# Standard operating procedure

Concept · [Business and metrics](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/business)

Also called: SOP, SOPs, standard operating procedures, playbook, runbook

Written step-by-step [instructions](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/prompt) for doing a routine task the same way every time. Clear SOPs are often the starting point for automating a task.

**For example:** A clinic writes an SOP for checking in patients, then uses it to decide which steps an [AI assistant](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/chatbot) could handle.

## Connects to (3)

- [Change management](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/change-management): Planning and supporting the people side of a change, such as a new tool or process, so staff actually adopt it.
- [Human in the loop](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/human-in-the-loop): Designing an AI process so a person reviews, approves or corrects the AI's work at key steps instead of letting it act alone.
- [Agent skills](https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/agent-skills): A packaged set of instructions, sometimes with scripts, that an agent loads when a task calls for it, such as how to write a press release…

Map view: https://ecosystem.samcarlton.com/standard-operating-procedure