Creating SOP templates

Standardizing how your team documents processes is critical to maintaining clarity, consistency, and efficiency across your organization. While BlueDocs does not currently offer a dedicated “template” feature, it does support a highly effective workaround: creating reusable draft documents that act as templates. This guide walks you through how to create, organize, and use SOP templates in BlueDocs, so you can streamline documentation and enforce consistency at scale.

🔍 Overview

BlueDocs allows you to create structured SOP documents using a powerful editor and flexible content management features. While native templates are on the product roadmap, organizations can still use draft documents stored in designated folders to serve as effective templates. These reusable structures make it easy for teams to generate SOPs quickly and uniformly.

🧱 What You’ll Learn

• How to create reusable SOP templates using draft documents
• Best practices for template layout and content structure
• How to store and organize templates for easy reuse
• How to update and maintain templates over time

🛠 Creating Your First Template

1. Set Up a Templates Folder

To keep things organized, begin by creating a dedicated folder for your templates:

• Navigate to the SOPs section in BlueDocs
• Click “New Folder”
• Name the folder something like “Templates” or “SOP Templates”
• This folder will house all your template documents and make it easy for your team to find and reuse them

2. Create a Template Document

Next, start creating your first template:

• Click “Create SOP” to open the document editor
• For the title, follow a clear naming convention like:

• [TEMPLATE] New Employee Onboarding
• [TEMPLATE] Equipment Maintenance Checklist
• Choose the appropriate category, such as HR, Safety, or IT, based on the type of process
• Set the document status to “Draft” to keep it out of public view and standard document search
• Add the template to your newly created Templates folder

3. Structure Your Template

A good SOP template includes common procedural elements with clearly marked placeholders for customization. Consider including the following sections:

Essential Sections

• Purpose and Scope – Explain the goal of the SOP and what it covers
• Prerequisites – Note anything required before the process can begin (training, equipment, permissions)
• Roles and Responsibilities – List the individuals or teams involved and their duties
• Step-by-Step Procedures – Provide the actual instructions in sequential order
• Quality Checkpoints – Include verification steps or sign-off points
• Related Documents – Link to any referenced materials or related procedures
• Approval Information – Capture who needs to approve the SOP and when

Use of Placeholders

To make your templates easy to modify:

• Use \[square brackets] to indicate fields that should be replaced
• For example:

• [Insert Process Owner Name]
• [Step 1 – Describe initial action]
• [Approval Date]

🧾 Template Content Layout: Best Practices

Below is a sample structure that can be used for all SOP templates:

[TEMPLATE] Document Title

**PURPOSE**  
[Describe the goal and importance of the SOP]

**SCOPE**  
[Define the boundaries and applicability of this process]

**PREREQUISITES**  
• [Equipment or tools needed]  
• [Training requirements]  
• [System access, permissions]

**ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES**  
• Process Owner: [Role/Name]  
• Participants: [List of roles involved]  
• Approver: [Who reviews and approves the SOP]

**STEP-BY-STEP PROCEDURE**  
1. [Step 1: Describe action]  
   - [Sub-step]  
   - [Quality check]

2. [Step 2]  
   - [Decision points, alternatives, or notes]

**QUALITY CONTROLS**  
• [Checkpoint 1: What to verify]  
• [Checkpoint 2: How success is measured]

**RELATED DOCUMENTS**  
• [Links to procedures, guides, or templates]

**APPROVAL AND REVIEW**  
• Document Owner: [Name]  
• Last Reviewed: [Date]  
• Next Review Due: [Date]  
• Approved By: [Name & Date]

🎨 Formatting Tips for Templates

To make templates easy to use and professional:

• Use consistent heading levels for each section (e.g., Heading 2 for main sections)
• Use bold for titles, steps, and warnings
• Apply bullet points to lists for better readability
• Add tables for structured data fields or multi-step checklists
• Place placeholders like [Insert Here] prominently and consistently

📥 Using Your Templates

Option 1: Manual Copy-Paste

When you want to use a template to create a new SOP:

1. Go to the Templates folder
2. Open the template document
3. Select all content using Ctrl+A (Windows) or Cmd+A (Mac), then copy it
4. Create a new SOP document
5. Paste the template content into the new document
6. Replace all [placeholder text] with your specific process information
7. Update the document title and remove the [TEMPLATE] prefix
8. Choose the appropriate status (e.g., Published) and assign it to the correct folder and category

Option 2: Split-Tab Workflow (Quick Copy Method)

For even faster usage:

• Keep the template open in one browser tab
• Open a new SOP creation window in another tab
• Copy and paste directly between them for a more efficient workflow

🔄 Maintaining and Updating Templates

It’s important to keep your SOP templates up to date as organizational needs change.

Maintenance Tips:

• Review regularly: Schedule quarterly reviews to update terminology, process steps, or formatting
• Add feedback: Include a comment section or collect feedback from users to improve templates
• Use versioning: Include a version control section in the template footer to track changes over time
• Archive outdated templates: Move old templates to an “Archived Templates” folder for historical reference

🛠 Troubleshooting Template Usage

🧠 Final Thoughts

Using SOP templates in BlueDocs is a simple but powerful way to ensure consistency and save time when documenting recurring processes. By keeping templates structured, clearly labeled, and stored in an organized folder, your team can reuse high-quality documentation again and again.

💡 Pro Tip: Include a short explanation at the top of each template describing how and when to use it. This makes it easier for team members to apply templates correctly and consistently.

Still need help?

If you're unsure how to structure a specific SOP or want feedback on your template design, reach out to your administrator or consult your organization’s documentation standards.

This approach allows you to build scalable, reusable documentation systems inside BlueDocs—until the dedicated templates feature arrives, and even beyond.

Updated on: 02/06/2025