policy vs process vs SOP

arteevieburch
Tera Contributor

‎04-15-2015 06:48 AM

Hello all,

I am looking for some clear examples on the different content needed for policy, process, and SOP documents in order to create some templates for my team.   We tend to use the titles and others such as "job aids" "run book" "workflow document" so I'm looking to standardize this based on best practices.   Thanks in advance

0 Helpfuls
  • 4,579 Views
1 REPLY 1

jstoecklein
ServiceNow Employee
ServiceNow Employee

‎10-03-2016 09:30 AM

I realize that this is a late response, but I see that there was never a reply to the question but there have been quite a few views.



  • Policy specifies the guiding principles that a process must adhere to. It doesn't address how to execute a process, but rather clearly states what constraints a process must adhere to. The policy is used to help govern and measure process compliance.
  • Process is the means by which an end result is achieved. It identifies the activities that must take place (and the order that they take place) in order to accomplish the goal. The process should enforce and support the policy.
  • Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) is a detailed, step-by-step set of guidelines used when executing a process. The SOP should map to the process and should not include activities that the process does not specify.


Collectively, these three documents (they are typically different docs since the audience is different) make up the whole of your program or process documentation.



Thanks,



Jodi