How to write a standard operating procedure is answered badly by most templates, because they start at the first heading. The order that works starts before the document: fix the task boundary; name the roles; watch the task done; size it; then write the numbered steps with one action each, decisions as their own steps and the records named; then sign it, train against it and date the review. The standard operating procedure template on this site is the sizing step, free, and prints the document's sections and times from the walkthrough's counts.
Before the document: boundary, roles, walkthrough
The procedure covers one task from a trigger to a finished state, written as a sentence. The roles are positions, not people. The walkthrough, watching the person who does it best, yields the steps, the systems and forms actually used and the decision points. A procedure written without the walkthrough describes how the writer imagines the task.
Sizing: know the length before writing
Steps, roles, decision points and systems go into the template, which prints the sections, the reading time, the run time and the training minutes across the team. A reading time close to the run time means the procedure is too long for its task, and the split is decided now rather than discovered after the writing.
The document: steps, decisions, records
One action per numbered step, role first, system and form named exactly. Each decision point is its own step that says where to go. The steps that produce a record, the note, the log entry, the sign-off, say so, because those steps become the checklist and the checklist becomes the audit trail. The example builder prints a worked version to check against.
After the document: sign, train, review
The approver signs the version; the people who do the task sign that they read it; the review date goes on the cover page. Those three records are the evidence a customer or auditor asks for. RunbookDesk Pro keeps them together and reminds the owner when the review falls due.
Questions people ask about how to write a standard operating procedure
What is the single most useful step?
The walkthrough. It is where the hidden steps and the real decision points come from, and no template supplies them.
How do I know the procedure is good enough?
Someone who has never done the task follows it to the end state without stopping to ask. Every stop is a rewrite.
What do the free tools do?
The standard operating procedure template sizes the document and the example builder prints a worked one, both without an account. Keeping versions and sign-offs is the paid product.