A standard operating procedure checklist is the procedure with the explanation removed: one line per step, in order, with a box, a name and a time. It is the version the doer uses on the tenth run, and the version the auditor reads, because a ticked checklist is the record that the procedure was followed. Cut it from the procedure's steps rather than writing it separately, so the two can never disagree. The standard operating procedure template on this site prints how many runs a week the checklist will record.
One line per step, the same numbers
The checklist carries the procedure's step numbers, so a ticked line points at the step it evidences. A checklist with its own numbering drifts from the procedure the first time a step is added. Steps with one action produce one line; a step that needs two boxes was two steps and the procedure should be split.
Who ticks, and when
Each line has the role that does the step, and the completed checklist carries the name of the person and the date and time. That is the difference between a checklist and a record: a ticked box with no name evidences nothing. For a procedure with more than one role, the hand-offs are the lines most worth signing.
What the checklist leaves out
The purpose, scope, materials and explanations stay in the procedure; the checklist is for someone who has already read them. Decision points appear as a line with the branch taken, so the record shows which path was followed. The reading time of the checklist should be a fraction of the procedure's; the template's figures are the comparison.
The checklist as the audit trail
A month of completed checklists is the evidence that the procedure was followed, by whom, and how often. Kept with the procedure version they were cut from, they answer an auditor's question without a meeting. RunbookDesk Pro keeps the checklists against their version so the evidence and the document stay together.
Questions people ask about standard operating procedure checklist
Should the checklist be paper or digital?
Whichever gets completed. Paper checklists get lost; a digital one stored against the procedure version is the audit trail with no filing.
How often should the checklist be regenerated?
Every time the procedure's version changes. Cutting it from the steps rather than maintaining it separately makes that automatic.
Can the free tool produce the checklist?
The standard operating procedure example builder prints the worked steps the checklist is cut from, without an account; keeping the completed checklists is the paid product.