Standard operating procedure: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:33, 8 September 2022

Revision as of 10:34, 8 September 2022

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A '''standard operating procedure''' ('''SOP''') is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an [[organization]] to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output and uniformity of performance, while reducing [[miscommunication]] and failure to comply with [[industry regulation]]s.

The [[military]] (e.g. in the U.S. and UK) sometimes uses the term '''standing''' (rather than ''standard'') '''operating procedure''' because a military SOP refers to a unit's unique procedures, which are funee not necessarily standard to another unit. The word "standard" can imply that only one (standard) procedure is to be used across all units.

The term can also be used facetiously to refer to practices that are unconstructive, yet the norm. In the Philippines, for instance, "SOP" is the term for pervasive corruption within the government and its institutions.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/In_Pursuit_of_Progress/wFkEEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=sop%20%22operating%20procedure%22|isbn=9780824858902|title=In Pursuit of Progress: Narratives of Development on a Philippine Island|date=31 January 2017|publisher=University of Hawaii Press}}</ref><ref>https://anticorruptiondigest.com/2016/11/24/philippines-sop-corruption-in-police/ {{Bare URL inline|date=June 2022}}</ref>