This document provides guidance on developing standard operating procedures (SOPs) for cannabis cultivation. It discusses defining systems, procedures, and steps, and provides examples of each. Systems refer to broad cultivation areas, procedures are specific tasks within each system, and steps are the individual instructions. The document recommends choosing simple steps, hierarchical steps, flowcharts or graphics as the SOP format depending on the complexity of the process. It outlines the basic process for developing, reviewing, testing, implementing and training employees on new SOPs.

1. Developing
SOPs
Defining
Systems,
Procedures,
and
Steps:
In
development
of
SOPs
you
want
to
build
a
document
to
train
workers
to
do
procedures
consistently
and
accurately.
This
ensures
a
consistently
high
quality
product.
In
the
development
of
SOPs
we
think
of
three
levels:
Systems,
Procedures,
and
Steps.
Examples
of
these
in
a
Cannabis
context
are
given
below:
Systems:
• Propagation
• Vegetative
Growth
• Flowering
• Harvest/Dry
Cure
• Soil
Mixing
• Water
Irrigation
and
Fertigation
Systems
• QC
and
Analytics
Procedures
(examples
from
Propagation):
• Seed
Germination
• Seedling
Transplantation
• Mother
Plant
Canopy
Management
• Clone
Cutting
• Establishing
Cuttings
in
Growth
Media
Steps
(from
draft
paper
towel
seed
germination
SOP)
1. Place
seeds
to
be
germinated
in
clean
glass
beaker
2. Fill
beaker
with
water
and
soak
seeds
for
at
least
12
hours
but
not
more
then
24
3. Drain
off
water
from
beaker
containing
seeds
4. Using
different
water
moisten
paper
towel
5. Place
seeds
on
moist
paper
towel
6. Fold
paper
towel
to
give
seeds
a
dark
environment,
place
on
grated
plate
to
allow
for
drainage.
[Picture
needed]
7. Mark
paper
towel
with
lot
number
8. Place
plate
in
incubator
set
to
70-­‐90°
F
(strain
specific)
9. Water
plate
regularly
to
keep
the
environment
moist
10. Observe
for
first
signs
of
white
sprout
[picture]
11. Sprouted
seeds
should
be
marked
and
reported
for
transplant
to
12
oz
container
with
cocos.
Sometimes
simple
step
SOPs
are
not
going
to
be
the
best
way
to
explain
a
procedure.
Hierarchical
step
SOPs
are
for
tasks
that
are
more
intricate
and
likely
include
sub-­‐steps
clarifying
technique.
Clone
cutting
and
seedling
transplantation
are
possible
examples
of
this.

2. Graphics
can
be
good
for
things
that
are
difficult
to
illustrate
with
words.
Below
is
an
example
of
a
graphic
detailing
how
to
use
a
jeweler’s
loop
to
identify
peek
Cannabinoid
levels
for
harvest.
Flowcharts
are
a
good
way
to
represent
procedures
that
require
logical
decision-­‐
making.
These
can
be
good
for
management
level
decision-­‐making
strategies.
Possible
examples
of
this
include:
Mother
canopy
management,
and
pest
control.
Below
is
a
flowchart
to
identify
indoor
plant
problems.
This
example
is
not
perfect
and
is
a
little
broader
in
scope
than
recommended,
but
it
gives
a
good
general
idea
of
what
the
flowchart
accomplishes.

3.
How
to
Choose
Which
Format
to
Use?
Many
Decisions?
More
than
10
steps?
Best
SOP
format
No
No
Simple
Steps
No
Yes
Hierarchical
or
Graphic
Yes
No
Flowchart
Yes
Yes
Flowchart
Developing
and
Implementing
SOPs
The
development
of
SOPs
is
a
continuous
process.
After
you
write
the
initial
SOPs
you
have
to
test
them
and
revise
them
based
on
feed
back
from
employees.
People
are
much
more
likely
to
be
committed
to
a
procedure
they
had
a
hand
in
developing.
You
also
continuously
revise
SOPs
when
possible
to
improve
performance.
What
follows
are
the
basic
steps
of
development:
1. Plan
for
Results
a. Plan
with
business
goals
in
mind
b. How
are
you
measuring
success?
i. KPIs
ii. Government
Regulations

4. 2. First
Draft
a. Decide
on
format
for
procedure
(simple
steps,
flow
chart,
etc)
b. Make
detailed
list
of
the
steps
in
the
order
that
they
are
done
i. Can
be
useful
to
observe
someone
doing
the
task
c. If
a
flowchart
is
needed,
determine
most
logical
starting
point.
Draw
the
decisions
the
worker
will
make
and
the
actions
that
follow
the
decision.
d. Don’t
try
to
be
perfect,
revisions
will
be
necessary
3. Internal
Review
a. Provide
copies
of
the
SOP
to
staff
(especially
those
performing
the
task);
ask
them
to
review
it
and
suggest
changes
to
make
the
procedure
clearer
and
to
increase
performance
b. Many
benefits
to
opening
up
the
development
process
4. External
Review
a. Similar
to
internal
review,
except
ask
out-­‐of-­‐house
experts
to
review
5. Testing
a. Test
procedure
by
having
someone
not
familiar
with
the
workflow
perform
each
step
exactly
as
described
b. Procedure
writer
dialogues
with
testers
to
improve
SOPs
6. Post
a. Create
final
draft
and
post
in
appropriate
locations
b. There
should
always
be
a
master
SOP
document,
that
ideally
should
be
easy
to
access
(on-­‐line
employee
handbook)
c. Keep
SOPs
up
to
date
7. Train
a. Often
neglected
b. Share
reason
why
procedure
is
written
the
way
it
is—don’t
just
tell
them
how
to
do
it
c. Trainer
should
explain
and
demonstrate
both
why
and
how
each
step
in
the
SOP
is
preformed
Effective
Writing
The
goal
when
writing
SOPs
is
to
write
procedures
that
are
easy
to
understand,
while
at
the
same
time
communicating
well.
Steps
should
be
written
in
short
sentences;
long
sentences
are
harder
to
understand
and
tend
to
include
more
than
one
step.
For
example
in
the
seed
germination
procedure;
steps
3
and
4
used
to
be
one
step.
Try
to
write
steps
using
as
few
words
as
possible.
This
prevents
rambling
and
keeps
writing
concise.
Use
acronyms
sparingly,
over-­‐use
of
industry
jargon
is
not
conducive
to
learning.
Level
of
Detail
The
level
of
detail
to
include
in
a
procedure
is
a
difficult
decision.
You
must
include
all
essential
steps
that
should
be
preformed
by
all
workers
in
the
same
way.
On
the
other
hand
the
procedure
should
not
be
so
detailed
that
it
is
not
easy
to
read
in
everyday
use.

5.
A
highly
detailed
procedure
does
not
take
the
place
of
training.
Recognizing
this
keeps
the
procedure
writer
from
trying
to
answer
all
possible
questions
that
a
worker
might
have.
SOPs
should
compliment
training,
and
serve
as
a
means
of
review.
Procedures
should
be
detailed
enough
to
eliminate
significant
variation
among
workers.
For
example
making
sure
that
the
people
taking
clone
cuttings,
are
all
making
the
same
kind
of
cuts,
with
the
same
tool,
at
the
same
angle.
Flowcharts
naturally
have
a
low
level
of
detail.
Hence,
it
is
important
to
reference
specific
SOPs
within
the
flowchart.
This
strikes
a
balance
between
being
easy
to
follow
and
providing
lots
of
information.
Details
of
specific
stops
in
the
flowchart
should
be
covered
in
either
simple
step
or
hierarchical
step
SOPs.