Suppose you are given a new recurring process (for example, monthly reporting or onboarding appointments) that is currently manual and error‑prone. How would you analyze it, redesign the workflow, and document a step‑by‑step SOP so others can reliably follow it?

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VirtualInterview.AI · Accepted Answer

I’d start by sitting with the people actually doing the work and watching them run the process end to end. For a previous monthly reporting process, I literally shadowed two analysts for a full cycle and mapped every step in a simple swimlane diagram: inputs, tools, handoffs, and where errors usually popped up. We found 27 individual steps, 9 of which were duplicate data entry.

From there, I grouped steps into logical stages and asked, “What can we templatize or automate?” We moved raw data pulls into a single shared query, created a standardized spreadsheet with formulas locked, and pre‑built email templates. That cut cycle time from 2.5 days to about 6 hours and reduced corrections by ~70%.

For the SOP, I wrote a numbered, click‑by‑click guide with screenshots, ownership by role, and clear SLAs. I also added a one‑page summary and a checklist so new team members could run it independently within their first month.

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