A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a written description of how a recurring task is done: the steps, who does each one, what is needed, what the result should look like, and what to do when something goes wrong. Its goal is that the task is done the same way no matter who does it.
A policy says what must happen and why ("supplier bank details must be verified"). An SOP says how ("call the supplier at the number on file, not the one in the email"). A work instruction goes one level deeper, into a single screen or machine.
What a good SOP includes
- Purpose and scope: what the procedure covers and what it does not.
- Roles: who does each step, by role rather than by name.
- Steps in order, with inputs and outputs.
- Exceptions: what to do when the normal path does not apply.
- An owner, a version and the date of the last review.
Example
An SOP for adding a new supplier (illustrative): the accounts payable lead owns it. The steps are to collect a W-9, verify bank details by calling a known number, get the controller's approval, and only then create the supplier in the accounting system.
Common pitfalls
- Written once and never updated, so it describes how work used to be done.
- Describing the ideal process instead of the real one.
- Too long to read when someone actually needs it.
- Stored somewhere nobody looks, and never acknowledged by the people who must follow it.
A simple test: a new hire should be able to follow it without asking anyone.