A skill that lives in one person's head isn't a system yet
Someone on your team gets genuinely good at using AI, maybe for qualifying leads, drafting proposals, or answering customer questions. That's a real win. It's also fragile: if that person is out sick, changes roles, or leaves, the result stops happening, and nobody else knows how to get it back.
The fix isn't hoping everyone eventually "gets it" through osmosis. It's writing down exactly what that person does, so somebody else can follow the same steps and get the same result, without having to reinvent it themselves.
That's the difference between an AI trick and a business system: a trick lives in one person. A system survives without them.
The 5 questions every AI SOP needs to answer
An SOP (standard operating procedure) for an AI-assisted task doesn't need to be long. It needs to answer five specific questions, so someone with zero context could pick it up and run it correctly.
| # | Part | What to write down |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Trigger & inputs | What starts this task, and exactly what information the AI needs to do it. |
| 2 | Tool & prompt | Which AI tool is used, and the exact prompt, word for word, not a rough description of it. |
| 3 | Expected output | What a correct result looks like: format, length, tone, and what it must never include. |
| 4 | Human approval | What a person checks before the output is used, and who that person is. |
| 5 | When AI gets it wrong | What happens next when the result is off, and the specific way this task tends to fail. |
The simple test: if someone else on your team can't follow this and get the same result, it isn't an SOP yet. It's still a trick only one person knows.
Your AI SOP template
Pick one AI task someone on your team already does well, and answer these five questions about it.
This box is just scratch space in your browser, it won't save anything. Click "Copy my answers" once you're done, then paste it into a Google Doc, Notes app, or wherever your SOPs live.
The blank template
Prefer to paste straight into a doc? Here's the same five parts as one block you can copy and fill in directly.
TASK NAME: [name this workflow, e.g. "Qualifying inbound leads"] 1. TRIGGER & INPUTS This runs when: [what starts the task]. It needs: [the information the AI needs to do it]. 2. TOOL & PROMPT Use: [which AI tool]. The exact prompt: [paste the full prompt, word for word]. 3. EXPECTED OUTPUT A correct result: [format, length, tone]. It always includes: [required elements]. It never includes: [what should never appear]. 4. HUMAN APPROVAL Before this is used, [role, not name] checks: [exactly what they're checking]. 5. WHEN AI GETS IT WRONG If the output is wrong, [what happens next]. Common failure to watch for: [the specific way this task tends to go wrong].
Example: qualifying inbound leads
Here's the same template, filled in for a real, common task: someone on the team has gotten good at using AI to size up a new lead before replying.
Runs when a new lead fills out the contact form. Needs their message, our current services and pricing, and our availability.
Claude, in a saved project with our services and pricing loaded. Prompt: "Here's a new lead enquiry: [paste message]. Based on our services and pricing, tell me (1) what they're likely after, (2) whether we're a fit, and (3) a first reply I can send."
Three short parts: what they want, a yes/no/maybe fit call, and a draft reply under 100 words. Always includes a clear next step. Never includes a quoted price, pricing is confirmed by a person.
Before anything is sent, whoever is on lead-reply duty that day checks that the fit call is right and that no price has been mentioned.
If the fit call looks wrong, it's flagged in the team channel before anything goes out. The failure to watch for: AI marking an out-of-area enquiry as a good fit, always double check location first.
Turn your first AI trick into an SOP
Pick one task someone already does well
Choose something real that's already working, not a hypothetical.
Interview them for 10 minutes
Walk through the 5 questions above with them, out loud, and write down their actual answers.
Write it up in the template
Keep it short. If it takes more than one page to read, it's too long to actually get used.
Have someone else run it, alone
No hints, no help. If they get stuck, that's exactly what's missing from the SOP.
Fix what wasn't clear, then call it done
Update it, save it somewhere the whole team can find it, and move on to the next skill.
- Could someone with zero context follow this and get the same result?
- Is the exact prompt written out, not just described?
- Is it obvious what needs a human's okay before it's used?