A simple SOP template is six sections: a title block with the owner, version and dates; a purpose sentence; a scope sentence; the roles; the numbered steps; and the records the steps produce. That is enough for most procedures in a small business, and a template with twenty headings is why so many procedures are never finished. Each section can be a line where the task is short. The standard operating procedure template on this site prints the sections and the reading time from your steps, so the length stays honest.
The title block is the control
Procedure name, owner, approver, version number, approval date and review date. It is the smallest section and the one that does the compliance work: an auditor reads it first, and a procedure without a version is not evidenced as current. Everything else on the page can be short if this block is complete.
Purpose and scope, one sentence each
Purpose says what the procedure achieves. Scope says where it applies and where it does not, which is the sentence that stops two procedures overlapping. A simple template keeps both to a sentence; a paragraph here is usually the writer explaining why the procedure exists rather than what it does.
Roles and steps
The roles are the people or positions that appear in the steps, named by role rather than by person so the procedure survives staff changes. The steps are numbered, one action each, role first, system and form named, decision points as steps of their own. A simple procedure is simple because the steps are, not because the sections were cut.
Records
What the procedure produces and where it goes: the completed checklist, the dispatch note, the sign-off. This is the section most simple templates drop, and it is the one that makes a run of the procedure evidenceable. The example builder on this site prints how many runs a week a procedure produces, which is the size of the record it leaves.
Questions people ask about simple sop template
Is a simpler template ever too simple?
When the procedure carries a control that must be evidenced, the records section cannot be skipped; and when the procedure has decision points, each needs its own step. Beyond that, shorter is better.
Should the template include a flowchart?
For a procedure with several decision points a flowchart helps; for a linear one it repeats the steps. Add it when the branches justify it.
Can I get the template without an account?
Yes: the standard operating procedure template prints the sections, the reading time and the training load from your figures. Keeping the finished procedure with its versions is the paid product.