Make Your SOPs Legible to AI

Written By Lori Barbeau

Begin with BBQ Clarity

Barbecue, green beans, and banana pudding. It’s my go-to order at Terry Black’s BBQ in Austin, TX. I didn’t know I needed, or even wanted, that exact combination until I started paying closer attention to what contributed to my yum response.

Before I could choose a go-to, I had to understand my own preferences: Which BBQ meats ignite my palate? Why is the aroma so tantalizing? What seasoning makes green beans pop? What transforms banana pudding from blah to scrumptious?

The same earnest examination applies to business operations and AI. You can make smart and meaningful decisions about AI’s usefulness when you have clarity on your operations details.

Why SOPs Matter for AI

Sticky notes, scattered OneNote entries, and head knowledge might get you through the day. But they leave your operations invisible to AI.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) do the opposite—they make your business legible to AI. And once your SOPs are documented clearly, AI can do more than just read them; it can analyze, optimize, and even transform them into tools you can use.

Well-structured SOPs allow AI to:

Easier Navigation & Cataloging

  • Identify gaps, overlaps, or redundancies.

  • Create an index so your team can navigate quickly.

  • Tag SOPs by function (Finance, HR, Operations, Marketing).

Streamlined Workflows

  • Build end-to-end workflows from your SOP library.

  • Suggest or draft new SOPs to fill missing processes.

  • Turn procedures into checklists and training guides.

Instant Reporting & Outputs

  • Generate quick-reference summaries.

  • Convert SOPs into any format (PDF, DOCX, PPTX).

  • Pull data across SOPs to create audit-ready reports.

Useful Insights

  • Classify whether a document is structured or unstructured data.

  • Highlight missing steps or unclear areas.

  • Compare SOPs to reveal process conflicts or bottlenecks.

Creating SOPs with AI

Documenting procedures doesn’t have to be painful. At Workflow Tactics, I built a ChatGPT-powered assistant—SOP Burnout—that creates professional SOP drafts in minutes.

SOP Burnout asks one question at a time, formats the output clearly, and produces consistent, usable SOPs that include:

  • SOP owner

  • Access requirements

  • Task summary

  • Procedure steps

  • Version history

The result? SOPs that are both human-friendly and AI-ready.

Lori Barbeau
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