The Art of Crafting SOP Titles Authors often spend considerable time crafting book titles. It’s a tricky challenge: how to create a title that is captivating, conveys the essence of the book, and yet isn’t too long. While SOPs aren’t books, SOP authors face a similar challenge. What’s the first thing users notice in an […]
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High-Quality SOPs: Emptiness Matters SOPs are often long, complex documents filled with text, diagrams, and flowcharts. But beyond their content lies an element that’s frequently ignored—one that can quietly deflate or subtly elevate the quality of an SOP. Ignored or squeezed out, this invisible element can have a surprising effect on readability—and even compliance. What
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Key to High-Quality SOPs: Review, Review, Review SOPs are often long documents packed with technical detail. No matter how skilled you are at technical writing, expecting the first draft to be near final is unrealistic. It’s merely a starting point—a rough version that must be repeatedly refined. That’s not a flaw; it’s the right process.
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Best Writing Practice: Use Parallel Phrasing for Lists Good writing isn’t about doing big things. It’s about consistently applying small, effective practices that add up to clear and concise communication. One such practice is parallel phrasing. What is parallel phrasing? Parallel phrasing means using the same grammatical structure—whether single words, phrases, or clauses—for all items
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The Swiss Cheese Technique for Writing SOPs When we’re juggling multiple tasks, the difficult ones often get pushed aside. Writing SOPs is one such task that attracts procrastination. SOPs are not easy to write. They’re long, complex, and packed with technical details. Every sentence matters, often carrying compliance implications. It’s no wonder people delay getting
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The Simplest Way to Improve SOP Quality SOPs involve two types of stakeholders: The former group often consists of senior personnel. The latter is usually made up of junior-level staff who execute the procedures on the ground. Unfortunately, the quality of SOPs often suffers due to the disconnect between these two groups. Whenever I conduct
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The Power of Short Sentences In 1956, cognitive scientist George A. Miller published a paper titled “The Magic Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information.” Known as “Miller’s Law,” his research showed that the average person can hold approximately seven items in their working memory–plus or minus two.
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Three-Part Structure of SOPs Just as buildings are held together by a sound structure, complex documents like Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) also rely on a clear, logical framework. To write high-quality SOPs, it helps to understand their underlying structure. While the FDA and other regulatory bodies don’t prescribe a fixed format for SOPs, most SOPs—regardless
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SOP Best Practice: Write Imperative Sentences If you look at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) regulations, you’ll notice they don’t specify how Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) should be written. However, the European Union (EU) takes a more explicit stance. Here’s a key clause from Chapter 4, Volume 4 of
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