Technical Writing Training Course – Procedures, SOPs and Instructional Materials

SOP Writing: Technical Writing Course

Are you responsible for writing, reviewing, or updating your company’s policies or Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)? If so, this best-practice SOP Writing (Tech Writing) course is for you!

• This intensive 1-day SOP writing course is ideal for tech writers, Operations Manual writers and Quality Teams.
• It is designed to assist SOP and technical writers working in the life sciences, e.g., in clinical trials, laboratory sciences, pharmaceutical manufacturing, medical device manufacturing, hospitals or Universities.
• It is generally delivered via Zoom as a 1-day intensive SOP writing course.
• Public options may also be available (scroll down for dates and course delivery formats).

Don’t miss out on this popular best-practice SOP writing course! Learn how to design clear and concise standard operating procedures, end-user manuals and work instructions. This is important because best-practice SOP writing skills are crucial to reducing non-compliance issues and manufacturing deviations, often blamed on ‘human error’ instead of poorly written SOPs.

Important: Have an outdated SOP you want to work on (in Word, ready to edit on the course day) so you can update your SOP during the course exercises.

Benefits of this SOP Tech Writing course

1. Industry Expertise: Learn from experienced professionals with extensive backgrounds in pharmaceutical SOP writing, instructional design, and other areas of technical writing. See best-practice SOP examples.
2. Best-Practice SOPs: Learn the components of best-practice SOP examples versus poorly written procedures.
3. Practical Learning: Get hands-on experience with real-world examples, including the opportunity to update your outdated SOPs during the training session. Course exercises are specifically tailored to pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturing documentation.
4. Technical Writing Skills: Clear communication is essential in regulated environments. This course will help you master the key skills needed for updating SOPs and writing technical reports, such as site inspection and audit-finding reports.
5. Certification: Earn a recognized credential to demonstrate your proficiency in SOP and technical writing for the pharmaceutical or medical device industry, including a Credly badge and a Certificate of Attendance for the SOP Technical Writing Course.

You can share this Certificate on your LinkedIn profile and attach it to:

• Your cGMP personnel training records
• Your job applications, when changing careers.

Technical Writing Course | Outline (SOP Writing focus)

Upon completion of this technical writing training course, participants will:

• Learn how to map processes to write effective SOPs and work instructions.
• Understand the difference between procedural and instructional information.
• Upskill your writing technique to present complex information clearly (best-practice SOP writing structures).
• Incorporate modern learning methods into documents to reduce errors from poor SOP design.
• Understand a technical writer’s role and relationship with document reviewers and approval processes.
• Learn the importance of good documentation practices (GDocP).
• Understand requirements for documentation formats, templates, and systems.

Human writing skills are as important as ever, especially for SOPs, organisational policies and procedures, and end-user instruction manuals!

SOP Writing in the Life Sciences

• SOP writing is an art AND a science; especially in the life science sectors.
• This training course is an excellent tech writing training option to help ensure your SOPs are cGMP-compliant.
• This course is designed for SOP & technical writers and quality management teams.
• Professionals from other sectors are welcome to attend, including researchers, scientists, laboratory workers, business writers, CEOs/Company Directors, Training Programme Managers, and instructional designers.

SOPs are critical to patient safety.

In a world that is innundated with information and misinformation, clear communication is essential. Technical writers and SOP writers are in more demand than ever before, particularly in the life science sectors.

AI cannot replace the human side of tech writing for complex processes and procedures, especially for life sciences publications and drug development documentation. Human writing skills, along with diligent oversight, remain crucial to ensuring SOPs, batch records and reports are clear, concise, and compliant with cGMP rules.

Why? Despite AI technologies being used as writing aids, including for drug development and packaging designs, they are (a) not always accurate, and (b) rarely suitable for all purposes; they require scrutiny by several humans with expertise in the topic area, as well as expertise in GMP compliance and other life science sector laws.

