How to create SOPs for outsourcing success (with examples)

Outsourcing is a great way to build your team as you get experts in their field and it comes with much more flexibility than going down the traditional employee route. That’s why nearly half (48%) of companies in the UK now outsource work to contractors with different skill sets to help grow their businesses. 

As a team of outsourced virtual assistants, we know first-hand how important it is to get the outsourcing process right from the beginning so it’s not money or time down the drain. The clients we work with that see the most long-term success invest some time at the start of our relationship working with us to create a solid, repeatable process.

Clear processes help you to hit the ground running, improve your operational efficiency, and scale a business with less stress. So if you plan to hire an outsourced contractor such as a VA or project manager and want to ensure it’s a fruitful relationship, this blog post is a must-read. 

What are Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and why do you need them? 

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are detailed, written instructions that outline the steps necessary to perform a task or activity correctly and consistently. They serve as a guide to ensure all employees follow the same process, maintaining quality and efficiency throughout your organisation. 

The beauty of SOPs is you can apply them to pretty much any industry and repeatable process. Just think of them as a way to explain the procedure to anyone, no matter their position or skills. 

Imagine running a bakery. You want every loaf of bread, cake, and cookie to taste the same no matter who bakes them. To achieve this, you create a recipe book (SOPs) that includes detailed instructions for each baked item. 

This recipe book tells the bakers:

• Ingredients: What they are and how much to use of each.
• Steps: The exact order and method for mixing, baking, and decorating.
• Quality checks: How to ensure each product meets the bakery’s standards.

Without the recipe book, each baker might bake the bread a little differently, leading to inconsistent products. The recipe acts as a Standard Operating Procedure, so every product is made to the same high standard, no matter who is baking. Having this in place also means that even if a new baker joins the team, they can produce the same high-quality bread by following the standard instructions.

Spend some time now to save much more time later…

If you’re thinking, “But this sounds like a lot of work, it’s quicker for me to just do this myself” – the future you will thank you. 

If you spend some time now, once you’ve created SOPs you won’t have to explain the task again. Just think of all the time that will save you in the long run…

The benefits of having SOPs when working with outsourced contractors

Although you are hiring experts to support your business, it’s still up to you to give any outsourced partner clear objectives and goals to see the best results. They’re good at what they do, but they’re not mind readers! 

When you’re working with outsourced contractors such as virtual assistants and project managers, creating SOPs helps your business with: 

• Consistency and quality control
• Training and onboarding new team members 
• Efficiency, productivity, and scaling
• Compliance and performance management
• Risk management and business continuity planning 

Better consistency and quality control

Having SOPs in place means all tasks are performed consistently, regardless of who is doing them. This consistency is critical for maintaining the quality of work, especially when using external parties or outsourced providers. 

With clearly defined procedures, team members can meet your standards and expectations, minimising errors and variations in output. By following SOPs, outsourced teams can avoid common pitfalls and streamline their workflow, ensuring tasks are completed correctly the first time.

Example: How SOPs create consistency with outsourced partners 

Let’s say you hire a virtual assistant to handle customer support emails for your online store. You can create an SOP outlining: 

• Standardised replies to different situations in the form of email templates
• Procedures to deal with issues by either offering a solution or escalating to the relevant people. For example, when an item is lost in transit 
• The process of how to follow up to make sure the customer is satisfied

This ensures all customers receive a uniform, professional experience, regardless of who handles the email.

Improve training and onboarding

When you take on outsourced team members, there’s usually some training and onboarding time as they get used to your business. SOPs simplify this process by providing a clear guide on performing tasks, reducing the time and effort required to get new hires up to speed.

Well-documented procedures help new team members quickly understand their roles and responsibilities, and they have an easy point of reference to refer back to if they need a reminder on how to complete a particular task. 

Example: How SOPs reduce training and onboarding time with outsourced partners 

You decide to hire an external VA to help with your data entry tasks to reduce your workload. You can create an SOP for this, which covers: 

• Instructions on logging into the company’s data management system
• A template for entering data (e.g., Excel or Google Sheets format)
• Steps to verify data accuracy before submission
• How to submit completed work for review, and who that goes to

This SOP helps new contractors quickly learn the required tasks, ensuring they can start contributing efficiently without your extensive supervision. 

Increased efficiency, productivity, and scalability 

You can use SOPs to outline the most efficient ways to complete tasks, helping outsourced teams to work more effectively. This leads to increased productivity and faster turnaround times, which means tasks are more quickly taken off your plate. 

As your business grows, SOPs allow you to scale your operations more effectively. They provide a replicable framework that can be easily extended to new outsourced partners or additional team members. 

SOPs also help maintain quality and consistency across multiple locations or teams, which is crucial for scalable growth. Spend time laying the foundations properly now, so you can continue to build your business more effectively. 

