# Business process mapping that ends in an SOP your team uses.

> Business process mapping and SOP writing for small businesses. We map each step with your team, mark what a machine can run, and write it in your own tools.

Source: https://satsumahq.com/business-operations/process-mapping-and-sops/

Business process mapping means watching how a job really gets done and writing down each step. We sit with the people who do the work, map every step, and write the SOP (written step-by-step instructions) in the tool your team already uses. Each SOP gets an owner, a version number and a review date.

## A process nobody wrote down is a habit that leaves when someone does.

Most small businesses run on memory. One person knows how a job gets booked, and another knows how a quote goes out. That works until one of them is out sick or moves on. Then everyone guesses.

Good process documentation fixes that. We write the steps down with the people who do them, not for them. Then we mark which steps a machine can run and which ones a person keeps.

## Mapping one process.

How a job that lives in someone's head becomes a signed-off SOP.

From the first interview to a review date on the calendar.

1. People keep it: **Interviews**

   We sit with the people who do the work and watch them do it.
2. Machines run it: **Map drafted**

   Our notes become a first-draft map. Each handoff (when work passes to someone else) is marked.
3. People keep it: **Steps marked**

   Each step is tagged: a machine can run it, or a person keeps it.
4. Machines run it: **SOP written**

   The map becomes a first-draft SOP in your document tool. We edit every line.
5. People keep it: **Team tests it**

   The people who do the job follow it once and mark what is wrong or missing.
6. People keep it: **Owner signs off**

   One named person approves it and it gets a version number.
7. Machines run it: **Review date set**

   A reminder lands on the calendar so the SOP gets checked again.

## Processes worth writing down first.

A sample list. Yours depends on where work gets dropped.

| Process | Why first | A machine can run | A person keeps |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Taking a new request | Every job starts here, and each person does it differently | Sending the confirmation and creating the record | Deciding if it's a fit |
| Quoting a job | Prices drift when the method lives in one head | Filling the quote from the price list | Setting the price and approving it |
| Invoicing and late payments | Cash slips when nobody owns the follow-up | Sending invoices and a reminder at 7 days | Calling when a bill is a month late |

## Written where your team already works.

Your SOPs live in your accounts, and your team owns them.

- Google Workspace
- Microsoft 365
- Notion
- ClickUp
- Asana

## What this isn't.

Plain answers to the things owners worry about most.

A giant manualOne process gets one short SOP. We keep it short enough to read on a busy day.Automation for its own sakeA machine only gets the steps that are the same every time. Anything that needs judgment stays with a person.A file that goes staleEvery SOP has an owner, a version and a review date, so it gets updated when the work changes.

## Questions about process mapping and SOPs.

### What is business process mapping?

Business process mapping is drawing out how a job really gets done, step by step, and who does each step. It is the first stage of process documentation and usually ends in an SOP.

### What are standard operating procedures?

Standard operating procedures, or SOPs, are written step-by-step instructions for a job that happens more than once. They say who does what, in what order, and what done looks like.

### What do your SOP writing services include?

We interview the people who do the work, map the steps, and write the SOP in your own document tool: Google Docs, Microsoft 365, Notion or your project tool. Your team tests it before it's final.

### Who keeps the SOPs up to date?

The named owner on each one. The review date brings it back to them, and the version number shows what changed.

### What does it cost?

The Review is two weeks with a fixed fee quoted before work starts. A Build covers a fixed list of work, usually 4 to 10 weeks.

## Keep reading.

- [Business operations: Four areas that keep the work running.](https://satsumahq.com/business-operations/)
- [KPI dashboards: The numbers that show whether the SOPs are working.](https://satsumahq.com/business-operations/kpi-dashboards/)
- [The two-week Review: Where process mapping usually starts.](https://satsumahq.com/how-we-work/review/)
- [Digital operations scorecard: A short self-check on how your business runs today.](https://satsumahq.com/tools/digital-operations-scorecard/)