Ever spent 15 minutes digging through old Slack threads just to figure out how your team submits an expense report? Or had a teammate ask, “Hey, what’s our process for escalating customer issues again?” for the third time this month?
That’s where SOPs come in.
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) aren’t corporate red tape. They’re your shortcut to clarity, consistency, and less rework. Whether you're onboarding a new hire or handing off a recurring task to a VA, SOPs help you optimize your team’s performance and scale faster.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through what SOPs are, why they matter for growing businesses, and how to write a new SOP your team will actually use.
Table of Contents
- What is an SOP?
- What Role Does a SOP Play in Business?
- How to Write an SOP
- What are the Components of an Effective SOP?
- Examples of Common SOPs
- Put SOPs to Work for Your Team
- SOP FAQs
What is an SOP?
A standard operating procedure (SOP) is a set of step-by-step instructions that outlines how to perform a specific task or process consistently. Think of it as your team’s playbook.
SOPs ensure routine operations follow the same game plan every time.
Let’s say you run a sales team and want to streamline how reps qualify leads. Without a specific SOP, each person might follow a slightly different process, leading to confusion, deviations. delays, or lost deals.
But with a clear SOP document, like a checklist for qualifying and assigning leads in your CRM, leads get assigned more efficiently, mistakes drop, and your conversion rates go up. Clear SOPs also reduce friction between teams or teammates, eliminate blame, and side-step confusion.
What Role Does a SOP Play in Business?
At its core, SOPs in business keeps your team aligned and your management system running like clockwork. It takes the guesswork out of daily tasks and sets a consistent standard.
So whether someone’s been at your company for two weeks or two years, they know exactly how to get things done.
Businesses use SOPs to:
- Stay aligned across teams. Everyone follows the same process, reducing confusion and miscommunication.
- Reduce errors. When the steps have clear detailed instructions, there’s less room for mistakes.
- Manage schedules and workloads. SOPs make it easier to estimate time, audit your time, plan ahead, and delegate.
- Train and onboard faster. New team members can hit the ground running with standardized SOP formats.
- Maintain compliance. For finance, legal, or industry-specific rules, SOPs ensure you tick every box and meet regulatory requirements.
- Control costs. Efficient, repeatable processes help you show stakeholders you’re avoiding time sinks and wasted resources.
- Create accountability. Clear procedures mean it’s easier to spot what went wrong and fix it fast.
Whether you’re managing a small CX team or juggling tasks across multiple departments, SOPs are like invisible infrastructure. They keep your business humming behind the scenes.
How to Write an SOP
Writing SOPs doesn’t have to be complicated. The key is to focus on real-world tasks your team does regularly, especially the ones that get repeated, handed off, or done inconsistently.
A solid SOP helps standardize those workflows so anyone can follow them with confidence.
Identify the Process
Start by picking one specific process. If you try to write an SOP that’s too broad, it’ll be hard to follow, and even harder to use. Think about what tasks trip people up or take time to explain again and again.
Here are a few examples that make great SOP candidates:
- New employee onboarding
- Escalating a customer issue
- Publishing a blog post
- Running payroll
- Conducting a code review
If you’ve ever said, “Let me just show you how I do it,” that’s a great sign the process deserves its own SOP.
Identify the End User
Once you’ve nailed down the process, the next step is to consider who will use the SOP.
Is it for a brand-new hire? A virtual assistant? A senior team member filling in temporarily? Your audience matters.
A great SOP speaks directly to the person doing the task, using their language, their tools, and their level of experience.
For example, if your SOP is for a VA handling customer escalations, it should include exact phrasing, tool screenshots, and steps that assume little prior knowledge. But if it's for a senior engineer reviewing code, you can skip the basics and focus on technical standards.
Bottom line: the clearer it is for the actual user, the more likely it’ll be followed, and used well.
Determine the Format
SOPs don’t have to be stuffy Word docs buried in a shared drive. The best SOP format is the one your team will actually use.
Depending on the complexity of the task and who’s using it, your SOP might take the form of:
- A wiki page in your internal knowledge base
- A step-by-step checklist for quick tasks like weekly reporting
- A PDF guide for processes that need to be shared externally
- A hierarchical doc with nested steps, sub-tasks, and conditional instructions
- A Loom or screen recording paired with a checklist for visual learners
The format should match the workflow. If your team lives in Notion, that’s where your SOP should live. If your VA loves Google Docs, keep it simple and accessible.
Write the SOP
Now it’s time to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard). Once you’ve identified the process, the end user, and the best format, it’s go time.
The key here is clarity. Break things down step by step, keep the language simple, and avoid assumptions. You want anyone to be able to follow the process from start to finish without getting stuck.
Don’t let your SOP collect dust in a hidden folder. Store it somewhere accessible to everyone who needs it, whether that’s a shared drive, project management tool, or internal wiki.
In the next sections, we’ll walk through the essential components every SOP should include, so you can make sure yours is both useful and actionable.
What are the Components of an Effective SOP?
The best SOPs are easy to find, easy to follow, and reuse. That’s why many businesses create a standard SOP template that teams can use across departments.
Here’s how to break it down.
Title
Start with a clear, specific title. It should be instantly obvious what the SOP covers, no guessing required.
