Every growing business hits the same wall: the owner is the only one who knows how things are done. Writing procedures feels like a week of work nobody has. Talking through a task, on the other hand, takes five minutes.
So talk. Record yourself on your phone doing or explaining the job, get the transcript (most phones and Zoom/Teams/Meet do this for free), and let AI turn it into a procedure.
How to use it
- Record one task at a time: "how we open the shop", "how we send an invoice", "how we onboard a new client".
- Talk naturally, including the mistakes people make and the reasons behind each step. That is the gold.
- Paste the transcript into the prompt. Give the result to the person who will actually do the task and ask what is missing.
sop-writer.txt
Turn the transcript below into a standard operating procedure (SOP) my team can follow without asking me. Task: [e.g. onboarding a new client] Who does it: [role] Tools involved: [e.g. CRM, Google Drive, QuickBooks] Format: 1. Title: "SOP: How we [task]" 2. Purpose: one sentence on why this matters. 3. When: what triggers this task, and how long it should take. 4. Before you start: what you need (access, files, information). 5. Steps: numbered, one action per step, starting with a verb. Add a short "Why" under any step where the reason is not obvious, and a "Watch out" for the mistakes I mention. 6. Done means: a checklist to confirm the task is finished properly. 7. Ask [role/person] if: the situations where they should stop and ask. Rules: keep my real details, names of tools and order of steps. Remove filler and repetition. If something I said is unclear or a step seems missing, list it under "Questions for the owner" at the end instead of guessing. Plain language a new hire understands. Transcript: [paste transcript here]
Where to keep them
- One shared folder or wiki (Google Drive, SharePoint or Notion), one document per task, with the same title format: "SOP: How we [task]".
- Link the SOP inside the tool where the task happens, for example in your CRM checklist or project template.
- Review each SOP twice a year, or whenever someone gets it wrong. A mistake usually means a missing step.
Strip out passwords, client names and anything private before pasting a transcript into an AI tool. Use your company's approved AI tool for anything confidential.