How to Write Standard Operating Procedures (+SOP Template)

An organization’s ability to create, distribute, and manage process documentation and step-by-step instructions for common workflows across the company is a significant indicator of enterprise success. This is where standard operating procedures (SOPs) come in.

SOPs are more than just operational roadmaps; they are strategic blueprints for navigating the business environment. They ensure that your employees always have the performance support and directions they need to work effectively.

As we continue to ride the digital transformation wave, SOPs have emerged as unsung heroes of business operations. They facilitate effective knowledge management, ensuring crucial how-to documentation is captured, updated, and accessible for everyday workflows and tasks.

They ease the transition towards digital adoption, providing consistent guidelines and guardrails as businesses implement new technologies. This enables organizations to achieve business outcomes from new digital processes.

This article explains the importance of SOPs and their benefits. It explores common types of SOPs and their format and elements. Plus, we’ll breakdown the steps of creating effective standard operating procedures for your employees.

What Is a Standard Operating Procedure?

Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are detailed guidelines that provide employees with step-by-step instructions on how to carry out essential business processes and routine tasks. SOPs enable employees to achieve higher levels of efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance. All while reducing miscommunication and failure to comply with industry regulations.

SOP documents serve as a playbook that outlines step-by-step instructions for completing a task. This minimizes miscommunication and ambiguity. Teams create different types of SOPs depending on the task at hand.

Examples of SOPs include:

• HR teams may create an SOP for their employee onboarding process, recruiting process,
• Sales SOPs for sales call scripts and playbooks, lead qualification process, approval workflows, and contract negotiations.
• Customer support SOPs for ticket escalation procedures and handling customer complaints.
• Manufacturers may create an SOP for team members to manage machine maintenance, conduct quality control inspections, and manage inventory.

7 Benefits of SOPs

SOPs help eliminate disorganization from your business and improve the functioning of your day-to-day operations. Here are some of the major benefits of SOPs:

1. Save time and resources

Without specific standards and instructions for executing tasks, organizations spend excess time and resources trying something new each time. Plus, there is no guarantee that even after spending all that time learning how to complete a task you’ll even get the execution right.

With an SOP, the “figuring out” part is out of the equation, as rules and guidelines streamline workflows and ensure employees complete a process as per a set standard. This improves employee productivity, drives team efficiency, and allows organizations to become process-orientated companies.

2. Facilitate compliance

There are regulations that guide certain businesses in various industries to protect their customers and maintain safety and sanity in the field. Having SOPs in place ensures that industry compliance standards are followed and met properly. SOPs put measures in place so that employees comply with relevant laws, policies, and regulations, as well as avoid any litigation or risk.

3. Ensure consistency

When businesses generate a high-quality product, you want to maintain that quality in the future. Creating SOPs is like providing a blueprint for the production line which maintains quality, creates consistency, protects the integrity of your product, and ensures that your product or service is created in the same way from – start to finish.

4. Hold employees accountable

Accountability at work is in your company’s and workforce’s best interest. Fostering a culture of accountability boosts employee morale and productivity and gives employees the sense of ownership they need to thrive.

Having SOPs in place empowers managers to properly gauge employee performance based upon a predetermined set of guidelines provided by them, giving transparency on who is responsible if (or when) things go wrong. Without proper work standards, understanding and improving employee performance becomes much more difficult for leaders and people managers.

5. Better communication

It’s not always easy for employees to correctly interpret or understand directions given by managers on various – often complex – processes. Additionally, not all managers have the bandwidth to communicate with employees daily.

SOPs make life easier for both managers and their employees. Managers no longer need to provide detailed instructions on workflows to each employee individually, and employees no longer need to go back to their managers again and again when they have questions about any work-related processes.

Employees are empowered to become self-sufficient and reassess an SOP document whenever they need a refresher. This allows employees to have on-demand support in the flow of work, letting them continue with their tasks without wasting time.

6. Promotes knowledge-sharing culture

If your organization relies solely on employees remembering key details of your business processes by memory and not in a procedural manual, what happens when that employee decides to leave your organization?

With a proper knowledge management (KM) strategy,  turnover can be disastrous. Creating handover documentation and SOPs allow you to preserve critical organizational information so that it doesn’t leave the organization when employee do – empowering companies to embody a culture of knowledge sharing.

7. Better onboarding and training

Employee training programs are a significant part of an organization’s growth and success. Organizations that design an effective employee training strategy are rewarded with a well-trained, productive workforce that contributes significantly to their company’s growth and goals.