Example: How SOPs increase efficiency with outsourced partners 

You need help keeping up with social media management, so you hire a virtual social media assistant. You should create an SOP that highlights: 

• Your social media and business goals, including content pillars 
• A template you can follow for creating posts (including your brand colours, fonts, image sizes, format, hashtags, etc.).
• Examples of previous successful social media posts from yourself and/or competitors
• Your regular posting schedule, e.g. post Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 9am
• Instructions on how to use your chosen tool to schedule posts
• How to best engage with your audience by responding to comments and messages

This will streamline the process for your social media assistant while also sticking to your overall business goals. 

Provide accountability and performance management

Another benefit of having SOPs is that they provide a benchmark for evaluating the performance of outsourced teams. Clear procedures make it easier to measure whether the outsourced contractor is keeping to your high standards, as they know what success looks like. 

It also helps to identify areas for improvement and provide accountability by setting expectations for how tasks should be performed, making it easier to pinpoint responsibility when issues arise.

Example: How SOPs help to manage contractor performance

You might be using a virtual assistant to provide outsourced financial management tasks alongside an accountant for detailed financial reporting. You can create SOPs for this whole process, including: 

• Procedures for ensuring all financial records comply with relevant regulations and internal policies
• Instructions on how the virtual assistant to record daily financial transactions, update spreadsheets, and reconcile accounts
• Guidelines for tracking, categorising, and reporting business expenses, including approval workflows
• Information on how your VA and accountant can work together, including roles and responsibilities and preferred communication methods 
• Guidelines for handling sensitive financial data (encryption, secure storage).
• Steps to prepare documents and records for potential audits.

Even if you have multiple outsourced team members, SOPs can help to foster better collaboration between them, so you have even less involvement.

Mitigate risks associated with outsourcing 

When people think of outsourcing, it can sometimes bring up feelings of risk such as miscommunication or misunderstanding of tasks. Clear instructions and SOPs reduce the likelihood of mistakes and ensure that outsourced teams understand their tasks and responsibilities.

They also provide a reference point for resolving disputes or clarifying doubts, which can prevent small issues from escalating into significant problems.

Example: How SOPs mitigate risks of working with outsourced partners 

You’ve decided to level up your marketing and stop doing everything yourself, so you hire a freelance developer to maintain your website. An SOP for this could include: 

• Instructions for backup procedures of the website
• Steps for updating plugins and software to the latest versions
• Process for monthly security audits and vulnerability scans for security 
• Immediate actions to take in case of a security breach (e.g., who to notify, steps to mitigate damage)
• Brand guidelines for uploading new content to the website (including your brand colours, fonts, image sizes, format, etc.).

This reduces the risk of website downtime, data breaches, and other technical issues, ensuring the website remains secure and operational.

Business continuity planning for unexpected circumstances

Finally, SOPs also form an essential part of your business continuity planning. You really don’t want to be in a position where only one person in the business can do a particular task, as emergencies can and do arise. SOPs give your business a better chance of running smoothly, even when you’re absent.

Clearly documenting all processes and making key outsourced team members aware of where to find this information means there’s a reduced risk of downtime or issues in the event of an emergency. 

Example: How SOPs ensure business continuity in an emergency 

You have a virtual assistant who manages your general admin tasks and they need to man the fort while you take some unexpected time off. This is possible with detailed SOPs that include: 

• Instructions on how to log into your chosen customer support system and a process for documenting all customer interactions
• Standard responses and escalation procedures for common customer inquiries
• Steps for handling order issues, including refunds, exchanges, and tracking shipments.
• Instructions for managing and responding to business emails, including prioritising important messages and flagging urgent issues
• Steps for scheduling, rescheduling, and cancelling meetings, as well as sending reminders to participants
• A list of key contacts and their information for emergencies, including IT support and key team members
• And anything else you might need them to take control of in an emergency… 

This not only means if you’re off then your business can still operate, but it also means if your primary VA is unavailable, you can pass essential tasks to another VA, maintaining service quality and customer satisfaction.

How a virtual assistant can help you to create SOPs

Now, if you’re thinking, “I will never have the time to get around to compiling SOPs for my business”, don’t worry. We have good news – you don’t have to do it yourself! 

In our experience, it’s better if someone other than the business leader pulls the SOPs together as they have an independent view of what’s involved and can even suggest areas for improvement.

Of course, a VA will need your input, but you don’t need to be responsible for collating and documenting all the steps involved. You can deliver the information in a way that suits you, such as recording a quick video with a tool like Loom, or dictating instructions through a voice note or your word processing tool of choice. 

Don’t worry if you’re outsourcing something for the first time – your VA can help create SOPs so things are more straightforward next time, including any lessons learned. 

Once you have created SOPs, it’s important to revisit them and ensure they’re updated regularly. Set a review date for each one and check if any of the steps, document links, or team members with assigned responsibilities for that task have changed.

Partner with Virtually Priceless to document your processes effectively

If you want clarity, consistency, and control in your relationship with outsourced partners, get in touch for help creating SOPs for your business. Virtually Priceless can take you through the process and deliver clear guidelines so you can achieve high-quality results and maintain efficient, scalable, and compliant operations.