Current information about continuing education, prevalence and utilization of standard operating procedures (SOP), and challenges related to training of the work force implemented on commercial dairy farms is rare. Transparency and consistency of production processes, however, are important to assure trust by the consumers and satisfy their expectations. Therefore, the objective of this study was to conduct a survey to gain insight into the organization of work processes on commercial German dairy farms analyzing the use of SOPs. A questionnaire was developed that consisted of 16 questions and 9 statements focusing on general farm data, the generation, implementation and handling of SOP as well as an assessment of challenges in handling work processes on the farm. The questionnaire was distributed using 3 convenience samples (i.e., 2 workshops, 1 mailing). A total of 250 survey forms were returned and 248 could be used for final analysis. The existence of SOP was indicated by 82% of all respondents, but only 54% stated that these were written down. On only 30% of the participating dairy farms SOP were available for trainees. Existence of SOP correlated with farm size such that larger farms were more likely to implement SOP than smaller farms (P = 0.007). However, many farmers lacked the time (41%) or ability (42%) to create SOP to provide the employees with detailed instructions on how to perform a specific task. Sixty-six per cent of the participants agreed or strongly agreed with the statements that various employees handled the same tasks differently. Eighty-one per cent of the managers indicated that they “sometimes get annoyed about employees not completing tasks the way they consider right.” However, 86% of respondents considered a consistent work performance as a benefit; another 49% (87/179) and 39% (70/179), respectively, regarded monitoring of work processes and improvement of animal health as beneficial. The majority of respondents (59%) were interested in using ready-made SOP that could be adjusted to their farm. On 68% of the farms continuing education for employees was neglected. There was an obvious discrepancy between the motivation of the farmers to improve the performance on their farm and the expertise in realizing these goals and intentions.