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The 20-minute SOP

Put one repeated process on one page.

Choose the task you keep explaining. Write down what starts it, who owns it, the steps, and what happens when something goes wrong.

Read it, no typing neededTools are optionalYour entries stay in this tab
01Choose the process you repeat most.
02Capture the six things someone needs to run it.
03Give it to one person and improve it after use.

By the end, you will have:

  1. One plainly named process worth documenting.
  2. A printable one-page operating guide.
  3. A first owner and review date for the handoff.
1Pick one

Start with the process you repeat most.

Start with something you have explained more than three times this month.

It might be booking a job, onboarding a client, quoting, invoicing, handling a complaint, or handing work between two people.

If you've explained it three times, it should have been written down after the first.

Pick the one that breaks when you are away. Name it the way your team says it: “Booking in a new job,” not “Client Acquisition Workflow.”

Common candidates
Name it — plainly, the way your team would say it

Name a process and we'll set the page up around it.

2What goes on the page

Put six things on the page.

Steps cover the normal job. The other boxes help someone finish it without bringing every decision back to you.

What kicks it off. The trigger, not the reason. "A customer replies yes to a quote" is a trigger. "When we win work" is a reason, and nobody can act on it.

Who owns it. One name, not a department. A step written in the passive voice — "the deposit is invoiced" — is a step nobody does.

The steps, in order. Write them as you would say them. If you pass twelve steps, split the process in two.

What “done properly” looks like. Describe what must be true at the end so someone can check their own work.

Where it usually goes wrong. Name the mistake that has happened twice. Be specific: “The deposit does not get chased, so we start work unpaid.”

What to do when it goes wrong. Decide the rule now so nobody has to invent it in the moment.

Let someone use the page once, then fix whatever was unclear.

20:00
What kicks it off? — the trigger, not the reason
Who owns it? — one name, not a department
The steps, in order 0 steps
Or tap a starter and edit it — most processes are built from these
What does "done properly" look like? — how someone checks their own work without asking you
Where does it usually go wrong? — be specific, this is the most useful box on the page
And what should they do when it does?
↳ None of this is sent anywhere. It stays in your browser and disappears when you close the tab — print it or email it to yourself if you want to keep it. If you'd rather check than trust: turn your wifi off and watch it keep working.
3Hand it over

Give the page to someone.

Give it to one person on a specific day, then review it after they use it.

If something was unclear, fix that line. The first real test matters more than the first draft.

Fill in the boxes above and the finished page builds here.

Use a prompt only if it saves you time.

These are optional. They use anything you entered above to give you a useful starting point. Before pasting into an AI service, remove names, account details, confidential pricing, logins, employee information, and customer data. Review the answer before using it.

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