Wherever you go in the IT marketplace, there are always plenty of acronyms to be had. As a software developer, I have terms such as OOP, AJAX, SQL, and API, which are, for the most part, specific to my role. Now that I’ve re-entered the church/faith-based marketplace, I’ve noticed there are some acronyms missing that I’ve gotten used to hearing from other, non-religious industries, namely SME and SOP.

SME - Subject Matter Expert - Wise management knows better than to make a decision which may impact software usage or business practices without a SME or two in the room. Knowing who your SME’s are also allows you to distribute knowledge to new employees using a “workforce partner” or “train from within” program.

SOP - Standard Operating Procedure - Regardless of how powerful your software and business systems are, they can always be used incorrectly. This is why no software implementation is really complete without a corresponding set of SOP’s which explain the processes involved for using the software to meet the real-world scenarios users will encounter.

I want to encourage churches and faith-based organizations to consider these acronyms and the meanings behind them. As you wrestle with new software solutions or integrating existing software applications, utilizing SME’s and SOP’s will help you make better decisions and distribute standard business practices in your organization.