A well-written SOP can still fail.

The instructions can be clear. The formatting can be professional. The steps can be numbered correctly. Roles can be identified.

And the SOP can still document the wrong process.

That’s what happens when organizations begin documenting procedures before they have validated how the work actually happens.

Before turning a workflow into an SOP, there is an important question to answer:

Is this really how the work gets done?

An SOP Formalizes the Workflow

An SOP takes a business process and translates it into instructions people can consistently follow.

That makes the accuracy of the underlying workflow critical.

If the workflow is incomplete, the SOP may be incomplete.

If important decisions are missing, the SOP may not tell employees what to do when those decisions occur.

If handoffs aren’t understood, the SOP may describe what one employee sends without explaining what the next employee actually needs.

Documentation doesn’t correct those problems.

It can formalize them.

One Person Rarely Sees the Entire Process

A common approach to SOP development is to interview the person considered the process expert.

That person can provide valuable information. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they see the entire workflow.

Business processes often cross roles, departments, systems, and responsibilities.

One employee may know exactly what happens during their portion of the process but have limited visibility into what happens before or after their work.

That’s why workflow validation should involve the people who:

• Do the work
• Feed the process
• Receive work from others
• Are impacted by the process

Each person sees the workflow from a different position.

Bringing those perspectives together helps reveal what actually happens from beginning to end.

Decisions Need to Be Validated Too

Processes aren’t simply sequences of activities.

They contain decisions.

An application may be complete or incomplete. An invoice may be approved or rejected. A request may meet requirements or require additional information.

Each decision can change what happens next.

If those decision paths aren’t captured and validated, an SOP may explain the normal path while leaving employees without guidance when something different occurs.

Those alternate paths are often where employees rely on experience, memory, or workarounds.

A validated workflow makes those paths visible before documentation begins.

Handoffs Deserve Special Attention

Handoffs are another reason validation matters.

The person sending work may believe the handoff is clear.

The person receiving it may have a very different experience.

Perhaps information is routinely missing. Maybe the receiver doesn’t know when the work is ready. Maybe ownership becomes unclear once the work crosses departments.

If only the sender’s perspective is documented, those problems can disappear from the SOP.

Workflow validation gives both sides of the handoff an opportunity to confirm:

What is being transferred? Who owns the next action? What information is required? And what tells the receiver the work is ready?

Validation Creates a Shared Understanding

Workflow validation isn’t about making a process map look perfect.

It’s about creating agreement.

The people involved should be able to look at the workflow and say:

Yes. This accurately represents how the work should happen.

If they can’t, there is more work to do before the SOP is written.

Questions may need to be resolved. Responsibilities may need clarification. Missing paths may need to be added. Unnecessary steps may even need to be improved before they become part of the documented procedure.

That work is much easier to address while examining the workflow than after employees have been trained on an inaccurate SOP.

Validate First. Document Second.

SOP development shouldn’t begin with a blank page.

It should begin with a clear understanding of the process the SOP is supposed to document.

Map the workflow.

Bring the right people into the conversation.

Examine the activities, decisions, handoffs, roles, and alternate paths.

Resolve disagreements about how the work should happen.

Then validate the workflow.

Only then should that workflow become the foundation for the SOP.

Because an SOP can be perfectly written and still document the wrong process.

Validation helps make sure you’re documenting the right one.

How to Create an SOP from a Process Map

Business Process Mapping: The Foundation of Operational Excellence