Follow the SOP

At ElevenLabs, we have dozens, maybe hundreds, of SOPs. They’re short Google Docs or wiki entries that spell out how to get something done when you need another team’s help: onboarding a new vendor, ordering merch for an event, getting approval to speak at a conference.

After a few years here, skipping them is easy. I know the people behind many of these processes, and I’ve built up enough goodwill to bend the rules. People also tend to assume a veteran missed an SOP that was created long after they onboarded. A quick DM almost always works.

I try not to do that, for two reasons. 1. The process is often more than a doc. Many of our SOPs are backed by agents and automations built by the teams who own them. That’s not obvious from a two-page doc, but the automation only works if everyone follows the steps as written. 2. Going through it builds empathy. Most of my colleagues can’t bypass these processes the way I can. When I follow the SOP, I feel what they feel, and I can spot friction I’d never notice otherwise.

I did this recently when I needed comms approval to speak at an event. The process worked: I heard back quickly. The form also asked what I’d have wanted to think through anyway: Who’s the audience? What am I trying to accomplish? Will it be recorded or livestreamed? It was speaker prep disguised as a form.

And to the teams who’ve published SOPs recently: if I DM you instead of using yours, please send me back to the form.