How to write an SOP
The method, start to finish: from the person doing the work, to a test that proves it, to a number and an owner.
The method for writing a standard operating procedure that the team will actually use.
Start from the person doing the work
An SOP is written for the person who will follow it, not for the manager who wants it written. So you write it with the person who does the task, in their words, in the order they actually do it. If you write it from a meeting room, you will produce steps that are theoretically correct and practically wrong.
Why steps fail
Steps fail in three ways. Assumed knowledge — a step that only makes sense to the person who wrote it. Missing decisions — a fork in the path with no instruction for either branch. And no owner — a document nobody is responsible for keeping true. Every step should be written against these three, and the fix for each is to make the implicit explicit.
How specific is specific enough
Specific enough that someone who has never done the task can follow without guessing, and not more. If a number matters, give it. If a step has a decision, say what to check and what to do for each branch. If a task takes a set amount of time, say so. Then test it and let the test find the gaps you cannot see.
How to test one
Hand the draft to someone who has never done the task and watch them follow it without help. Wherever they pause, ask or improvise, the procedure is missing something. Fix it and run it again. A procedure that only works for the person who wrote it is not a procedure.
Give it a number and an owner
From the first draft, give the document a number, a revision, an owner and a review date. That is what lets anyone cite it, know the version they are looking at, and hold someone accountable for keeping it current. The control block at the top of the <a href="/sop-template/">SOP template</a> holds these, and they are not decoration.
These documents are starting structures for you to build on, not professional or legal advice. Anything that will have legal or contractual effect, or that varies by jurisdiction, should be reviewed by someone qualified in the relevant place.
Common questions
- How specific does an SOP need to be?
- Specific enough that someone who has never done the task can follow it without guessing, and not more. If a step has a decision in it, say what to check and what to do for each branch. If a number matters, give the number. Then test it on someone new and fix whatever they have to ask about.
- How do you test a standard operating procedure?
- Hand the draft to someone who has never done the task and watch them follow it without help. Wherever they pause, ask or improvise, the procedure is missing something. Fix it and run it once more. A procedure that works only for the person who wrote it is not a procedure.