# Write a standard operating procedure: checklist Turn your rough notes on how a task is done into numbered steps a newcomer can follow, with one action in each step, a check on each key step, what to do when something goes wrong, an owner and a review date. ## Before you start - [ ] Have ready: Your notes on how the task is done Paste what you know, in any order. Say who does the task, when, what they use, and what they do. Include what goes wrong and who to ask, if you know. Do not paste passwords, access codes or keys. - [ ] Have ready: Who owns it and when to review it (optional) Name the role that keeps this procedure up to date, and when it should be looked at again, if you know. If you do not know, write the words Not decided yet. ## Step 1: List every action - [ ] Pick out each action from the notes, quoted word for word, so the rest of the work has a fixed list to build on. - [ ] You have: A numbered table of the actions, each quoted from your notes. - [ ] Check: Each quote in the Action (quote) column appears in the your notes on how the task is done, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 2: Find what a newcomer would be missing - [ ] Test each action as a new person would, and list what is missing, such as a tool, a place, a sign that it worked, or someone to ask. - [ ] You have: A table of gaps, one row for each action, each with the question a newcomer would ask. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "tool or access", "where to find it", "how to tell it worked", "who to ask", "order unclear" or "none" in the Gap column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 3: Draft the procedure - [ ] Write the procedure from the actions and the notes only, with one action in each numbered step, and mark the gaps instead of filling them in. - [ ] You have: A procedure with numbered steps in a table, the gaps marked, an owner, a review date and a closing reminder. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has something written in "Action" and "How to Tell It Worked" (a blank or a dash does not count). A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 4: Check each step holds one action - [ ] Test each step in the draft and mark any step that holds more than one action, with wording that splits it. - [ ] You have: A table that marks each step as one action or more, with wording that splits the long ones. - [ ] Check: Every row of the table has one of "one action" or "more than one action" in the Count column. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Step 5: Write the final procedure - [ ] Split the long steps, renumber, change nothing else, and add a count of the changes. - [ ] You have: The final procedure with one action in each step, and a count of the splits. - [ ] Check: The answer contains the text fragment "Have someone who has never done this task follow it, and fix any step where they stumble." (including inside a longer word). A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. ## Final checks - [ ] Check: Each quote in the Action (quote) column appears in the your notes on how the task is done, with shortened fragments in the same order. A plain rule you can check by eye. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Read the draft procedure and the notes below. List every tool, place, person, role and number in the draft that is not in the notes, apart from the step numbers in the Step column. Answer FAIL and quote each one. A [to be confirmed] mark, a Not stated phrase and the closing line are fine. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Look at the table below. For every row where the Gap is not none, does the final procedure either show [to be confirmed] or say Not stated or No contact stated in the matching place, rather than a made-up answer? Answer FAIL and quote each gap that was filled in with something the notes do not give. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Read each row of the Steps table in the final procedure. Does any row still ask the reader to do two things? Answer FAIL and quote each such row. A detail about how to do the one action is fine. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Compare the actions in the table below with the Steps table in the final procedure. Is every action there, in the same order, with none added and none missing? Answer FAIL and quote each action that is missing, out of order, or added. Checked by a second AI prompt. If not: Run the step once more, and add what was wrong to the end of the prompt. If it still does not pass, fix it by hand and make a note of it. - [ ] Check: Ask someone who has never done this task to follow the procedure on their own while you watch, and note every step where they stop or ask a question. Fix those steps. Fill in every [to be confirmed] with the real answer, name the owner, and set the review date. For a task that touches safety, money, health or the law, check it against your own rules and have the responsible person approve it. Only a person can say whether the steps match how the work is really done. Checked by you. If not: Carry on, but write down the problem so whoever uses the result knows about it. ## You end up with - [ ] A procedure with the purpose, who it applies to, what to have ready, numbered steps, what to do if something goes wrong, an owner and a review date. - [ ] A table that shows what a newcomer would still ask for each action. - [ ] A table that shows which steps held more than one action and how they were split. --- From Logic Lab (logiclabhq.com). Free to use and adapt, with credit.