Management Matters

As soon as someone mentions SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) or the need to document your processes, the mere thought probably makes you shudder at having to sit down and write out each step. Trust me, I’ve been there too—writing these emails is a task in itself—but it's a crucial part of what we do.

You likely got into beekeeping to avoid being stuck in an office, buried under paperwork, and spending endless hours in front of a computer. This might be why you still don't have documented SOPs, or just the thought of having to come up with processes for everything drains your energy.
 

You Already Have Processes—They're Just Not Documented

The good news is, you probably already have a process for everything—your preferred method, the certain way you like things to be done. It's just not recorded in a form that can be easily handed over to someone else.

I get it. Documenting each step on paper with images and diagrams can feel like a waste of time and it probably is. Who’s going to read it? Plus, it quickly becomes outdated as soon as you learn something new or change your approach.
 

So why SOPs Are Essential
 

But here's the challenge: How do you institutionalize information in your business? How do you get new hires or seasonal labour up to speed without taking time away from what you need to accomplish?

And hiring experience is not necessarily the answer. It can actually become a liability. What kind of experience do they have? What bad habits have they picked up elsewhere? What gaps exist in their knowledge?

They’ve probably done things differently than how you do them. If you let each new hire do things their way, you end up with a mess— there’s no consistency, no standard of measurement. This is where your standard operating procedures come in. They become the standard against which everything is measured.