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Without well-defined processes and consistent documentation on them, companies struggle to complete tasks consistently, increasing the likelihood of errors. Plus, employees waste time and resources on scattered processes and tool sprawl. But you can create repeatable, reliable workflows by writing comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOPs).
SOPs are checklists, flowcharts, and written descriptions containing step-by-step instructions on correctly completing routine tasks. These documents drive consistency and quality outcomes, while keeping your workforce safe.
Read on to learn how to write SOPs and check out 12 customizable SOP templates that clarify your work.
Jump to a template:
- Standard SOP Template
- Step-By-Step SOP Template
- Operations SOP Template
- IT SOP Template
- MSP SOP Template
- Account Management SOP Template
- Customer Service SOP Template
- Process Documentation SOP Template
- Knowledge Transfer SOP Template
- Business Development SOP Template
- Marketing SOP Template
- Onboarding SOP Template
What’s an SOP Template?
SOP templates provide a framework for documenting the steps of tasks, processes, or workflows. These guides drive consistent outcomes and efficient work, and often take the form of flowcharts, checklists, or written instructions.
When employees follow predetermined steps to complete routine work, they avoid errors and unsafe situations. They also gain the resources to complete tasks quickly and well, driving top organizational performance and positive business outcomes.
SOP templates give you a ready-to-use layout to document any workflow or task. These downloadable forms have headers, action items, and checklists that you can customize with your own data.
Using templates, you can create detailed instructions for internal processes like onboarding or talking to customers. By describing each task, SOPs increase consistency and performance across the company.
12 SOP Templates You Can Use for Free
The following free SOP templates from Scribe are ideal for different use cases, industries, and job functions. Start mapping your processes and workflows today by exploring these boilerplates at the links below.
1. Standard SOP Template
Click here to try this Standard Operating Procedure template
A standard operating procedure (SOP) template documents the steps for completing a process or task.
Teams create these instructions to maintain consistency and speed up the training process.
Use this highly customizable SOP template for:
- Employee training: Create training materials for new team members, including step-by-step instructions for completing specific tasks, information on safety protocols, and company policies.
- Quality control: Establish procedures for quality control and quality assurance.
- Inventory management: Create routine end-to-end processes for managing inventory.
- Equipment maintenance procedures for maintaining and repairing equipment.
- Data management procedures.
👉 Try this standard operating procedure template for free.
2. Step-By-Step SOP Template
Click here to try this step-by-step guide template
Document processes and ensure consistency for any task or process with this step-by-step guide template. Use our SOP document template to outline the steps for employees (and stakeholders) to understand and follow your procedures.
👉 Try this step-by-step guide template for free.
3. Onboarding SOP Template
Click here to try this onboarding SOP template
Following well-documented processes during onboarding makes the experience less overwhelming, since new hires know what’s expected of them. And human resources SOPs ensure you avoid legal risks, improve security and offer an impactful employee experience.
Our onboarding SOP template:
- Gives new hires information on procedures, policies and job-specific training.
- Prepares employees for success with a helpful checklist to organize their to-dos.
- Refines onboarding processes by encouraging two-way communication and feedback.
👉 Try this onboarding SOP template for free.
4. Knowledge Transfer SOP Template
A knowledge transfer SOP template outlines the steps and procedures involved in transferring knowledge or skills within your organization.
Use this knowledge transfer standard operating procedure template to:
- Reduce the risk of knowledge loss: Transfer important knowledge or skills from one person or team to another.
- Improve efficiency.
- Reduce errors and mistakes.
- Support organizational learning: Share knowledge throughout your organization, leading to continuous improvement and innovation.
- Facilitate team collaboration: Encourage team members to work together to share knowledge and achieve common goals.
👉 Try this knowledge transfer SOP template for free.
5. Process Documentation SOP Template
Click here to try this process documentation template
Document processes and create a clear, easy to follow guide that standardizes:
- How a particular process or procedure works.
- Who is responsible for each step.
