Stop writing SOPs from scratch

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Wednesday Deep Dive

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The Wednesday Deep Dive explores how AI is reshaping the way teams work, document, and scale. Each week, we unpack a real operational challenge and show how AI prompts can turn messy workflows into structured, repeatable systems.

This week’s challenge: Keeping your company’s Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) accurate and alive as tools, teams, and processes shift.

Every fast-moving SaaS team hits the same wall. You finally document a process, only for it to be outdated two weeks later. The result is tribal knowledge, inconsistent execution, and hours lost to “how do we do this again?” messages.

AI can help fix that. By turning workflows into living, version-controlled SOPs, you can keep operations aligned without manual upkeep.

Set the Stage

Most teams already have their processes scattered across Slack threads, Loom videos, or Notion pages. The problem isn’t documenting; it’s maintaining.

AI can now act as your SOP co-pilot, automatically extracting workflows, mapping decision points, and updating documentation when things change.

✅ Capture workflows directly from Slack, Notion, or Loom
✅ Auto-organize steps with branching logic and tool references
✅ Suggest updates when team structures or tools evolve
✅ Export clean documentation to Notion, Confluence, or Markdown

With this setup, your operations library becomes a living system that updates itself.

Here’s the Prompt to Get Started

Generate a Living SOP from Team Workflows

<prompt>
  <role>
  You are an operations analyst building a version-controlled SOP library for a SaaS company.
  </role>

  <task>
  Using the following inputs:
  - Workflow recordings or transcripts (Slack threads, Loom videos, Notion pages)
  - Tool references used in the process (e.g., HubSpot, Jira, Notion)
  - Team roles involved (e.g., CS, Marketing, Engineering)

  Generate:
  1. A structured SOP with step-by-step actions and decision branches.
  2. Tool references and ownership per step.
  3. Version metadata (created by, last updated, related workflows).
  4. Suggested AI-generated updates when tools or roles change.
  </task>

  <context>
  Keep the tone concise and operational. Format output for easy export to Notion or Confluence. The goal is to reduce manual documentation work and keep SOPs evergreen.
  </context>
</prompt>

What This Prompt Can Deliver

Input Provided:

• Workflow: “Customer escalation handling” from Slack thread

• Tools: Zendesk, Notion, Slack

• Roles: Customer Success, Support Lead

Output Given:

SOP Title: Customer Escalation Handling
Version: v1.0 (Example)
Owner: Support Lead

Steps:

1. Identify escalation trigger

   • Slack message tagged #urgent or Zendesk ticket marked “High Priority.”

   • Owner: Customer Success Rep

2. Acknowledge and log

   • Post acknowledgment in Slack thread.

   • Create an escalation record in Notion using the template “Escalation Log.”

3. Assign resolution owner

   • If product-related → Engineering

   • If billing-related → Finance

4. Follow-up and closure

   • Update ticket status in Zendesk.

   • Notify the customer in the Slack Connect channel.

Suggested Update Example:
If a new integration is added, recommend inserting an automated notification step for escalations.

Export Options:

• Notion page

• Markdown file

• Process.st checklist

This output gives teams a ready-to-use, versioned SOP that evolves automatically as tools or steps change.

Additional Practical Prompt: Keep SOPs Current

<prompt>
  <role>
  You are an operations coordinator maintaining the company’s SOP library.
  </role>

  <task>
  Given:
  - Existing SOPs with version history
  - Recent tool updates or team changes
  - Slack or Notion activity logs

  Generate:
  1. A list of SOPs that may need updates.
  2. Suggested edits or new steps based on detected changes.
  3. A summary of outdated references or inactive owners.
  4. A changelog entry for each updated SOP.
  </task>

  <context>
  Output should be formatted for quick review in a weekly ops sync. Keep it concise and actionable.
  </context>
</prompt>

Example Output:

SOP Update Summary – Week of Nov 3, 2025

• Customer Escalation Handling: Add an automated notification step for the new integration. Owner: Support Lead

• Onboarding Workflow: Replace Loom with Scribe for video capture. Owner: Ops Manager

• Quarterly Reporting: Reassign ownership to FP&A Lead after team restructure. Owner: CFO

Changelog Example:
Customer Escalation Handling v1.1 – Added notification step and updated ownership metadata.

Why this works

Static documentation slows teams down. These prompts turn your SOPs into living assets that evolve with your business.

✅ No more stale Notion pages
✅ Updates triggered automatically by real workflow changes
✅ Clear ownership and version control
✅ Faster onboarding and fewer repeated questions

AI doesn’t just document your processes. It keeps them alive.

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