Turn a rambling voice note into a step-by-step SOP

What you will build

An SOP Desk: a repeatable way to turn you talking through a job into a written standard operating procedure your staff can follow. You record yourself explaining the job, get a transcript, and the AI turns it into numbered steps, checks and common mistakes, using only what you said. Everything you left unclear comes back as a list of questions for you to answer.

Then you test the SOP on a real staff member, fix the steps where they hesitate, and save version 1 with a date and an owner.

Before you start

One job you explain again and again: opening the shop, receiving a customer's item, packing an order, closing the till.
A phone to record on, and a quiet ten minutes.
A way to get a transcript. Options are in Step 2.
Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini, any plan.
One staff member who does not know the job well, for the test.
About 45 minutes in total, spread over two days if needed.

How it works

Your know-how lives in your head, and you pass it on by talking. That works until you are not there. Writing an SOP from scratch feels like a big job, so it rarely happens. Talking is easy. The AI's job is to turn your talking into a clear structure, not to add knowledge. It keeps your words for anything technical, adds no steps you did not say, and lists what you left out as questions.

The real test is a person, not the AI. Every place where a staff member hesitates while following the SOP is a step to rewrite. For jobs with safety risks (electricity, chemicals, heavy lifting, food handling), your SOP must also follow the manufacturer's instructions and any rules that apply to your trade. The AI does not know those. It only organises what you told it.

Pick one job and define when the SOP is used.
Record yourself explaining it and get a transcript.
Clean the transcript.
Run the SOP prompt.
Answer the open questions and run it again.
Test the SOP on a real staff member.
Save version 1 and set a review date.

Step 1: Pick one job and define when the SOP is used

Choose the job staff ask you about most, or the one where mistakes cost the most. One job per SOP. "Running the shop" is too big. "Receiving a phone for screen repair" is right.

TEXT

SOP PLAN
Job name:
Used when: [the trigger, e.g. a customer walks in with a phone for screen repair]
Done by: [role]
Owner of this SOP: [name, who approves changes]
What goes wrong most often today:
What must never happen: [e.g. taking a phone without a signed job slip]

"What must never happen" helps you remember to say it out loud when you record.

Check

One job, with a clear start and end.
The trigger is written as a real situation.
The SOP has an owner.

Step 2: Record yourself explaining it and get a transcript

Talk as if a new staff member is standing beside you. Say what you do, why you do it, and what goes wrong. Five to ten minutes is usually enough for one job. Do not worry about order or repetition. The AI will sort that.

Tips for a useful recording:

Say the step and the reason: "We test the touch screen before taking the phone, because customers sometimes say the screen worked before."
Mention the mistakes you have seen.
Say what "done right" looks like for each important step.
Mix BM and English if that is how you explain it. The AI can handle it.

Ways to get a transcript (menus may move; check your app):

Claude mobile app: you can dictate straight into the chat with the microphone icon. See Use dictation on Claude Mobile.
WhatsApp: on some devices, WhatsApp can show transcripts of voice messages (Settings > Chats > Voice message transcripts). WhatsApp says transcripts are generated on your device. Record a voice note to yourself or a trusted colleague and copy the transcript. See How to turn voice message transcripts on or off.
Your phone's recorder or notes app: many have a transcribe option. Check yours.

Check

The recording covers the whole job from trigger to finish.
Reasons and common mistakes were said out loud.
You have the transcript as text.

Step 3: Clean the transcript

Read the transcript once before pasting it anywhere. Remove anything private: customer names, phone numbers, passcodes, supplier account numbers, staff complaints you mentioned by name. Replace them with labels if the step needs them ("the supplier" rather than a company name).

Do not tidy the language. Leave your rambling, repeats and BM-English mix. The AI needs your real words to keep your meaning.

Check

No names, numbers or passcodes remain.
Your technical words are still there.
You did not rewrite the content yourself.

Step 4: Run the SOP prompt

Paste the clean transcript into this prompt.

TEXT

Below is a transcript of me explaining how we do a job in my business.
Turn it into an SOP that a new staff member can follow.

Format:
1. Job name and when to use this SOP
2. What you need before you start (tools, materials, information)
3. Steps, numbered, one action each, in plain words
4. Checks: how to know each important step was done right
5. Common mistakes to avoid (only ones I mentioned)
6. Must never happen (only what I said)
7. Questions: anything I did not explain clearly, contradicted, or skipped, listed for me to answer

Rules:
- Keep my own words for anything technical.
- Do not add steps, tools, safety advice or tips I did not say.
- If I said something twice in different ways, pick one and put the other under Questions.
- If a step depends on a decision ("if the phone is wet..."), write the decision as its own step with both outcomes, using my words.
- Write in simple English. Add the BM term in brackets where I used BM.

TRANSCRIPT:
[paste]

"Do not add steps I did not say" is the most important rule. An SOP full of sensible-sounding steps you never do is worse than no SOP, because staff will follow it.

