What is a runbook is answered by who reads it and when: a runbook is a procedure written to be followed in the moment, for a specific situation, by whoever is on duty, often at the worst time. The term comes from operations teams, where a runbook says what to do when a service fails. In a small business it is the same idea applied to any situation that arrives unannounced: the payment system is down, the delivery van has failed, a key person is off sick. The standard operating procedure template on this site sizes a runbook the same way it sizes an SOP.
A runbook against an SOP
An SOP describes a routine task done on a schedule or a trigger the business controls. A runbook describes a response to a situation the business does not control. The shape is the same, numbered steps, one action each, the role first, decision points as steps; the difference is that a runbook is written to be read by someone under pressure who may never have done it, so it is shorter, more literal and starts with how to recognise the situation.
What a runbook holds
The trigger, written as the symptoms someone would actually see. Who to tell, first. The steps, in order, with the exact system, screen and contact named. The decision points as steps: if this, then that. When to stop and escalate. And what to record afterwards. The template counts those steps and decision points and prints the reading time, which for a runbook should be minutes.
Which runbooks a small business needs
One per situation that would hurt if it arrived on the wrong day: the payment or booking system down, the main supplier failing, a data loss, a key person absent, a customer safety incident. Each has an owner and a review date like any procedure, and a runbook that was never rehearsed is one whose first run is the real one.
Keeping runbooks current
A runbook names systems and contacts exactly, so it goes stale faster than an SOP: a changed phone number is a failed runbook. Each is reviewed on its date and whenever a named system or contact changes, with the version signed. RunbookDesk Pro keeps runbooks alongside the procedures, with the same version history and review reminders.
Questions people ask about what is a runbook
Is a runbook the same as a playbook?
A runbook is one situation, one sequence of steps. A playbook is a collection of them with the judgement about which to use; the page on this site comparing the two goes further.
Should runbooks be rehearsed?
Yes. A walkthrough on a quiet day is how the missing step and the wrong phone number are found before they matter.
Is the template free?
Yes: the standard operating procedure template sizes a runbook from its steps without an account.