Training-related SOPs help standardize the employee onboarding process and other training programs. They ensure that all new hires receive the same training on the same topics and responsibilities in the same amount of time. An example would be an SOP for new hires containing an employee onboarding checklist of must-complete tasks for all new team members.

These guidelines ensure that new employees settle in quickly and save time and money in the long term.

8 Types of SOPs

SOPs can be categorized into several types, depending on the nature and scope of the tasks they aim to standardize. Here are the main types of SOPs:

1. Procedure SOPs

These are the most common type of SOP, focusing on a specific operation or procedure within an organization. They detail the step-by-step instructions needed to complete a task. For example, an SOP procedure might outline the steps for processing a customer return. An SOP like this ensures consistency and minimizes errors in handling returns.

2. Process SOPs

These SOPs guide the execution of a process, often within manufacturing or laboratory environments. They cover a sequence of operations or events that progressively lead to an end result. A process SOP in a pharmaceutical company may detail the entire drug manufacturing process, ensuring that every batch of medication meets the same standards.

3. Technical/Equipment SOPs

Also known as quick reference guides, these SOPs provide instructions on operating equipment or machinery. They can include guidelines for routine maintenance, troubleshooting, and safety precautions. A technical SOP for an imaging device would cover image capture protocols and basic maintenance tasks. This knowledge can empower employees to operate equipment safely and effectively.

4. Administrative SOPs

These SOPs cover administrative procedures within an organization. They might deal with topics like financial operations, human resources processes, data handling, or compliance with regulations. An administrative SOP for employee onboarding  would outline every steps from sending the offer letter to scheduling orientation sessions. This supports a smooth experience for new hires.

5. Safety SOPs

These SOPs are developed to ensure workplace safety, particularly in industries like construction, chemicals, and healthcare. They provide guidelines for handling hazardous materials, operating machinery safely, and responding to emergencies. A safety SOP in a chemical plant might cover ventilation protocols and response procedures in cases of exposure.

6. Quality assurance SOPs

These SOPs detail the steps needed to maintain quality control within an organization, ensuring that products or services consistently meet certain standards.  In a food production facility, a quality assurance SOP could cover  sampling and testing procedures for each batch of product. This would help maintain consistency.

7. Emergency SOPs

These SOPs provide guidance for responding to emergency situations. They’re used to ensure a coordinated, timely, and effective response during emergencies, such as fire, medical emergencies, or natural disasters. An emergency SOP for an  office building would include detailed evacuation routes. Regular drills based on these SOPs inform employees about what to do if real problems arise.

8. Training SOPs

These SOPs are designed to guide training processes, ensuring that employees receive consistent and comprehensive instruction in their roles and responsibilities. A training SOP for a call center might include company policies and customer service best practices, and software usage. This helps organizations scale high-quality instruction.

Key Elements of an SOP

Here are some common structural elements found in standard operating procedures (SOP):

• Title page: The title page of your SOP contains identifying information about the document, including a unique identification number, date of creation, department/employees/team the SOP applies to, and the name and signatures of the parties involved in creating the SOP.
• Table of contents: Acts as a guide for the reader to quickly jump to any relevant section(s). They are particularly helpful for longer processes with an SOP document that is longer than a few pages.
• Purpose: Explain the goals and objectives for creating the SOP and how it will benefit the user and the organization.
• Scope: Describes the limits of the document and helps the reader understand its boundaries.
• Roles and responsibilities: Identify key stakeholders (employees, managers) to be involved in a given process, and define their roles and responsibilities in the SOP’s creation.
• Procedures: This section describes the step-by-step explanations to be followed while completing a task and any additional information needed to complete the tasks.
• Resources and materials: Define the tools, technology, resources, and other necessary information required for completing the procedure.
• Health and safety warnings: Describe all safety precautions for employees to take care of.
• Revision history: Add a revision history to ensure readers that the SOP is up-to-date.

6 Common SOP Formats

Here are a few examples of common types of SOP documents:

1. Step-by-step tutorials

As the name suggests, step-by-step instructions describe a particular procedure in relevant, easy-to-follow steps that empower employees to finish a specific task efficiently. These SOPs are best suited for simple tasks. They often include numbered lists with clear instructions for each step. Screenshots or diagrams can be incorporated to enhance understanding.

2. Checklists

Google Docs, Microsoft Word, or an online note-taking app such as Evernote or Notion can be printed for employees to mark as they complete steps. To create a checklist, you make a main header for the process for which you are creating the checklist and add relevant checklist items that employees need to follow to complete the task.

