Top 10 Tools for Standard Operating Procedures

As a business owner or manager with a growing business and the desire to implement consistent and sustainable processes, it is imperative that you build standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help your teams thrive. Documented procedures will also reduce errors and improve new employee time to proficiency while empowering your team members to deliver higher quality service to your customers. This article will discuss the Top 10 Tools For Standard Operating Procedures and help to assist your team in building and maintaining a solid set of SOPs that will scale with your organization.

What Are Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)?

Standard Operating Procedures are step-by-step instructions that guide team members through everyday tasks effectively and productively. This ensures that team members know exactly what needs to be done, how it should be done, and who is responsible for it.

What can SOPs do for you?

• Improve consistency. When steps are laid out clearly and concisely, each team member will deliver the same quality each and every time.
• Increase productivity. With clearly defined process documentation, each team member knows exactly what needs to be done, reducing confusion. And since the steps are documented, there is no need to interrupt another employee or the boss.
• Provide greater autonomy. Choosing the right software tool to develop and maintain your SOPs ensures quick accessibility by any team member while empowering them to make decisions that drive the business forward.  
• Preserve knowledge. When all procedures are documented and maintained, knowledge is not lost when an employee leaves the company or advances to a different department. New hires and promoted team members will have the same information at their fingertips.
• Reduce errors. Clearly documented steps and checklists ensure that team members do not need to rely on their memory; well-written SOPs will fill in missing gaps, significantly reducing commonly missed steps, mistakes, and human error.

Top 10 SOP Software Tools in 2022

1. Notion
2. ProcessKit
3. Tallyfly
4. ProcedureFlow
5. SweetProcess
6. Trainual
7. Process Street
8. Method Grid
9. Scribe
10. JobRouter

Key Features of Standard Operating Procedure Software

• Centralized hub

SOP software should house updated documents, procedures, and processes in one easily accessible location. Maintaining a centralized hub increases the accessibility of critical processes and documents for your team members.

• Unique sharing and permissions

To ensure information security and to generate team collaboration, your SOP platform should include the ability to share (or not share) information with specific individuals or teams.

• Procedure and document version control

Process documentation will need to be updated as business processes, and steps are refined. An effective tool should make Standard Operating Procedures easy to edit and ensure version control so that outdated information is no longer presented.

• Approval workflows

A practical SOP tool will provide visual confirmation that a particular SOP is approved and ready for use.

• Employee training and adoption

For Standard Operating Procedures to be effective in any organization, it is crucial that employees are motivated to utilize your SOP platform. A well-defined SOP implementation process, a properly set up tool, and a good communication plan will ensure quick adoption by your team.

Top 10 Standard Operation Procedures (SOPs) Software Tools in 2022

1. Notion

Notion’s Standard Operating Procedures application is all you need to get your organization started strong. From onboarding new hires to scaling your business, Notion will set you up for success. Outstanding features include the ability to add workflow boards and images, create multiple databases, define unique properties, and embed videos, such as Loom. Users with permission to do so can easily edit or update existing SOPs. Notion also provides the ability to link to other content inside of Notion. Notion’s large community of users continually make ready-to-use templates available from all areas within an organization, including human resource and project management. These templates can be easily imported into your workspace for private use or to share with users throughout your organization.

Besides the free plan, Notion has three levels of pricing: Personal Pro, Team, and Enterprise. Visit the Notion website for an in-depth review of pricing.

2. ProcessKit

Interested in doing more than simply documenting your organization’s processes and procedures? Not only does ProcessKit allow you to build and store your organization’s documentation, but you can also trigger projects off of your documentation. ProcessKit is beginning to rival project management software tools with Kanban-style task management. With automation being a major highlight, teams can also utilize this platform to automate and streamline repetitive tasks, keep track of progress, and scale operations by using over 1000 tools available through Zapier integration. Build and customize forms or take advantage of ProcessKit’s ready-to-use process templates and documents to make your business more predictable, scalable, and efficient.

ProcessKit includes all available features in a single plan. Visit their pricing page for details.

3. Tallyfy

Tallyfy’s workflow software allows companies to document and automate all processes throughout the organization and store them in a single repository. Processes can be tracked in real-time on visual dashboards, called through manual or scheduled triggers, forms, or from integrated middleware platforms. Tallyfy also incorporates “if this then that” conditional rules to automate decisions and repeatable processes.

