SOP guidelines are the rules a procedure follows so that it can be followed, evidenced and kept current. There are not many. One task per procedure. One action per step, the role first. Roles, not names. Decision points as their own steps. Records named at the step that produces them. A version signed by an approver, a training sign-off from the doers and a review date on the cover. The standard operating procedure template on this site applies the sizing part of these guidelines from your counts, free and without an account.
Guidelines for the scope
One task per procedure, from a trigger to a finished state written as a sentence. Roles by position, never by name, so the document survives staff changes. Scope says where the procedure stops, which is the line that keeps two procedures from overlapping. A procedure with two triggers is split before it is written.
Guidelines for the steps
Numbered, one action each, the role first, the system and form named exactly. Decision points as their own steps saying where to go. Sub-steps lettered under their step. As many steps as the task has actions and no more; past twenty or so it is two procedures. The reading time against the run time, which the template prints, is the check on length.
Guidelines for the records
The steps that produce evidence say so, and the checklist is cut from those steps carrying the same numbers. A completed checklist has the name, date and time of whoever ticked it. A month of them, kept against the procedure version they were cut from, is the audit trail.
Guidelines for keeping it current
An approver signs each version; the doers sign that they read it; the review date is on the cover and the review is recorded. A procedure last reviewed before the system changed is evidence against the business rather than for it. RunbookDesk Pro keeps these records and reminds the owner when the review is due.
Questions people ask about sop guidelines
Are there official SOP guidelines?
The US EPA publishes guidance for preparing SOPs, cited below, and regulated industries have their own. For a small business outside those, the rules above are what an auditor or customer looks for.
What is the most-broken guideline?
The review. Procedures are written in a burst and then decay, and a stale procedure is worse than none because it evidences the wrong thing.
Where do I start?
With the task that runs most often or fails most expensively, and the standard operating procedure template to size it.