Checklists are particularly effective for processes that require consistent repetition and verification. Think safety inspections or quality control checks. You can create digital versions of checklists to make them easy to access at all times.

3. Hierarchical lists

If your procedures are complex and need detailed information, create hierarchical checklists to avoid explaining a simple process in a lengthy way. It is a great way to simplify all the business processes into one, centralized document.

Hierarchical lists use a tiered structure to organize information. This format works best for processes with multiple layers of detail or decision points. It allows users to quickly understand the structure while having access to more information when necessary.

4. Flowcharts

Flowcharts visually represent how a process works. They present better context for easier workflow understanding and show how one step is closely related to another, helping employees conceptualize an entire concept and clearly understand an overall process.

Flowcharts are useful for processes with multiple decision points or possible outcomes. Modern digital flowcharts can be interactive. For example, they can allow users to click through different paths for a more engaging learning experience.

5. Video

Video SOPs demonstrate procedures in real-time. They can be particularly effective for tasks that require demonstration. Video SOPs can include voiceover explanations, on-screen text, and interactive elements. They’re especially useful for remote teams or processes that are difficult to describe.

6. Interactive in-app guidance

This modern approach to SOPs integrates guidance directly into the software or tools employees use daily. It provides real-time, contextual instructions.  For example, when using a new CRM system, tooltips might guide users through entering customer information or generating reports.

With Whatfix’s digital adoption platform (DAP), enable your technology end-users with contextual in-app guidance and moment-of-need support. Field validation also ensures data is entered correctly, and in the right format.

SOP Use Cases by Role and Sector

All sectors can benefit from having SOPs. Here’s a look at how this works in practices across different industries and roles.

SOP Use Cases by Industry

• Manufacturing: SOPs contribute to consistency and quality. For example, quality control procedures ensure that every product meets requirements. Equipment operation guidelines provide clear instructions that reduce errors and boost efficiency. Safety protocols for factory floors help prevent accidents.
• Education: Educational institutions can streamline operations and maintain standards with SOPs. Admissions SOPs support fair and consistent evaluation of applicants. Curriculum development guidelines may improve the quality of education. SOPs can also guide staff on how to interact with students.
• Call centers: Call centers use SOPs to maintain service quality. Customer interaction scripts provide a framework for communication. Escalation procedures guide agents on how to handle issues or dissatisfied customers.
• Insurance: The insurance industry can have all kinds of SOPs. Claims processing workflows increase efficiency. Policy underwriting guidelines help with risk assessment. Compliance-checking procedures keep operations in line with industry regulations and company policies.
• Government: Government agencies use SOPs to improve public service. Permit application processes support the fair treatment of all applicants. Record-keeping and data management procedures keep sensitive data safe.
• Hospitality: In hospitality, SOPs are key to delivering consistent customer experiences. For example, guest check-in and check-out procedures make for smooth transitions. Housekeeping standards ensure cleanliness and comfort across all rooms.
• Airline Industry: Airlines rely on SOPs to set safety and service standards. Pre-flight check procedures help every flight meets safety requirements. In-flight service standards can also improve the customer experience.
• Military: The military uses SOPs to maintain order and effectiveness in high-stakes situations. For example, maintenance guidelines keep equipment in top condition. Communication protocols influence the way personnel exchange information.

SOP Use Cases by Department and Role

• Human resources: HR departments use SOPs to support fair and consistent treatment. Recruitment and hiring SOPs help to reduce bias in the process. Employee onboarding procedures provide new hires with consistent information and experiences.
• Customer service: Customer service teams rely on SOPs to make every interaction count. Complaint-handling procedures can take the stress out of handling issues. Customer satisfaction protocols help team members gather helpful feedback.
• Marketing: Marketing departments use SOPs to streamline their efforts and campaigns. For example, social media posting guidelines power a consistent brand voice across platforms, and campaign launch checklists get everyone on the same page before a go-live date.
• Sales: Sales teams use SOPs to standardize their approach and improve performance. Lead qualification processes make it easier to focus on the most promising prospects. Contract negotiation procedures ensure that all deals are structured with best practices in mind.
• Finance: Finance SOPs can boost accuracy and compliance. For example, budget approval procedures ensure that spending aligns with organizational goals. Financial reporting guidelines keep statements accurate.

How to Write an Effective SOP

Follow these seven steps and you’ll be on your way to creating helpful SOPs for your workforce.

