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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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:
Here’s a quick example from a blog publishing SOP:
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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:
When everyone knows what quality looks like (and who signs off on it), you reduce rework and build trust in the process.
Need some inspiration? Here are a few standard operating procedures that many teams rely on, along with a snapshot of what they typically include.
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.
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.
A blog publishing SOP keeps content marketing running smoothly. It typically includes steps for:
It also clarifies who’s responsible at each stage, so posts don’t get stuck in limbo.
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.
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 stands for Standard Operating Procedure, a step-by-step guide for completing a specific task or process.
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.
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.
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.