Who are the target audience for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)?

The target audience for Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) primarily includes support staff because these documents are specifically designed to guide employees in performing their tasks consistently and effectively. SOPs detail the step-by-step processes that staff should follow to ensure quality and efficiency in their work, which is particularly crucial in customer-facing roles where the reliability of service impacts satisfaction.

While management staff and external stakeholders may find value in understanding SOPs, they are not the primary audience. Management may create or oversee SOPs, but it is the support staff who need to refer to these procedures regularly to align their work with organizational standards and practices. The inclusion of all employees may seem broad; however, SOPs are most often tailored to specific roles, making support staff the key focus for these documents. Thus, the intention behind SOPs is to equip support staff with the necessary guidelines to perform their responsibilities effectively.