SOP Meaning in Business: A 2026 Definition (With Examples)

In a business context, SOP stands for Standard Operating Procedure — a documented, agreed-upon description of how a specific recurring task should be performed. Unlike a policy (which sets rules) or a process (which describes flow), an SOP is granular: it names the trigger, the owner, the steps, the definition of done, and what to do when reality doesn't match the doc. In 2026 the format has moved off Word and PDF onto captured web pages produced with tools like [Haiku](/reviews/haiku), [Scribe](/reviews/scribe), or [Trainual](/reviews/trainual). Businesses that invest in SOPs see faster onboarding, fewer errors, and higher valuations at exit; businesses that don't stay bottlenecked on the founder or the one long-tenured employee who 'just knows how it works.'