A Four-Step Formula To Write Agency SOPs Fast

A Four-Step Formula To Write Agency SOPs Fast

1. Prioritize Your Processes

Prioritizing your processes is essential for your agency to function efficiently and to focus on the most important tasks.

Block out time for you and your team to meet, identify the core departments of your agency (sales, marketing, operations, fulfillment, etc.), and assess the strengths and weaknesses of each department.

Break each department into processes, then prioritize the highest impact areas using a 1-5 scale like the following:

Process Frequency – How often is the process performed or completed?

1️⃣ – We rarely perform this process.

5️⃣ – We perform this process regularly.

Process Documentation Needs – How much documentation do you need on the process?

1️⃣ – This process is well-documented, with a document or checklist that the team currently follows.

5️⃣ – This process is completely undocumented and varies each time it is completed.

Process Pain – How much difficulty or frustration does this process cause?

1️⃣ – This process is not a pain point for us; we can manage without thorough documentation.

5️⃣ – This process is a significant pain point. If we don’t execute it correctly, important details could easily be overlooked.

After this exercise, you should have different scores for each process, ranging from 3-15. You can now initially focus on the processes that received the highest scores first.

2. Choose A Platform To Store Your Processes

I recommend ClickUp for any agency with a headcount of two or more. We use ClickUp for all agency-related tasks, as it has essentially become our operational system for managing the agency.

You can choose Google Docs, Notion if you want something stupid simple, but it’s not gonna be as flexible as ClickUp.

Ultimately, the tool is never as important as consistently documenting and utilizing those processes. Find software that suits you and your team—something user-friendly that encourages regular use.

3. Choose the Documentation Format & Set Expectations

• How much detail is required for your team?

• Do team members prefer text, video or both?

• Who needs to participate in documentation?

Tip: Document everything using step-by-step loom videos, then copy the transcript and paste it into AI for step-by-step written instructions.

4. Block Out “Documentation Hours” Together With Your Team

• Choose a day each week and block out three hours in the morning for your entire core team.

• Each week, come prepared with a prioritized list of the processes that need to be documented.

• Eliminate all distractions, establish clear processes for documentation, and focus on uninterrupted work.

• Spend the last hour presenting your work, collaborating as a team to improve it, and tying up loose ends to ensure it is documented in your process management system.

This is one of the most high-ROI activities you’ll ever do for your agency.

Go all out, and differentiate yourself from everyone else.

How Can I Help

If you’d like to hear about how I could help you and your agency scale efficiently without additional headcount by implementing our Agency Operations System™, you can book a call with me here.

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Okay: thanks for reading and I’ll talk to you soon.

-Egemen