Although Tallyfy does not offer a free version, they offer a highly economical Paid-per-user version and a Pro version with increased functionality.

4. ProcedureFlow

With ProcedureFlow, organizations can transform complicated documents and processes into intuitive Standard Operating Procedures that are easily assessable, used, updated, and maintained. As a next-generation knowledge managing software tool, it is equipped with features to greatly simplify how organizations conceive, visualize, and navigate processes. ProcedureFlow makes teams more efficient with its secure, cloud-based environment to store, maintain, and access SOPs.

Visit ProcedureFlow’s pricing page to see their two-tiered pricing structure for teams or enterprises.

5. SweetProcess

SweetProcess is a robust tool that delivers simplified Standard Operating Procedures documentation. Its strengths lie in task management and knowledge sharing. SweetProcess offers one all-inclusive plan that includes all features and functions, such as process maps, API integration, version history tracking, and real-time collaboration. This solution remains an excellent choice for smaller teams that want to build with future scalability in mind. SweetProcess includes knowledge base functionality that can be made public or kept private, a very useful feature when sharing information with team members, clients, and external stakeholders.

Visit the SweetProcess pricing page to see all included features for one set price; differences in pricing if the service is paid monthly vs. yearly.

6. Trainual

Trainual excels in assisting organizations with automating training and onboarding processes. It includes one centralized system or dashboard for each identified process, policy, and procedure for all roles and responsibilities within your organization. These SOPs are easily documented and organized using text, videos, and even GIFs to define tasks and steps clearly. Trainual converts Standard Operating Procedures into step-by-step “playbooks,” enabling easy employee onboarding and process management. Ease of use ensures high adoption by new and existing team members.

Click here to see Trainual’s pricing three-tiered pricing structure.

7. Process Street

Process Street is one of the simplest ways to manage recurring workflows and consolidate team knowledge in the form of collaborative pages and checklists. Creating templates, and multiple instances of templates can be run by different teams simultaneously. Assigning team members to tasks within a checklist is easy. Each task owner will receive notifications when tasks are due or completed. Process Street enables teams to share key processes and convert these into powerful yet simple no-code workflows.

Process Street has a three-tiered pricing structure, including a free forever version; click here for the pricing page.

8. Method Grid

Method Grid is an integrated, enterprise-level SOP software that offers a unified approach to assurance. It facilitates and encourages best practices, knowledge sharing, and service compliance in the most complex projects. It features an easy-to-use and highly configurable dashboard UI that presents high-level information in an easily consumable format. Organizations use Method Grid to increase operational efficiencies, drive compliance, and ensure effective task management of processes.

Method Grid has two available pricing structures with no free version available. Click here to access the pricing page.

9. Scribe

With Scribe software, manual process documentation is eliminated. We can take tasks that are recorded and automatically transformed into step-by-step workflow documents with text and interactive screenshots. This highly intuitive process results in less work for existing team members while creating clear and precise Standard Operating Procedures for new employees. Simply press “record,” and any team member with the proper permissions can update or create comprehensive process documentation for themselves and the team.

Scribe has a three-tiered pricing structure, including a free forever version; click here for the pricing page.

10. JobRouter

JobRouter is a low-code digitalization platform that is both powerful and flexible. Through this software, any business process improvement effort can be digitalized and automated with little or no programming knowledge. Organizations can link all processes, data, and documents while lessening implementation time. JobRouter seamlessly integrates into many current software systems and applications. With its infinite application scenarios, JobRouter can be as simple or complex as an organization needs.

JobRouter does not publish the pricing structure; click here to start a free trial.

Conclusion

There are many robust tools on the market today. Each of these tools offers features and functions capable of increasing the speed and efficiency of your organization. SOPHeroes can assist you in implementing the tool that best fits your organization’s needs. Whether your teams are thriving or struggling with documenting, updating, or maintaining standard operating procedures, you can give your team a boost by investing in one of the top tools in use today. By partnering with SOP specialists, such as SOPHeroes, you will improve your work processes, bolster your employee training, and achieve higher quality deliverables. Additionally, you will ensure continuous improvement by updating your current storehouse of knowledge and keeping it maintained.

New to the idea of SOPs? Check out our article: 7 Best Practices for Standard Operating Procedures