Four Best Writing Practices for High-quality SOPs

By putting yourself in users’ shoes for a few minutes, you should be able to get a sense of the constraints they face while dealing with SOPs: shortage of time, too many SOPs to read, fear of noncompliance, urge to take shortcuts, impatience, and so on. How do you write in a way that helps them to understand SOPs without getting confused, frustrated and impatient?

Here are four best practices that can help you write clear and concise SOPs:

• Write short sentences
• Write imperative sentences
• Be concise
• Be specific

Write short sentences

• Use one sentence to describe one action or idea only.
• In general, keep the average length of the sentences to about eighteen to twenty words. Of course, this doesn’t mean writing every sentence to the exact twenty-word length. Some sentences can be longer than twenty words and some shorter, but on the whole, keep the average length limited to eighteen to twenty words.
• If you encounter a long sentence, break it into smaller ones.

Use imperative sentences

The “procedure” section of an SOP, which directs users to act, should be written using imperative sentences. Imperative sentences begin with a verb and give a command to the reader to act. Here is an example:

Nonimperative instruction

• A list of scanned reports will be consolidated and filed on a daily basis.

Imperative instruction

• Consolidate and file the list of scanned reports on a daily basis.

Note that imperative sentences begin with a verb—an action word. Using the imperative form makes the instructions easier to understand and follow.

Be concise

Never use more words when fewer can suffice the purpose. Being concise in your writing is like distillation–extracting the essence and rejecting the rest. You can be concise by first, avoiding unnecessary information; and second, by avoiding unnecessary words and phrases.

Strategy 1: Avoid unnecessary information

• Get rid of information that should not be included at all, considering the purpose of a paragraph, section, or document. Whenever you see a piece of content, look for the keywords and ideas. That’s your clue to what is essential. Next, simply get rid of the rest.

Strategy 2: Avoid commonly used but superfluous words

• In addition, get rid of the commonly used phrases that don’t add any value. For example, spot these kinds of phrases and delete them: Be aware of the fact that / Please be informed / We wish to inform you / It is important to note / It should be pointed out / It is recommended / It is necessary.

Be specific

Specific and precise writing is penetrating and strong and has the power to move the readers in the correct direction.

While writing SOPs, be as specific as possible because what is obvious to you may not be so to the SOP users. Don’t write, “Pull the lever” when what you mean is “Pull the lever next to the red push button.” Don’t write, “Refer to attachment” when what you mean is “Refer to attachment A (‘List of Grade C Rooms’).” Don’t write, “Wait for a few minutes before switching on the particle counter” when what you mean is “Wait for a minimum of ten minutes before switching on the particle counter.”

To be specific, follow the two strategies:

• Avoid the following words that inject uncertainty: typically, generally, about, nearly, approximately, may be.
• Add words that make things more specific: numbers, date, time, location, tag numbers, specific designations—anything necessary to make your writing more specific.

While applying the best writing practices, please remember the following words of Aristotle: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” In other words, no single practice may appear to be a game changer, but together they will take the quality of your writing to a totally new level.

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