- Resources and tools needed to complete it.
👉 Try this process documentation template for free.
6. Operations SOP Template
Click here to try this operational plan SOP template
Use this operational plan template to explain everything about your organizational operations, including:
- Goals.
- Market analysis.
- Project management.
- Production processes.
- And more!
You can include screenshots and text to share detailed instructions in your SOPs. Including links to related resources is another plus!
👉 Try this operational plan template for free.
7. Information Technology (IT) SOP Template
Click here to try this IT SOP template
You can use this IT standard operating procedure template to standardize tasks or processes, ensuring consistency and accuracy across your company.
Try our IT SOP template to outline step-by-step instructions for:
- Installing and configuring software or hardware.
- Conducting routine maintenance tasks.
- Troubleshooting and resolving common IT issues.
- Managing user accounts and access permissions.
- Responding to security incidents or data breaches.
- Training new IT staff on specific tasks or processes.
👉 Try this IT SOP template for free.
8. Managed Service Provider (MSP) SOP Template
Click here to try this SOP template for MSPs
Standard operating procedures help Managed Service Providers (MSPs) ensure consistent, reliable and high-quality service delivery.
Use this SOP template for MSPs to:
- Improve efficiency: Ensure tasks are carried out consistently, quickly and accurately.
- Reduce costs: Reduce the amount of time and resources needed to provide services.
- Increase customer satisfaction by ensuring services are delivered within agreed service levels.
👉 Try this MSP SOP template for free.
9. Account Management SOP Template
Click here to try this account management SOP template
Try this account management template to design procedures for managing client accounts.
- Build alignment between sales and service teams.
- Provide guidelines for internal processes and managing customer accounts.
- Identify opportunities for growth within customer accounts.
👉 Try this account management SOP template for free.
10. Customer Service SOP Template
Click here to try this customer service SOP template
Scribe's customer service SOP template outlines the steps and support processes your customer service team can take to deliver high-quality customer service. Try our template to:
- Build standard operating procedures that standardize customer service processes and drive repeatable success.
- Define workflows and support processes.
- Improve consistency, bringing greater predictability to outcomes.
👉 Try this customer service SOP template for free.
11. Business Development SOP Template
Click here to try this business development SOP template
This business development standard operating procedures template provides a comprehensive framework for creating standard operating procedures for all phases of the business development cycle, including:
- Lead generation.
- Prospecting.
- Proposal development.
- Closing deals.
👉 Try this business development SOP template for free.
12. Marketing SOP Template
Click here to try this marketing SOP template
Clear organization is essential for tracking complex marketing efforts. This template streamlines your communications strategy to improve efficiency and align your marketing team.
Use this template to:
- Create a consistent voice across all marketing materials.
- Outline marketing goals and tasks.
- Gain better budget visibility.
- Organize information to improve teamwork.
- Monitor key metrics.
Our SOP examples feature more marketing samples, including a website content update guide.
👉 Try this marketing SOP template for free.
More Free SOP Templates for Different Industries and Processes
Scribe template gallery: 100+ SOP templates
You’ll find hundreds of standard operating procedure templates for different business processes and use cases in the Scribe gallery. Choose any template and get started in seconds! Check out our gallery for the full template library, including:
- Project management plan template.
- Emergency procedures and action plan template.
- Quick reference guide template.
... and more!
How to Write an SOP (A Step-By-Step Guide)
SOP templates provide a useful framework, which you can maximize by understanding how to create a great SOP. Use this step-by-step guide to structure your work.
1. Identify the process
Decide what process or task you’ll standardize through this document. Generally, companies focus on their most critical processes, as documenting them well drives significant change. Instead of forcing various processes into a single, bulky, confusing resource, make an SOP for each.
2. Choose the right SOP format
Determine whether a checklist, flowchart, or written document will work best for documenting the process. A checklist can be an excellent idea for processes that contain many small but essential tasks, while a flowchart works well for sequential ones. Written instructions are great for complex tasks that require explanations that can’t be easily intuited from simple headings.
