Operations prompt
SOP from a repeated failure
Convert an incident that happened twice into a standard that stops it happening again.
sopsqualityoperations
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The problem
Recurring failures get fixed individually and never make it into the operating standard.
The outcome
A short SOP with the trigger, the steps, the owner, and the verification.
The prompt
This failure has now happened more than once: [DESCRIBE]. Write a short SOP that prevents recurrence. Include: the trigger condition, the steps in order, who owns each step, the verification that proves it was done, and the escalation if it fails. Maximum one page. Prefer a verification photo or timestamp over a tick box.Example output
Trigger: any same-day turn with check-in before 15:00. Verification: completion photo set uploaded by 13:00, else automatic escalation to the operations lead.
How to run it well
- Verification beats instruction. A step nobody can prove happened will eventually stop happening.
- One page. SOPs longer than a page are not read by the people who need them.
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