If you left your business for a week, would it run smoothly or fall apart? The key to keeping things on track is having Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
These are simple, step-by-step guides for completing tasks consistently.
Despite their importance, many small business owners avoid writing them because it’s tedious and time-consuming. With AI tools like ChatGPT, you can now create these manuals quickly and efficiently.
Why ChatGPT is a game-changer for operations
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence AI tool that processes language like a human. Think of it as a very fast, very eager junior assistant. It doesn’t know your business as well as you do, but it understands structure, grammar, and formatting perfectly.
Instead of staring at a blank page, you can feed ChatGPT a few messy bullet points about a task, and it will organize them into a professional, clear document. It lowers the barrier to entry for documentation, making it easy for anyone to build a library of SOPs.
3 Steps to creating SOPs with AI Tool
You don’t need to be a “prompt engineer” to get good results. You just need to know your own process. Here is a simple workflow to turn your knowledge into a document.
1. Define the process
Before you open ChatGPT, pick one specific task. It might be “How to open the store,” “How to process a refund,” or “How to publish a blog post.”
Write the basic steps. No need for full sentences. Use voice-to-text if you like and talk for two minutes about the process. Just get the raw info out of your head.
2. Input your prompt
Now, you need to tell ChatGPT what to do. The more specific you are, the better the result.
Try using this prompt:
“I need to write a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for [Task Name]. My target audience is a new employee who has never done this before. Please write a step-by-step guide using simple language. Here are the rough steps involved: [Paste your rough notes here].”
3. Review and refine
This is the most important step. ChatGPT is smart, but it can make mistakes or make assumptions that don’t fit your specific business.
Read through the generated text. Does it sound like you? Is the order correct? Did it use a word your team won’t understand? Edit the document to ensure accuracy. Remember, AI is the drafter, but you are the editor.
Using templates to save even more time
While ChatGPT can write the content, having a consistent visual layout helps your team read the documents. You shouldn’t have to design these from scratch.
There are many free SOP templates available online that provide the skeleton for your documents—sections for “Purpose,” “Scope,” “Tools Needed,” and “Safety Warnings.”
You can simply copy the text ChatGPT generates and paste it into these pre-made sections. This gives your business a professional look without the design cost.
Conclusion: Start documenting today
Writing SOPs used to be a headache, but it doesn’t have to be anymore. By combining your business knowledge with the speed of ChatGPT, you can build a training manual that allows you to scale your business and take that well-deserved vacation.
Grab a free template, open ChatGPT, and document your first process today. Your future self (and your team) will thank you.