3. Gather process details from SMEs
Ask subject-matter experts (SMEs)—the people at your organization who deeply understand the processes you’re documenting—to contribute their knowledge. Have them outline key steps, explaining how they should be performed and any potential issues to avoid.
4. Document each step clearly and concisely
Take the time to precisely and thoroughly document each step. Then edit your work to keep descriptions concise and easily legible.
5. Add visuals or screenshots for clarity
Insert images of steps (i.e., photographs for manufacturing tasks or screenshots for computer work). Then, use simple editing tools to draw useful cues (like arrows or circles) around key elements. For example, if documenting the use of a particular software, circle or point to the buttons and tabs mentioned in the corresponding step.
Have SMEs and other key process stakeholders review the SOP and provide feedback on its accuracy. Implement their improvements before sharing with teams.
7. Publish, train, and update regularly
Publish the SOP as the single source of truth on the process, making it readily available on a central platform. Encourage leaders to review the steps with existing team members and always train new hires on these processes, resolving questions. And as teams improve processes, make timely edits to your SOPs so that no one is using old information as a guide.
How Scribe helps create SOPs faster
Streamline SOP creation with automated process capture from Scribe.
Scribe Capture turns your teams’ workflows into user-friendly step-by-step guides, complete with screenshots, text, click targets, and narration. Scribe’s self-writing documentation feature saves time and ensures accuracy, transforming any browser or desktop process into a detailed SOPs—all without the manual effort.
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FAQs
What Are the Challenges of Creating an SOP?
The top SOP challenges are inconsistencies between departments, outdated documents and inaccessible paper records:
- Outdated documents: Documentation goes out of date quickly, and it takes forever to update, so it’s a frustrating task to continuously prioritize. To ensure you’re sharing updated SOPs, schedule regular maintenance to confirm steps are still accurate and relevant. Scribe makes this easy since documentation updates are automatically published to any spot where you linked or embedded your Scribe.
- Inconsistencies: Different departments may create conflicting SOPs, so encourage frequent meetings to align documentation and promote consistency.
- Inaccessible records: Organizations that primarily use paper records may not distribute them to all necessary departments. Same goes with digital assets — if they’re not centralized and organized, they’re difficult to find. Use Scribe to digitize, centralize, and organize your documents.
How Often Should SOPs Be Updated?
- You should regularly update your SOPs to reflect changes in the process or procedure.
- Updates also need to be made when there are changes to regulations or standards.
Who’s Responsible for Creating and Updating SOPs?
The responsibility for creating and updating SOPs typically falls to the responsible team or the role that handles the task or specific process. Be sure to get input from other stakeholders like other departments, managers and customers.
How Can I Ensure My Team Is Using SOPs?
- Train your team so all employees who need to use SOPs are trained on how to create and use them.
- Make your SOPs easy to find: Creating a central repository for SOPs, such as a shared drive or intranet site, will make it easy for your team to find, access and create SOPs. Clear titles also make it quick and easy to find SOPs.
- Monitor compliance: Conduct regular audits and spot checks of your SOPs to make sure they are still compliant.
- Encourage feedback on your SOPs and incorporate the suggestions into your templates.
How Can I Protect Sensitive Information in My SOPs?
If your SOPs contain sensitive information like customer data or intellectual property, you can use security measures like passwords, encryption, and access controls.
Scribe offers robust security measures — just another thing you don’t have to worry about. Here are a few security features you’ll enjoy when using Scribe:
- Encryption in transit and at rest.
- Continuously monitored cloud traffic.
- Two-factor authentication.
- SOC II compliance.
Head to our security and compliance page for more information.
What should an SOP include?
SOPs should include the process purpose, scope, and the key steps comprising it.
What is the best SOP format?
The best SOP format depends on the type of information you’ll transmit. For example, sequential, high-level procedures fit well into flowcharts, while checklists or written instructions can be better for processes containing many small, detailed steps.
