UnifiedOS › SOP template
A good SOP answers 13 short questions: its name, purpose, owner, what starts it, what done looks like, who's involved, inputs, outputs, the steps, exceptions, handoffs, tools, and when it's next reviewed. It fits on one page. If a new hire or volunteer can follow it without asking, it's done.
Keep each answer to a line or two. Short and current beats long and stale.
What the process is called.
Why it exists.
The role that keeps it current.
What kicks it off.
What finished looks like.
The roles that take part.
What's needed to begin.
What it produces.
In order, each with a short title and instructions.
Common exceptions, or “none known.”
Who gets the work or approval next.
Systems and documents used.
When it's next checked.
Pick the process that causes the most questions, write it to these 13 points, and have the person who does it check it. Then the next one. When a whole department is written down, it becomes a department playbook.
Thirteen things: name, purpose, owner, starting point, what done looks like, people involved, inputs, outputs, ordered steps, exceptions, handoffs, tools, and a review date.
Usually one page. Each of the 13 points takes a line or two, plus the steps. If someone can follow it without asking, it's long enough.
The person who does the work drafts it or talks it through, and the role that owns the process approves it and keeps it current.
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