1. Choose a format

You can choose from a variety of formats when it comes to presenting your SOP. The format will vary depending on the job roles, tasks, length, and details of your SOP.

For instance, a simple checklist list may be sufficient if there’s no need to include an additional explanation or potential contingencies. If each step in the process can potentially lead to multiple outcomes, you may want a flowchart.

2. Identify your audience

It’s important for you to know who will actually be engaging in the procedures to make the SOP document as contextual and useful as possible. Simply put, your audience will guide the level of detail needed in your SOP.

To know more about your audience, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are they new employees?
• What’s the size of the audience?
• What prior knowledge do they have?
• Does an SOP already exist for them?
• The more information you have on the audience, the more you’ll understand their point of view. This will help you create an SOP that is relevant to them.

The more information you have on the audience, the more you’ll understand their point of view. Create user personas representing different segments of your audience. Refer to these personas throughout the SOP creation process to meet all user needs.

3. Collaborate with employees and ask for input

You need to collaborate with all personnel who will be engaging in, or impacted by, your SOP. This allows you to get an idea of best practices Generally, your SOP development team should consist of:

• C-level executives – for developing lean operations to achieve high-level business goals
• Management leaders – for developing best practices, defining necessary use of resources, and determining a plan for implementing SOP
• Ground-level employees – for determining the validity and plausibility of the SOP in terms of logistics and resource consumption
• Creator of your SOP – specializing in technical writing skills and having in-depth knowledge of your company’s processes

4. Write the initial draft

Once you have spoken to your employees who will be involved in creating the SOP and have chosen the best format to use, you can begin planning out the SOP document draft. Provide whatever information you feel will be helpful to the user while making sure that it is relevant to the document.

Here are a few best practices for you to keep in mind while writing your SOP:

• Include annotations, illustrations, flow charts, and images to make your document more interactive.
• Ensure the sentences are brief, simple, and written in common terms.
• Ensure that the steps are written using simple action-oriented verbs.
• Use neatly written short sentences, bulleted items, or lists.
• Don’t make readers sift through paragraphs of text to find what they need in the SOPs.
• Use headers to break up your text.
• Link to any additional resources or help guides in your Sharepoint, Google Drive, or internal knowledge base.

5. Review, test, and edit

Once you have created the document, it’s time to review it with your stakeholders and management to gather feedback and input. Additionally, to see how the SOP works in practice, ask some of your employees to test it out and identify any gaps or errors in the process.

Use a version control system to track changes to your SOP over time. This allows you to revert to previous versions if needed. It also makes it easier to audit processes and additions.

6. Distribute the SOP

After you are done creating the SOPs, you’ve come to the most essential part of the process -distribution. It’s crucial to find a place to store all your standard operating procedures (SOP) and other training materials for employees to easily access.

Ohe of the most effective way to distribute an SOP is through a mobile workplace apps that give every employee access to the document on their mobile devices. Many organizations also rely on knowledge bases and internal wikis to store help guides, training manuals, and SOPs.

7. Regularly maintain your SOPs to keep them updated

Now that the SOP is created and distributed, it’s time to set up a plan for the future. Without a periodic review and update session, your SOPs can quickly become out-of-date. Assign “SOP owners” within each department responsible for overseeing the regular review and updating of SOPs relevant to their area.

SOP Challenges

SOPs offer benefits. But maintaining them also comes with a set of challenges. Here’s what you should be aware of:

• Resistance to change: Employees may resist adopting new SOPs and prefer old methods.
• Keeping SOPs up-to-date: As processes evolve, SOPs can quickly become outdated.
• Balance: SOPs must be useful, but not so complex that they’re difficult to follow.
• Ensuring accessibility: SOPs need to be accessible to all relevant employees.
• Measuring effectiveness: It can be challenging to quantify the impact of SOPs.
• Consistency:  Maintaining SOP standards across departments or locations can be difficult.
• Time and resource investment: Creating and maintaining SOPs requires time and effort.
• Encouraging use: Ensuring that employees refer to and follow SOPs can be challenging.
• Learning styles: Employees learn in different ways, it’s tough to create SOPs for everyone.
• Integration: Incorporating SOPs into daily work can be difficult.

23 Best Standard Operating Procedure Software

SOP software are digital tools designed to create, store, manage, and distribute standardized procedures for tasks within an organization. It helps ensure that all procedures are executed consistently and correctly across the organization. This type of software streamlines the process of writing, updating, and communicating SOPs, providing a centralized repository where they can be accessed easily by all relevant employees.

