StretchLearn Course

Stop being the operating system of your own business.

Document SOPs people follow, map and fix your processes, plan capacity to real demand, and install quality control so the work comes out right every time without you in every detail.

Preview Curriculum Back to Catalog

Beginner9 hr 45 minSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Most small businesses stall because the owner is the operating system: every order, exception, and quality check runs through one head. This course replaces that with documented, measurable operations. You will write SOPs people actually follow, map your value stream to find and remove the waste and the bottleneck, calculate the capacity and staffing your demand requires, and stand up quality control with checklists, control limits, and root-cause analysis. Every method is concrete and tied to numbers, named tools, and worked examples drawn from real service, retail, and trades businesses.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Write standard operating procedures that staff follow consistently using a tested SOP structure and a documentation cadence

Map a core process with SIPOC and value-stream mapping to expose handoffs, rework loops, and the single constraint

Calculate capacity, takt time, and required staffing from real demand and identify the bottleneck limiting throughput

Install quality control using checklists, control charts, and acceptance criteria to cut defects and rework

Run root-cause analysis with the Five Whys and a fishbone diagram and put permanent countermeasures in place

Build a daily and weekly operating rhythm with the right KPIs so the business runs without the owner in every detail

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: Operations as a System and Writing SOPs That Stick

Operations is the engine that converts inputs into delivered value. This module reframes your business as a system and teaches you to document the standard work that makes results repeatable instead of heroic.

3 lessons

What Operations Management Actually CoversContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Writing a Standard Operating Procedure People FollowContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Building Your SOP Library Without Stalling the BusinessContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Mapping and Improving Your Core Processes

You cannot improve flow you cannot see. This module teaches SIPOC and value-stream mapping to expose handoffs, rework, and waste, then a disciplined method to redesign the process for speed and reliability.

3 lessons

Process Mapping with SIPOC and SwimlanesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Value-Stream Mapping and Finding the WasteContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Redesigning the Process for FlowContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Capacity Planning and Finding the Bottleneck

Demand without capacity planning means missed jobs or wasted payroll. This module teaches you to size your operation to real demand, calculate takt time and staffing, and use the theory of constraints to lift throughput at the bottleneck.

3 lessons

Measuring Demand and Calculating CapacityContent · 50 min

LMS Access

The Theory of Constraints and Your BottleneckContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Scheduling, Staffing, and Demand MatchingContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Quality Control and the Operating Rhythm

Consistency is what turns one-time buyers into repeat customers. This module installs quality control with checklists and statistical thinking, a root-cause method that fixes problems for good, and the daily and weekly rhythm that keeps the whole system running without the owner.

3 lessons

Building Quality Control That Catches DefectsContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Root-Cause Analysis and Permanent FixesContent · 50 min

LMS Access

The Daily and Weekly Operating RhythmContent · 50 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

operations managementstandard operating proceduresprocess mappingcapacity planningquality controllean small businesstheory of constraintscontinuous improvement