Standard operating procedure

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A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a standardized way of doing a task or the set of step-by-step instructions that document how it is done. SOPs are compiled by an organization to help workers carry out routine operations. SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations. Some military services (e.g., in the US and the UK) use the term standing operating procedure, since a military SOP is often a unit's unique procedure, not one that is standard across units. The word standard could suggest that only one (standard) procedure is to be used across all units. The term is sometimes used facetiously to refer to practices that are unconstructive, yet the norm. In the Philippines, for instance, SOP is the term for pervasive corruption within the government and its institutions. A single process may be described by one or more SOPs, depending on how many alternatives may apply.

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