Process: [Process name]

Document one business process from the trigger to the result, across every role it touches. Replace the blue placeholders and delete the grey notes as you go.

Process owner

[Name, role]

Version

[1.0]

Effective

[Date]

Next review

[Date]

Applies to

[Team, site, product line or region]

Purpose and scope

  • Purpose: [the result this process exists to produce, written so you could check it]

  • Starts when: [the trigger, such as an accepted pitch or a signed order]

  • Ends when: [the final output, such as the invoice paid]

  • In scope: [what the process covers]

  • Out of scope: [what it doesn't cover, and which document does]

SIPOC overview

The whole process on one screen. Keep the Process column to five to seven core steps; the detail goes in Process steps below.

Suppliers

Inputs

Process

Outputs

Customers

[Who provides the inputs]

[What comes in]

[Step 1 to step 5–7]

[What comes out]

[Who receives the outputs]

[Supplier]

[Input]

[Core step]

[Output]

[Customer]

See an example SIPOC

Suppliers: freelance writers, their sources, the legal adviser

Inputs: pitch, signed contract, draft and source list, invoice

Process: commission → draft → edit and check → publish → pay

Outputs: published piece, source log, payment

Customers: readers, the writer, the magazine's archive

From Northline, an invented magazine: its commission-to-payment process for freelance articles.

Roles

Role

Responsible for

Held by

[Role]

[What this role does in the process]

[Name or team]

[Role]

[What this role does in the process]

[Name or team]

[Role]

[What this role does in the process]

[Name or team]

RACI chart. R = responsible (does the work), A = accountable (owns the result), C = consulted (asked first), I = informed (told after). Exactly one A in each row.

Step

[Role 1]

[Role 2]

[Role 3]

[Role 4]

[Core step]

[A, R]

[C]

[I]

[–]

[Core step]

[A]

[R]

[–]

[I]

[Core step]

[R]

[I]

[A]

[C]

Process steps

One row per step. Name the role, not the person. Every change of role is a handoff: say what is handed on and where it goes. Link the SOP for any step that needs more than a line.

#

Step

Role

System or document

Output and handoff

1

[Action]

[Role]

[Tool, form or SOP]

[What moves on, to whom, and how they find out]

2

[Action]

[Role]

[Tool, form or SOP]

[What moves on, to whom, and how they find out]

3

[Action]

[Role]

[Tool, form or SOP]

[What moves on, to whom, and how they find out]

4

[Action]

[Role]

[Tool, form or SOP]

[What moves on, to whom, and how they find out]

5

[Action]

[Role]

[Tool, form or SOP]

[What moves on, to whom, and how they find out]

See example steps

5. Fact-check. Fact-checker · source log · every claim logged; queries back to the commissioning editor.

8. Invoice. Writer · invoice with the contract number · invoice in the finance inbox; from here, finance owns the payment.

9. Pay. Finance assistant · SOP-FIN-03: Pay a freelance invoice · payment and a confirmation email to the writer.

Link down, don't copy down. This document shows the flow. The step-by-step detail lives in the SOPs and work instructions it links to, so a change in a tool means one edit, not three.

Exceptions

What happens when the usual path fails. Write rows from real failures: ask each role what went wrong last month.

If

Then

Who decides

[Situation]

[What happens next]

[Role]

[Situation]

[What happens next]

[Role]

[Situation]

[What happens next]

[Role]

Measures and controls

Measure

Target

Reviewed by

How often

[What you count or time]

[Number]

[Role]

[Monthly]

[What you count or time]

[Number]

[Role]

[Quarterly]

  • Control: [the check that stops the worst failure, such as no piece published without a source log]

Related documents

  • Policy: [the rule this process carries out]

  • SOPs: [number and title of each procedure a step links to]

  • Work instructions, forms and templates: [number and title]

Change history

Version

Date

What changed and why

By

[1.0]

[Date]

[First issue]

[Name]

[1.1]

[Date]

[Change, and the reason for it]

[Name]

Before you publish

  • The trigger and the end point are written down and agreed

  • Someone followed one real case through every step in the table

  • Every step names a role and the output it hands on

  • Every row of the RACI chart has exactly one A

  • Steps that need detail link to an SOP instead of copying it

  • Each role has read and confirmed their rows

  • The owner and the next review date are filled in