We’ve compiled details and data across eighteen of the most powerful and commonly used software platforms to create, manage, and organize standard operating procedures, including ratings from G2.com, pricing details, and SOP software product and feature overviews.

Here is the best software for creating and managing a library of SOPs and work instructions documentation to support your employees in their daily tasks, responsibilities, and workflows.

1. SweetProcess

• G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars
• Pricing: starts at $99/month

SweetProcess software simplifies the process of creating SOPs by enabling businesses to create a detailed checklist for workflows. It helps create effective SOPs with the inclusion of graphics and visuals. There is room for collaboration between team members as files can be easily created, shared, and accessed. It also allows users to set due dates for tasks and automate follow-up emails to act as a reminder for assigned workers as the due dates approach.

Features of SweetProcess:

• Document repetitive tasks in one place to reduce the number of emails and guesswork
• Create, share, and ensure the correct adoption of your business policies
• Track the latest activity or look back in the history of any task or procedure
• Design visually appealing diagrams to bring your procedures to life

2. Trainual

• G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
• Pricing: $49/month

With Trainual, every process, policy, and procedure for all the roles and responsibilities in your business can be easily documented and organized in one centralized dashboard. It enables easy employee onboarding and compliance training, seamless task delegation, consistent processes, and increased employee accountability.

Features of Trainual:

• Make your company knowledge instantly accessible, searchable, and trackable via Trainual’s apps, chrome extension, and web platform
• Create quicks tests to check if your team understands the SOPs
• Embed content such as videos, PDFs, and GIFs to make onboarding and training more engaging
• 150+ SOP templates for you to get started

3. Whatfix

• G2 Rating: 4.7
• Pricing: Pricing page

Whatfix is a digital adoption platform that enables employees with interactive, on-screen guidance directly within enterprise applications like CRMs, HCMs, ERPs, or any mission-critical software – providing contextual guidance and in-app user support on critical business processes, all in the flow of work.

Whatfix is more than an SOP software and provides more powerful, interactive features than other basic SOP tools on this list, like Whatfix’s in-app content creation, employee targeting, and process usage capabilities.

Whatfix provides employees with in-app guidance and real-time support contextual to their roles, tasks, and responsibilities, providing support at the moment of need.

Whatfix ensures employees follow the correct procedures, use business processes accurately, and drive IT process governance across the organization via in-app guidance and on-demand user support.

Whatfix’s ability to integrate seamlessly with any software application allows for real-time assistance and contextual support, reducing errors and improving compliance with internal standards.

Whatfix Self Help enables your employees by creating an an in-app resource center for your employees that integrates with all your company and team knowledge repositories, including your SOPs, Google Drive content, training resources, video tutorials, intranet portal, tea, playbooks, and more.

Employees can search for any help and support content within Self Help, which contextually presents specific help documentation and SOPs depending on where an employee is at in an application and their specific role.

Features of Whatfix:

• Contextual guidance with step-by-step walkthroughs.
• In-app Self Help that connects with your SOPs, knowledge repositories, LMS, and training documents.
• Behavior-driven content personalization.
• Integration with multiple platforms and applications.
• Comprehensive analytics to track user engagement and in-app content effectiveness.

 

4. ProcedureFlow

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Pricing: starts at $20 per user per month

ProcedureFlow empowers organizations to turn the most complicated information and processes into easy and intuitive documents that are simple to create, maintain, and use. The software allows organizations to ditch long training manuals that aren’t readable and creates standard operating procedures that people actually enjoy using and are effective

Features of ProcedureFlow:

• Use small hyperlinked flowcharts to represent complex expert knowledge
• User invites and permissions that are simple and intuitive
• Promote social collaboration and sharing of best practices
• Run quick reports to monitor employee engagement and coach employees who are falling behind

5. Process Street

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars

Pricing: Starts at $12.50 per user per month

Process Street is a simple and free SOP software organizations use to create, track, and manage effective business processes. It enables teams to share core processes and transform them into powerful no-code workflows.  It also makes provision for team collaboration, control permissions, and integrations, among other things, for improved workflow.

Features of Process Street:

• Integration with over 1000+ apps
• Use (free) pages to capture, organize, and share your established team knowledge
• Intuitive keyboard shortcuts and drag-and-drop options make it user-friendly
• Track activity from the dashboard and get notified when tasks are done
• Streamline any process that needs authorization by another person. You can create a single instance, multi-stage or sequential approvals

6. Scribe

G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

Pricing: Free with feature limitations, $29/month for full features

Scribe makes the SOP creation process fast and easy. Simply click “record” in the Chrome extension or desktop app, complete your operating procedure, then Scribe converts your clicks and keyboard strokes into written instructions and screenshots.