Why Technical Writing Skills & SOPs Matter More Than Ever

In a world increasingly reliant on AI and automation, technical writing remains a cornerstone of effective communication, data integrity and quality management. Here’s why learning to ensure your SOPs and other written communications are clear, succinct, and relevant for their purpose:

Human Context

• AI excels in processing vast amounts of data, and can give you an outline or wording suggestions; however, it struggles with nuanced human context and can often get things wrong.
• Technical writers & SOP writers bring clarity and understanding to complex information; ensuring that critical details are accurately conveyed to diverse audiences and that they meet cGMP documentation requirements.

Regulatory Compliance

• Pharmaceuticals operate under stringent regulations where accuracy and precision are paramount.
• Technical writers are trained to navigate these requirements, ensuring compliance and minimising risks associated with miscommunication

Confidentiality (AI Privacy Issues)

• You want to avoid uploading your proprietary information (SOPs) to a generative text/AI platform.
• Why? Privacy issues abound with generative text programs driven by artificial intelligence algorithms.
• AI systems save the information you enter, using it as ‘algorithm training fodder’ for future generative text requests.
• AI platforms often regurgitate your information to other users, risking revealing your company’s proprietary processes, collateral, and intellectual property.

Adaptability

• AI can assist in drafting documents; but AI text generators cannot replace the adaptability, creativity, audience insight and nuanced knowledge of life sciences technical writers and quality management teams.
• SOP writers and other tech writers can tailor content to specific audiences, products and manufacturing processes.
• Skilled SOP writers can also ensure their documents are accurate, engaging, and accessible (suitable for purpose and in line with the audience’s existing knowledge base).

And let’s not forget that humans need to verify adherence to change control processes when updating SOPs and work instructions.

Why SOPs need to be clearly understandable

• Well-written operating procedures (SOPs) help employees, contractors and end-users understand information the first time they read or hear it
• A well-written standard of operation document needs to be:
  • Clear, detailed and useful
  • Accessible and protected from unauthorised changes
  • Up-to-date when platforms/systems, procedures, products, reporting structures and end-user technology changes
  • Reviewed and authorised before use and reviewed regularly or as things change (e.g., following the recommended time frames to ensure currency)
  • Managed adhering to cGMP/GMP change control requirements

Standard Operating Procedures and Technical Writing

Tech Writing Training Course materials

• Participants of the SOP Technical Writing Training Course will receive a copy of the presentation(s), relevant notes and workshop materials.
• A Certificate of Completion will be issued to technical writing training participants who successfully complete the online assessment within the required time frame.

Who should attend this training course in SOP Writing/Life Science Technical Writing?

This 1-Day SOP writing/technical writing training course is ideal for:

• Anyone working in a quality management, technical writing or procedure writing role
  • including experienced SOP writers and Quality Teams
  • new graduates/University students
  • writing-industry job-seekers
• cGMP industry employees who design SOPs or who want to transition into an SOP writing position / technical writing role
• Business leaders looking to review their quality management system (QMS) document structure to improve procedure usability
• Medical Sciences professionals, manufacturing engineers, Academics, post-graduates and others with writing responsibilities, particularly in the bio-sciences, pharmaceutical, medical device or veterinary medicines industries but also applicable for a wide range of industries where technical writing and SOP writing skills are required

Register now for SOP writing / technical writing training.

• Invest in your writing career future.
• Improve your tech writing skills so they remain indispensable in pharmaceutical manufacturing, research writing, scientific instructional design, and other life science sectors.
• Learn from the comfort of your home (via Zoom)!

Take time to spend a day honing your writing communication skills and earn your Certificate of Attendance – you will be very glad you did. This course is offered virtually also, but places are limited, so register today.

Register for the SOP Technical Writing Training Course below:

We also offer onsite courses to 10 or more of your employees, Academics, researchers, University staff and students (researchers and graduates).

If you need any assistance, would like a quote for personalised group training at your site or a nearby facility — or if you have a general technical writing training question — don’t hesitate to contact us at one of our offices around the world.