Instead of “Client Process,” try “How to Onboard a New Client in HubSpot.”
Instead of “Marketing Tasks,” go with “Publishing a Weekly Blog Post.”
Once titled, make sure the SOP is stored somewhere intuitive:
“Marketing > Content Ops > Blog SOPs.”
The easier it is to find, the more likely it is for team members to use it.
Publish and Revision Date
Processes change, and your SOPs should too. That’s why it’s important to include a publish date and a last revised date on every SOP you create.
This helps your team know if the information is current or outdated. It also gives you a built-in cue to review and update your SOPs regularly, especially after tool changes, team shifts, or process improvements.
Pro tip: Add a simple line at the top like: Last updated: September 2025. Next review: Q1 2026.
Scope and Responsibilities
Every SOP needs guardrails. Defining the scope means clearly stating where the process begins, where it ends, and what’s included (or not). This helps prevent overlap, missed steps, or confusion, especially when tasks move between teams.
Let’s say you’re creating an SOP for escalating customer support tickets. The scope might start when an agent identifies a high-priority issue and end when a manager closes the loop with the customer.
Anything outside that window, like initial triage or post-resolution follow-up, belongs in a separate SOP.
Just as important: outline who’s responsible at each step. Assign names, roles, or job titles, and note if any approvals are required.
For example:
- Support rep tags and escalates ticket
- CX lead reviews and assigns to the appropriate team
- Team manager signs off before customer outreach
The Actual Processes
This is the heart of your SOP, the step-by-step breakdown of what needs to happen and when.
Whether you use a checklist, a flowchart, a numbered list, or even a combination, the goal is the same: make the process easy to follow for anyone.
Each step should include:
- What the task is
- Who is responsible
- How to do it (brief instructions, links, or screenshots if needed)
Here’s a quick example from a blog publishing SOP:
- Draft content in Google Docs (Content Writer)
- Submit for review and edits (Editor)
- Upload final copy to CMS (VA)
- Format and insert images (VA)
- Schedule and publish (Marketing Manager)
Read more: How to Increase Workforce Productivity with 10 Healthy Habits
Optional: QA Controls
In some cases, it’s not enough to simply complete a task, you also need a way to confirm it was done correctly. For high-stakes processes build in quality control.
Quality control is the checkpoints, tests, or approval steps that help ensure quality and consistency before moving forward.
Not every SOP needs them, but for high-stakes or customer-facing processes, they’re worth including.
Here are a few examples:
- Manager sign-off before a client proposal is sent
- Peer review before publishing a blog post
- Code pushed to a test environment before going live
- Double-checking totals in a payroll spreadsheet
When everyone knows what quality looks like (and who signs off on it), you reduce rework and build trust in the process.
Examples of Common SOPs
Need some inspiration? Here are a few standard operating procedures that many teams rely on, along with a snapshot of what they typically include.
Submitting Expense Reports
An SOP for submitting expenses walks employees through how to track receipts, fill out the expense form, and submit it on time.
It often includes details like the reimbursement timeline, accepted formats (PDF, JPEG), and who to contact if there’s a delay. This helps finance teams avoid bottlenecks and keeps employees reimbursed without the back-and-forth.
Elevating a Customer Complaint
This SOP outlines what frontline staff should do when an issue goes beyond standard support. It covers how to tag and escalate tickets, what qualifies as a high-priority issue, and who owns the next steps.
With clear escalation paths, customer problems get addressed faster, and more professionally.
Publishing a Blog Post
A blog publishing SOP keeps content marketing running smoothly. It typically includes steps for:
- Drafting
- Editing
- Uploading to the CMS
- Formatting
- SEO checks
- Image selection
- Scheduling
It also clarifies who’s responsible at each stage, so posts don’t get stuck in limbo.
Approving a Vendor
Vendor approval SOPs help businesses stay compliant and cost-efficient. This kind of SOP usually outlines how to submit a vendor request, what documentation is needed (W-9, quotes, service agreements), and who approves what.
It ensures that every vendor is vetted before money changes hands.
Put SOPs to Work for Your Team
Clear, well-documented SOPs can transform how your business operates, whether you're managing internal teams or working with virtual assistants and external partners. They eliminate guesswork, streamline handoffs, and create consistency across the board.
You don’t need to build a perfect system overnight. Start simple. Document one key process, make it easy to follow, and adjust as your team grows and your workflows evolve.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s clarity, efficiency, and progress.
Ready to find out how the combination of SOPs and the right managed virtual assistants can help you achieve more? Talk to our team today.
SOP FAQs
What does SOP stand for?
SOP stands for Standard Operating Procedure, a step-by-step guide for completing a specific task or process.
What is an SOP in business?
In business, an SOP is a documented process that outlines how to perform a task consistently and correctly. It helps teams stay aligned, reduce errors, and scale operations efficiently.
What is an example of a SOP?
An example of an SOP is a process for submitting expense reports, with steps for saving receipts, filling out a form, and sending it to finance for approval and reimbursement.
Who writes SOPs in a company?
SOPs are usually written by the person who owns the process—often a team lead, manager, or operations specialist—sometimes with input from those who use it daily.