Check

Every step is one action.
Nothing appears that you did not say.
The Questions list is not empty. Real explanations always have gaps.

Step 5: Answer the open questions and run it again

Read the Questions list. Answer each one in a short line, in your own words. Then run a second prompt with the SOP and your answers.

TEXT

Here is the SOP draft and my answers to your questions.
Update the SOP using my answers only. Keep everything else the same.
Show me which steps changed.
If my answers create new questions, list them.

SOP DRAFT:
[paste]

MY ANSWERS:
1. [answer]
2. [answer]

Asking which steps changed lets you check the edit quickly instead of rereading the whole SOP.

Check

Every question has an answer, or is marked "owner decides case by case".
You read the changed steps.
No new steps appeared that you did not say.

Step 6: Test the SOP on a real staff member

Give the SOP to a staff member who does not know the job well. Ask them to follow it on a real or practice task while you watch. Do not help. Do not explain. Just note where they stop, hesitate, ask a question or do something different from what you meant.

TEXT

SOP TEST NOTE
Date:
Tested by: [role]
Step | what happened | what the SOP should say instead

Every hesitation is a step to rewrite. Put the fixes in, in your words, and test once more if the changes were big.

Check

A real person followed the SOP without your help.
Every hesitation is written down.
The SOP was updated after the test.

Step 7: Save version 1 and set a review date

Save the tested SOP with a version number, date and owner at the top. Put it where staff will use it: printed at the counter, pinned in the staff WhatsApp group, or in a shared folder.

TEXT

SOP: [job name]
Version: 1   Date: [date]   Owner: [name]
Next review: [date, e.g. in 3 months or when tools or prices change]
Changes since last version: [none / list]

Keep the transcript, the draft and the test note in the same folder. If a later edit makes things worse, you can see how you got here. When something changes in the job, record a short voice note about the change and run Step 4 on just that part.

Check

Version, date and owner are at the top.
Staff know where to find the current version.
A review date is in the calendar.

Worked example

This example is made up for teaching. The shop and details are not real.

A phone repair shop in Kota Kinabalu has two counter staff. The owner kept explaining how to receive a phone for screen repair. The owner recorded eight minutes in a mix of BM and English and used the WhatsApp voice transcript.

Part of the transcript: "First you check the phone can on or not, test touch, test camera, semua kena test depan customer, because nanti dia cakap camera rosak lepas kita repair. Then ask them backup... tak payah tanya passcode, jangan simpan passcode. Kalau phone basah, jangan charge, terus bagi saya."

The SOP draft included:

TEXT

5. Test the phone in front of the customer: power on, touch screen, camera (kamera).
   Check: customer has seen each test result.
6. Ask the customer to back up their data before leaving the phone.
7. Do not ask for or record the passcode.
8. Decision: is the phone wet?
   If yes: do not charge it. Give it to the owner.
   If no: continue to step 9.

Questions:
- What happens if the phone cannot power on at all? You did not say.
- Who fills in the job slip and what goes on it?
- You mentioned "test depan customer" and later "test at the back". Which one?

The owner answered: "If cannot on, write 'cannot power on' on the slip and customer signs. Counter staff fill the slip: model, fault, test results, deposit, customer signature. Always test in front of the customer." The second run updated steps 4, 5 and 9 and showed the changes.

In the staff test, the newer staff member hesitated at "deposit" because the SOP did not say how much or whether it was required. The owner added "Deposit: follow the price list; if the price list says 'owner price', call the owner." Version 1 was printed and stuck behind the counter, with a review date three months out.

Common mistakes and fixes

The AI adds steps you never do → keep "do not add steps I did not say" and delete anything you do not recognise.
The SOP is too long to use → one job per SOP; split big jobs into smaller ones.
Safety steps are missing → the AI only knows what you said. Add the manufacturer's instructions and any trade rules yourself.
The Questions list is ignored → answer every question; unanswered gaps become staff guesses.
The SOP is never tested → watch one person follow it without help before calling it done.
Old versions stay in circulation → one current version with a date, and remove old printouts.
Private details slip into the transcript → read and clean it before pasting, every time.

Take it further

Project: keep all your SOPs as files in a business Project, so staff questions can be answered from your own procedures. See Set up a Claude Project as your business brain.
Desks: SOPs are the human side of a Desk. Pair this with The Lead Triage Desk: sort every new enquiry and draft replies you approve so staff know what to do with the drafts.
Monthly habit: record one new SOP a month for the job that caused the most questions.
Related: Before you paste anything into AI: a two-minute safety check and Check the AI's answer before a customer sees it.

Quick checklist

One job per SOP, with a trigger and an owner.
Recording covers steps, reasons and mistakes.
Transcript cleaned of names, numbers and passcodes.
Prompt forbids steps you did not say.
Every open question answered.
Tested on a real staff member without help.
Safety steps checked against manufacturer and trade rules.
Version 1 saved with date, owner and review date.