Scribes can be shared with select teams or individuals, and updated by their owner at any time with real-time change updating for anyone with access to the SOP. Scribes can be embedded or linked to in any knowledge base, wiki, or CMS.

Features of Scribe:

• Automated SOP creation
• Screenshot modification and redaction
• Track SOP views and usage across teams
• Embeddable via iframes
• Instantly update SOPs

7. Tango

Review Rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars

Price: $16/month

Tango simplifies the process of creating how-to guides with instant screenshots. It can streamline systems training and process documentation, eliminating the stress and time-consuming task of writing guides and capturing screenshots.

With Tango, you can capture your actions, edit and annotate titles, descriptions, and URLs, and mark up and blur parts of their screenshots for privacy and emphasis.

Tango’s screenshot cropping and annotation is an automatic feature, but users can make edits themselves. The application automatically generates step-by-step instructions and allows you to store and retrieve the guides and share them quickly as needed.

8. Method Grid

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Pricing: Free basic plan

Method Grid is an integrated, enterprise-level quality assurance platform that offers a unique combination of knowledge management, complex project assurance, and task management, alongside an easy-to-use and highly configurable dashboard UI. Organizations use this software to meet compliance, increase operational efficiencies, and retain knowledge across diverse teams and complex projects.

Features of Method Grid:

• A unique integration of knowledge management, task management, and assurance-audit features
• Visually engaging, easy access to assurance references, guidance, tools, and templates
• Manage, track, and assure service delivery across busy project portfolios
• Compliance activity tracking
• Partners with quality infrastructure partners to ensure 100% availability, solid security features, and reliable content backups

9. Lean Power

G2 Rating: 3.3 out of 5 stars

Pricing: N/A – contact for a custom quote

Lean Power‘s SOP software is designed to help the back office planners and workers in the field to plan, convert, execute, and manage its workloads accurately and efficiently. The software quickly converts paper & PDF procedures into dynamic computer-based procedures. Lean Power supports the entire dynamic procedures lifecycle, including creation, planning, execution, and record management.

Features of Lean Power:

• Reduce onboarding time by importing existing procedures and vendor manuals with the intelligent procedures converter
• Create intuitive work instructions with detailed steps, photos, videos, and useful reference material
• Use the Dynamic Procedures mobile app to execute work order procedures in the field quickly and easily
• Real-time monitoring of work execution at each step of the work instructions

10. Stonly

• Review Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
• Price: $199/mo

Stonly is a user-friendly software with which you can create interactive, step-by-step guides, and tutorials that help users solve their problems or answer their questions. It’s a great tool to improve customer support by offering an effective and engaging way to educate your users.

It has several core features that make it stand out from other similar software. For example, it offers a drag-and-drop interface; with it you can create interactive guides without coding knowledge. If you need a software that requires minimal efforts then Stonly is the one for you.

11. Hubspot Guide Creator

G2 Rating: No rating available

Pricing: Included with HubSpot Pro and Enterprise plans. Free trial available.

Best for: Teams using HubSpot for marketing, sales, or service processes that want to create in-app step-by-step documentation.

HubSpot’s Guide Creator is a lightweight SOP tool built directly into the HubSpot ecosystem. It allows users to create interactive, step-by-step guides that overlay within HubSpot and help teams document and scale repeatable processes. These guides can walk users through onboarding flows, data entry tasks, CRM hygiene steps, and more—making it especially useful for customer-facing, sales, and support teams.

While it isn’t a standalone SOP management platform, the Guide Creator is ideal for existing HubSpot users looking to build process documentation without introducing a new tool or disrupting workflows. It’s also beneficial for real-time coaching and enabling teams with just-in-time support across the HubSpot platform.

Key features:

• In-app, guided SOP walkthroughs
• Drag-and-drop interface for easy guide creation
• Use cases for onboarding, training, and process compliance
• Native integration with all HubSpot tools
• Real-time analytics on guide usage and engagement

12. JobRouter

G2 Rating: No rating available

Pricing: N/A – contact for a custom quote

JobRouter is a powerful and flexible low-code digitalization platform that empowers companies to digitalize and automate any business process. It manages the entire lifecycle of documents, including creation, editing, approval, release, distribution, and refreshing. The software integrates seamlessly into existing systems and applications, helping to extend their capabilities. It connects with existing systems to export, process, archive, or pass on data and documents and to initiate new processes.

