5 free standard operating procedure templates and how to use them

Do your processes and procedures exist in written format? Or are they only in someone’s head? 

For many small businesses, it’s the latter. Understandably so: creating written standard operating procedures (SOPs) requires time and resources. However, SOPs are designed to create consistency. 

Think of the Ford assembly line. Every operator played a specific, repeatable role in the process. It was so effective that it became widely adopted as a standard practice across industries. 

While your business may not be building cars, a repeatable process allows things to run smoothly. Anyone can reference the documentation and know what steps to take. 

If you’ve never written an SOP, this article will cover what you should include. We’ve also got some templates to help you get started.

What is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)

An SOP is an internal document containing step-by-step instructions for a specific company activity. You might create SOPs for repetitive processes, routine operations, or other tasks. 

Optemization, a Notion consultancy, wrote on its blog, “SOPs differ from simple procedure documents (a document that outlines the steps necessary to complete a task or process). The main difference is that procedure documents provide a high-level overview of a process. In contrast, SOPs provide an ‘on-the-ground’ explanation of what needs to happen to ensure a given process goes as planned.”

In other words, SOPs cover more than what needs to be done. They provide clear instructions for how the work should get done. The goal is for any employee reading the SOP to know exactly what to do. 

How to prioritize which SOPs to create

Businesses looking to create SOPs for the first time often struggle knowing where to start. The task can be daunting, considering how many processes your team follows every day. Eventually, you may end up with hundreds — if not thousands — of SOPs.

Start with a few core areas (3 to 5) of your business, such as sales or support. Within each area, identify the most crucial activities or procedures. These are the most important for safeguarding and centralizing knowledge, especially if the task is critical to your business and only performed by one or two people. When you create an SOP document for these tasks, you’re preserving business continuity and enabling delegation.

You can also capture the most frequently repeated internal processes by team members. These tasks are most at risk for inconsistency. A written SOP becomes a guide for everyone to follow. 

How to write an effective SOP

Put yourself in the shoes of a new employee. What would they need to know to get a job done? 

Connor Gross, the owner of fractional recruiting agency Constant Hire, has extensive experience onboarding employees. As such, he has observed where most business owners struggle with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). “Most business owners log into software and know exactly where to navigate and what buttons to click on,” he explains. “The tough part becomes the steps that you will inevitably miss because they’re obvious to you and not obvious to the other person.”

You want your SOPs to include the specific tasks to be completed and why they’re important. Here are some things you can include:

Connor suggests fleshing out the entire SOP and then using a tool like ChatGPT to simplify it into bullet points. You can also use a tool like Loom to record a video and then use Loom AI to create an SOP document based on the video’s content. If you’re working with a particularly complex task, you may want to break it down into multiple SOP documents. 

Once you’re done, have other team members review the SOP. Ideally, someone unfamiliar with the process should go through the SOP and see if they can follow it. That’s the easiest way to identify if you’ve left something out.

💡Pro Tip: Use a table of contents with hyperlinks at the top of your document to help employees jump to specific sections quickly.

Example standard operating procedure templates

Even with our list of things to include, you may wonder what an SOP looks like, especially since the layout may vary by use case.

These standard operating procedure templates are a starting point to help you identify:

• Why the SOP is important
• Who it’s for
• What steps to cover

SOPs can be a flow chart, step-by-step instructions, a checklist, or a matrix. 

💡 Pro Tip: Make sure to define any acronyms or abbreviations in your SOPs, whether they’re an industry standard or are specific to your organization. 

1. Basic SOP template

This template is generic enough to use for a variety of processes and procedures. It’s ideal if you’re just getting started or want to use the same template across multiple areas of your business.

In this SOP, you’ll identify the document’s purpose and provide the necessary context for your team. You can also include internal resources, such as a communication plan template, expense report template, project management template, or other frequently used documents.

New employee onboarding often has a lot of moving parts. An SOP ensures that employees are onboarded consistently and identifies who is responsible for each step. 

You’ll likely end up with multiple SOPs related to the employee onboarding process, which can include:

• SOPs for collecting documentation, adding the employee to your payroll system, etc.
• Manager SOPs for completing initial meetings, doing employee performance reviews, etc.
• Employee SOPs for logging into tools for the first time, completing training modules and checklists, etc.

3. Phone support SOP template

For many companies, phone support falls into the category of a “frequently repeated” process. A phone support SOP should include everything a customer support representative should use, from tools to sample scripts. You’ll want to cover what happens before, during, and after the call.

SOPs should also let support reps know how to handle different scenarios, like customer complaints or rude customers.

4. Support escalations SOP template

You can outline how your support reps should handle escalations to other departments in a separate SOP. This SOP covers when escalations should occur, how escalations should be routed, and how your team can deal with them successfully. 

In the case of support escalations or other between-department interactions, flowcharts might be helpful to illustrate troubleshooting steps and different tiers of escalation support.

5. Lead follow-up SOP template

Your sales team should know the exact steps to prospect, qualify, and follow up with leads. In a lead follow-up template, you’ll want to link to other documentation, such as the presentation deck your sales team should use or current pricing. You can also include resources such as common objections and how to handle them.

Maintain and update your SOPs

Standard operating procedures are living documents. Over time, you’ll need to create new SOPs and update your current documents. Identifying who is responsible for making changes is a process in itself.

You can also encourage team members to identify out-of-date SOPs by leaving comments or suggestions to change them. This is easy to do with shared Google Docs or Notion. An effective date or “Last Updated” can let everyone know when the SOP was last edited. 

Even though SOPs seem like a chore (and, admittedly, they can be), they’re essential for streamlining your operations. The time you spend creating them will save you time in the future by preventing problems or inconsistencies. Plus, SOPs make it possible for small teams to scale more easily.

In addition to SOPs, you can use automation to ensure consistency in your business processes. Check out our best tips for customer service automation.

Words by Cierra Loflin

Cierra is a Content Producer at OpenPhone and the former Content and Community Manager at Superpath. She's passionate about communicating better with customers.

Creative by Anna Yang