The SOP process is the procedure for producing a procedure, and it has the same shape as the procedures it produces: steps in order, a role at each, a record at the end. Walkthrough, draft, review, approval, training, release, and a review date that starts the cycle again. The SOP development cost calculator on this site prices the whole process in hours at your rates; this page is the steps.
Walkthrough and draft
The owner watches the person who does the task best do it, and writes the draft from that rather than from memory. This is where the step the system does, the decision the manager makes and the record kept for a reason nobody remembers are found. The draft has the seven sections and the numbered steps with the role first.
Review and approval
Someone who does the task reads the draft and marks what is wrong or missing; the person accountable for the outcome approves the corrected version, and the approval is recorded with the date and the version number. The approval minutes are the ones left out of every plan and the ones that stall it.
Training and release
Everyone who follows the procedure reads the approved version and signs that they have, and the previous version is retired the same day. The training minutes across the team are usually the largest cost in the process, and the calculator prints them before the drafting starts.
The review date starts it again
A procedure is current until the process changes or the date arrives. The review is a shorter walk of the same steps; RunbookDesk Pro holds the date and reminds the owner, and keeps every version with who approved it.
Questions people ask about sop process
How long does the SOP process take?
Four drafting hours, an hour and a half of review and two short approvals per procedure in the worked example, plus the training minutes across the team; put in your own figures and the calculator prints the weeks at your pace.
Who runs the SOP process?
The process owner drives it; a doer reviews; the accountable person approves; everyone who follows it trains.
What is the most skipped step?
The walkthrough. A draft written from memory in a meeting room is a guess the review has to redo.