Features of JobRouter:

• The intuitive low-code approach allows you to define and design business processes or workflows even without any programming knowledge
• Digitalizes and automates workflows
• Process overview and process incident tracking
• Graphical process design

13. ProcessKit

G2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Pricing: $49/month

ProcessKit’s SOP software brings your organization’s operating procedures together with the projects so your teams can automate and streamline recurring tasks, track progress, and scale operations. The software enables you to build powerful automation, integrate with 1,000+ tools using Zapier, and make your business a more predictable, scalable, and efficient operation.

Features of ProcessKit:

• Offers ready-made process templates
• Build-in conditional logic, input forms, and automation
• Automatically delegate tasks to your team
• Automate your customer onboarding

14. Way We Do

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars

Pricing: $25 per month per user

Way We Do is a cloud-based SOP software that helps businesses transform policies and procedures into active workflows for seamless business operations. The software offers activated checklists and SOP templates to help you easily create operations policies and guide employees in executing their daily tasks.

Features of Way We Do:

• Activated checklists for all your repeatable processes
• Set automated task reminders for important procedures
• Track and monitor responsibilities with the software’s dashboard
• Easily assign and schedule recurring tasks for each organizational role
• Create a personalized experience and simplified workflow for each user

15. EtQ

G2 Rating: No rating available

Pricing: N/A – contact for a custom quote

EtQ’s SOP software simplifies comprehensive workflows. It serves as a guide for organizations in creating, storing, approving, and distributing controlled documents. With ETQ, organizations can monitor business proceedings and produce more qualitative results.

Features of EtQ:

• Create unlimited workflows to route documents through review and approval processes
• Promotes employee training
• Create, import, distribute, and archive all controlled documents in a centralized, secure location
• Promotes efficient collaboration

16. Dozuki

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars

Pricing: Starts @ $199/month

Dozuki is an SOP software that gives companies a standard for creating, improving, and managing workflow. The SOP enhances collaborative efforts among teams and easily generates online documentation with visuals that make it easy to read and understand.

Features of Dozuki:

• Real-time reporting
• View information in real-time to resolve issues quickly and follow efficiency gains
• Once a process is approved, sharing across teams, shifts, and locations is just one click away
• Turn your documented procedures into a training program for standardizing employee instruction across teams
• Shows a complete history of content edits, both approved and denied

17. Document360

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Pricing: Free trial available, paid tiers available

Document360 is a cloud-based knowledge management platform that helps small, medium, and large enterprises create and maintain knowledge bases.

The knowledge base can be accessed by both employees and customers, and can be kept internally or published externally. With a centralized configuration, it’s easy to document protocols, SOPs, regulations, and processes. Document360 can also integrate with other platforms like Microsoft Team, Chrome Zapier, and Slack.

Features of Document360:

• Assign roles and duties to staff members and share content with the team
• Leave comments and tag team members for review
• Self-service support offerings
• Integrate with any product using a Javascript snippet

18. Zavanta

G2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Pricing: N/A – contact for a custom quote

Zavanta by Comprose is designed to streamline the creation, management, and dissemination of SOPs. Its structured approach ensures that SOPs are not only well-documented, but are also easily accessible and understandable to all users.

Unlike traditional document-centric methods, Zavanta emphasizes clarity and consistency, ensuring that procedures are articulated to reduce ambiguities and enhance operational efficiency.

With built-in tools for automation, reporting, and collaboration, Zavanta empowers businesses to maintain a high standard of procedural compliance, adapt to changes rapidly, and ensure that every team member has the resources they need at their fingertips.

Features of Zavanta:

• In-depth reporting and analytics that provide insights into SOP engagement and efficacy
• Collaboration tools that allow multiple users to work on, review, and fine-tune SOPs simultaneously
• Feedback mechanisms for users to offer insights and suggestions on SOP content
• Comprehensive search functionality that ensures each user can quickly locate specific procedures

19. SOP Express

G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

Pricing: $2,950 one-time

SOP Express stands out as a dedicated platform tailored for the rapid deployment and management of SOPs across various industries and organizational sizes. Recognizing the challenges businesses face in keeping their SOPs up-to-date and aligned with dynamic operational needs, SOP Express offers tools that make procedure documentation both efficient and effective.

