Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) provide a standard against which processes can be managed, performance reported, and continual improvement recorded. Very often for cannabis businesses given how heavily regulated they are, well-documented cannabis SOPs templates improve productivity while reducing errors and enhancing policy compliance. Any missed step can land your company in legal trouble or cause inventory or raw material losses.
In this blog, let us understand what are cannabis SOPs and why are they important:
What Are Cannabis SOPs
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of detailed instructions devised by a business to help employees in performing complex routine tasks. SOPs are intended to improve productivity, quality output, and consistency of performance while minimizing miscommunication and failure to adhere to industry laws.
Every procedure or product that cannabis businesses manufacture should have an SOP. By providing guidance and documenting how things are done, SOPs help to ensure consistency within a facility and between products.
Types Of Cannabis SOPs
- Cannabis Cultivation SOP
- Seed-to-sale protocol
- Infection management
- Care for plants in each growth phase
- Plant setting and schedule
- Fertilizer schedule and management
- Waste management
- Dispensary SOP
- Opening and closing procedures
- Customer check-in procedures
- Transaction process
- Delivery
- Cash management, accounting, and security
- Inventory management
- Track-and-trace
- Quality assessment
- Faulty product/recall/emergency
- Employee management
- Cannabis Manufacturing SOP
- Cannabis Extraction SOP
- Lab/Testing SOP
Importance Of Documenting Cannabis Standard Operating Procedures
Well-documented SOPs have lots of advantages, including:
Improves Quality
Cannabis SOPs offer a standard against which activities are to be performed. Establishing a “method” of doing things rather than being person-dependent will boost efficiency, decrease errors, and improve quality.
Business Continuity
Work should continue as usual for the company even if an employee is unable to make it to the workplace. Any other employee may take over and finish the outstanding urgent work at the specified time using SOP.
Any other employee can take over the critical responsibilities and do them correctly the first time by referencing the designed SOPs. The standard operating procedures (SOPs) describe the procedures of every department in the organization. They are extremely important to every business. SOPs are a set of guidelines that an organization must follow for its management and daily operations in order to succeed.
Mitigating Business Risk Through Compliance
Compliance is the top priority for any business in an industry that is highly regulated such as the cannabis industry. Through SOP, the compilation of compliance procedures can be documented. It will act as a guide for employees and business operations and is deemed essential for compliance.
Saves Time And Money
A well-documented SOP can reduce a new hire’s training period. Your new or existing employee will be able to get up to speed efficiently by consulting the SOP, which will save time and money.
Produce Effective Results
Consistency is the key to running a successful cannabis business. Cannabis companies may have different functions such as selling products, cultivation, and delivery among other different things, but overall, they rely on the consistency of the products and work they produce so their customers stay satisfied.
Every cannabis business follows a defined process to produce results when SOPs are written. It has little room for error and is intended to deliver reliable outcomes.
Without protocols in place, it’s easy for staff members to overlook crucial tasks, commit errors, and gradually reduce the quality of what you produce.
Your prospects of success increase when you have an SOP. You’ll minimize room for error and ensure that you’re giving your clients the greatest possible results.
Easy Task Allocation
An organization’s hierarchy and staff information must be included in well-written SOPs. Defined KRAs in the SOP will make it easy and transparent to assign the task if it is necessary to authorize it.
Training Staff
The Standard Operating Procedures are helpful to the business in developing training material that will enable new hires to move quickly up the learning curve. The SOP document can serve as a training handbook that covers the main accountable areas and the necessary procedures.
How To Create A Cannabis Standard Operating Procedure Template
There are usually many moving parts in cannabis companies. Your company’s line of business will ultimately determine your standard operating procedures.
Similar to how cannabis dispensary SOPs aren’t the same as cannabis testing SOPs, cannabis cultivation SOPs will vary from cannabis manufacturing SOPs. Your cannabis SOPs will be based on your business’s unique requirements for processes when you create your template.
Creating cannabis Standard Operating Procedures templates can take a lot of effort and frequently gets pushed aside in favor of activities that are more pressing. Therefore, you can seek help from SOP experts like Forte, and we will help you create cannabis SOP templates that are effective, productive, and streamlined. Partner with SOP experts to get the most out of your cannabis business.
Finally
There are several risks associated with operating a cannabis business, and you and your staff must be equipped to deal with emergencies. This is only achievable if your SOPs adequately cover what to do in a crisis situation.
