SOP Template
The ten-part structure for a procedure someone else can follow. Copy, fill, test.
Ten parts. Drop the last three and you have notes, not a procedure.
Copy everything below the line. Fill it in while watching the process happen — not afterwards, from memory.
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The template
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SOP-[number] · [Process name]
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PURPOSE
[One sentence. What this achieves, not how.]
TRIGGER
[The specific event that starts this. Not "when needed".]
INPUTS
[What must exist before step 1. Access, information, materials.]
ROLES
Executor: [who does it]
Approver: [who signs off, if anyone]
Escalation: [who gets called when it goes wrong]
───────────────────────────────────────────
STEPS
───────────────────────────────────────────
1. [Imperative verb] [object] — [tool/system]
2. [Imperative verb] [object] — [tool/system]
3. ...
───────────────────────────────────────────
DECISIONS
───────────────────────────────────────────
| Situation | Rule |
|---|---|
| | |
| | |
[Every "it depends" from the process belongs here as a written rule.
If it genuinely needs judgement, write: DECISION: [name] and leave it manual.]
───────────────────────────────────────────
EXCEPTIONS
───────────────────────────────────────────
- [When this procedure does not apply] → [what to do instead]
- [Unusual case] → [handling]
[If you have none, you haven't looked closely enough.]
───────────────────────────────────────────
OUTPUT
───────────────────────────────────────────
[What concretely exists when this is finished. Where it lives.]
───────────────────────────────────────────
VERIFICATION
───────────────────────────────────────────
How the executor knows it worked:
- [ ] [Checkable condition]
- [ ] [Checkable condition]
[Not "ensure it's correct". State what correct looks like.]
───────────────────────────────────────────
MEASUREMENT (optional, max 3)
───────────────────────────────────────────
- [What gets measured] — target: [value] — read from: [where]
───────────────────────────────────────────
Owner: [name]
Version: 1.0
Created: [date]
Last reviewed: [date]
Next review: [date]
Filling it in
Purpose — one sentence, outcome not activity. "Every enquiry gets a reply within four working hours" beats "handle incoming enquiries."
Steps — one action each. If it contains "and then," split it. Name the tool in every step.
Decisions — pull every conditional out of the steps and into the table. The condition must be checkable from information the executor has in front of them.
Verification — the section most often left blank and the one that makes the difference. Write what the executor can check themselves.
Before you call it done
- Someone who didn't write it has executed it
- You watched them do it without helping
- Every point where they hesitated has been fixed
- Every step names a tool
- Verification is specific, not "check it's right"
- Owner and review date are filled in
If you wrote it and only you have ever followed it, it isn't tested.
Naming and storage
SOP-[number] · [Process name] — numbered sequentially, named for the process rather than the department.
One location for all procedures. The tool matters less than the rule that there is exactly one place and everyone knows which it is.