The software’s intuitive interface allows users to craft detailed, step-by-step procedures that are informative and engaging, ensuring higher rates of adoption among staff. Users can provide insights, suggest changes, and collaborate on refinements directly within the platform.

This real-time feedback loop, combined with advanced analytics, positions SOP Express as a solution that both documents processes and actively contributes to their optimization and evolution.

Features of SOP Express:

• Guided workflows that streamline SOP approval, publication, and review processes
• Version tracking ensures that all SOP updates are logged and prior versions are accessible
• Customizable access levels allow for nuanced content permissions based on user roles
• Designed with mobile accessibility in mind, catering to on-the-go SOP referencing

20. SafetyCulture

​G2 Rating: 4.6

Pricing: Offers a free version; paid plans start at $19 per user per month.

SafetyCulture has robust inspection and checklist functionalities, which makes it easier for businesses to ensure that safety and quality protocols are followed meticulously. By converting traditional SOP documents into smart, actionable checklists, SafetyCulture allows teams to perform standardized procedures reliably. The platform supports real-time updates and communications, essential for maintaining the most current SOP versions and ensuring compliance with evolving industry regulations.

Features of SafetyCulture:

• Easy creation and sharing of mobile-friendly inspection checklists.
• Automated workflows for reporting and notifications.
• Real-time data analytics to monitor trends and identify areas for improvement.
• Integration capabilities with popular tools like Tableau, SharePoint, and more.
• Secure cloud storage for audits and reports.

21. ScreenSteps

Review Rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars

Price: $2,500 / year

ScreenSteps is a knowledge-sharing and training tool that contact centers, software implementers, and B2B SaaS vendors use.

By giving employees and agents the information they need at the right time, ScreenSteps eliminates the need to memorize processes or steps. This improves productivity by reducing errors and confusion.

With a searchable knowledge base, employees can easily find the exact work instructions they need and share them with team members. Troubleshooting guides for complex issues and courses for employee training can also be created.

22. Coassemble

G2 Rating: 4.7

Pricing: Starts at $49 per month for the core plan

Coassemble is an all-in-one online training tool that enables organizations to create, deliver, and track training from the same platform. It simplifies the training process by allowing users to create engaging and interactive training modules without the need for extensive technical knowledge. Coassemble is particularly effective for companies looking to quickly onboard and upskill employees with minimal disruption to daily operations.

Features of Coassemble:

• Drag-and-drop course creation with over 40 interactive templates.
• Real-time editing and updates to course materials.
• Integrated training delivery and assessment tools.
• Detailed tracking and reporting on participant progress.
• Seamless integration with popular platforms like Slack, Shopify, and Zapier.

23. SwipeGuide

Review Rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars

Price: Starts with $349/month

SwipeGuide is a powerful digital tool that uses a combination of visual and textual content to simplify complex SOPs and work instructions and make them more accessible to users.

One of the core features of SwipeGuide is its intuitive authoring tool. This tool allows users to create guides quickly and easily, using a range of multimedia elements such as images, videos, and animations. The platform also offers a range of customization options, allowing users to add their branding and tailor guides to their specific needs.

With its powerful features and intuitive design, SwipeGuide is a versatile tool you can use in a range of applications, from employee training and onboarding to product documentation and customer support.

SOP Template

Download our SOP template to help you kickstart your standard operating procedures creation process:

 

Business Software and Processes Clicks Better With Whatfix

Accelerate onboarding by enabling your employees with contextual in-app guidance and constant real-time support via the Whatfix Digital Adoption Platform (DAP).

Whatfix provides application owners and IT teams with a comprehensive no-code platform to enable users, improve onboarding, and drive adoption. This will help you achieve business outcomes and create frictionless digital experiences.

With Whatfix:

• Enable end-users to have contextual, role-based in-app onboarding and training with Whatfix in-app guidance and experiences like Tours, Flows, and Task Lists.
• Provide on-demand self-help support for end-users with Whatfix Self Help and identify common troubleshooting issues with Guidance Analytics.
• Build sandbox environments for simulated hands-on training with Whatfix Mirror.
• Collect feedback with Whatfix Surveys
• Analyze end-user behavior to identify areas of digital friction and map optimal workflows with Whatfix Analytics.

With the power of Whatfix, businesses can ensure that their SOPs are more than just documents—they become living, evolving guides that foster a culture of continuous learning and improvement. In doing so, businesses not only increase their operational efficiency but also drive effective knowledge management.

Ready to learn more about Whatfix? Click here to schedule a demo with us today!