Can AI write your standard operating procedures?

What does writing and maintaining procedures cost a firm?

There are two costs, and the larger one is usually the procedures that do not exist. Without them, every new starter learns by watching someone senior, every exception is resolved by asking the one person who knows, and the same task is done three different ways by three different people. When that person is on leave, work queues. When they leave, it is partly lost.

The smaller cost is writing them. A procedure written properly takes an expert several hours: explaining the task, drafting, formatting, chasing sign-off. Multiply that by the number of procedures a firm really needs and it is easy to see why they get postponed until an audit or inspection forces the issue.

To estimate the first cost, count the hours senior staff spend each week showing others how to do routine tasks or answering "how do we..." questions, multiply by their charge-out rate and by 46 working weeks. For the second, multiply the procedures you need by the hours each would take to write and by the rate of the people who would write them. The unbillable hours calculator helps with the first, and the audit shows how it compares with the firm's other lost time.

Why do procedures get written twice?

Most firms have written their procedures at least once, typically in a push before a certification, an inspection or a regulator's visit. The documents were accurate on the day. Then the systems changed, the forms were updated, a step was added after a mistake, and nobody went back to the procedure. The real process moved into people's heads and personal notes, while the official version gathered dust. At the next audit the whole set is written again.

There is also a smaller repetition inside each one. The expert explains the task to whoever is writing it up, that person drafts it without fully understanding it, and the expert then corrects it line by line. The knowledge passes through two people to reach the page.

What does a procedures process that stays current look like?

• Capture from the work itself. The person who does the task records themselves doing it and talking it through, or answers a short set of questions about it. Existing checklists, forms and emails are gathered alongside.
• Draft in your format. Purpose, scope, roles, the steps in order, the checks, the records kept and links to the templates and systems involved, written in plain language in your house style.
• Review by the owner. The expert corrects a complete draft rather than dictating a new one. The procedure is issued only when a named owner approves it.
• Versioned and dated. Each procedure carries its version, owner, approval date and next review date.
• Triggered updates. When a form, template or system a procedure refers to changes, the procedure is flagged and a revision drafted.

If you want to prepare before a rebuild, how to document a process covers the groundwork.

What happens to the team's day?

Experts stop being the firm's help desk. New starters have a procedure to follow and a senior colleague to check their work, rather than a senior colleague to shadow for weeks. Quality and compliance leads stop dreading audits, because the procedures describe what actually happens. And when procedures are searchable through knowledge retrieval, staff can ask a question and land on the right step instead of interrupting someone. The team keeps its knowledge when people move on, which when knowledge leaves explores in more depth.

Which firms need written procedures most?

Firms where consistency is checked by someone outside. Healthcare practices are inspected by the CQC, where how a practice is run, and how its staff know what to do, is part of what is looked at. Managed service providers depend on runbooks and often hold certifications such as ISO 27001. Facilities management companies run planned maintenance and service procedures across many buildings. Accountancy firms maintain anti-money laundering and quality procedures, and financial advisers document advice processes with the FCA in mind. Firms working to ISO 9001 can pair this with quality records.

How are your procedures rebuilt in 30 days?

We pick one area of the firm, such as client onboarding, month end or service delivery, rather than trying to document everything. In week one we agree your procedure format, list the procedures that area needs, identify the owner of each and capture the first walkthroughs. In weeks two and three the drafting process is built on your format and systems, and it produces the first batch of procedures from real walkthroughs, which the owners review. In week four the team learns to capture and approve procedures themselves, so the rest of the firm can follow at its own pace, and the update triggers are switched on. We support it for 30 days after go-live, as set out in how we work.