steps, how can you improve your process? Is there a step you really don’t need. Would another tool work better? Refine this SOP until it is a well-oiled machine, ready to serve you faithfully. This will help you save time and increase your profits.
This goes hand in hand with training. Read more in the post, Provide Training For More Effective Outsourcing.
Do you need help with this process? Reach out today. We would be honored to assist you!