In general, technical SOPs will consist of four elements apart from the procedure itself:   Title page. This includes 1) the title of the procedure, 2) an SOP identification number, 3) date of issue or revision, 4) the name of the agency/division/branch the SOP applies to, and 5) the signatures of those who prepared and approved of the SOP. This can be formatted however you like, as long as the information is clear.  Table of Contents. This is only necessary if your SOP is quite long, allowing for ease of reference. A simple standard outline is what you'd find here.  Quality Assurance/Quality Control. A procedure is not a good procedure if it cannot be checked. Have the necessary materials and details provided so the reader can make sure they've obtained the desired results. This may or may not include other documents, like performance evaluation samples.  Reference. Be sure to list all cited or significant references. If you reference other SOPs, be sure to attach the necessary information in the appendix. Your organization may have different protocol than this. If there are already preexisting SOPs you can refer to, abandon this structure and adhere to what's already in place. Scope and applicability. In other words, describe the purpose of the process, its limits, and how it's used. Include standards, regulatory requirements, roles and responsibilities, and inputs and outputs.  Methodology and procedures. The meat of the issue -- list all the steps with necessary details, including what equipment needed. Cover sequential procedures and decision factors. Address the "what ifs" and the possible interferences or safety considerations.  Clarification of terminology. Identify acronyms, abbreviations, and all phrases that aren't in common parlance.  Health and safety warnings. To be listed in its own section and alongside the steps where it is an issue. Do not gloss over this section.  Equipment and supplies. Complete list of what is needed and when, where to find equipment, standards of equipment, etc.  Cautions and interferences. Basically, a troubleshooting section. Cover what could go wrong, what to look out for, and what may interfere with the final, ideal product.  Give each of these topics their own section (usually denoted by numbers or letters) to keep your SOP from being wordy and confusing and to allow for easy reference. This is by no means an exhaustive list; this is just the tip of the procedural iceberg. Your organization may specify other aspects that require attention. Odds are your audience isn't choosing to read this for fun. You want to keep it short and clear -- otherwise their attention will stray or they'll find the document formidable and hard to grasp. In general, keep your sentences as short as possible.   Here's a bad example: Make sure that you clean out all of the dust from the air shafts before you begin using them.  Here's a good example: Vacuum all dust from air shafts before use. In general, don't use "you." It should be implied. Speak in the active voice and start your sentences with command verbs. The last thing you want to do is write an SOP that is just plain inaccurate. You're compromising the safety of your team, their efficacy, their time, and you're taking an established process and not paying it any mind -- something your teammates may find a little offensive. If you need to, ask questions! You want to get this right. Of course, if you don't know, ask multiple sources, covering all roles and responsibilities. One team member may not follow standard operating procedure or another may only be involved in a portion of the deed. If you have a step or two that are particularly intimidating, make it easy on your readers with some sort of chart or diagram. It makes it easier to read and gives the mind a brief hiatus from trying to make sense of it all. And it'll be appear more complete and well-written for you. Don't include these just to bulk up your SOP; only do this if necessary or if trying to bridge a language gap. Your SOP is probably one of many SOPS -- because of this, hopefully your organization has some type of larger database cataloging everything within a certain reference system. Your SOP is part of this reference system, and therefore needs some type of code in order to be found. That's where the notation comes in. Each page should have a short title or ID #, a revision number, date, and "page # of #" in the upper right hand corner (for most formats). You may or may not need a footnote (or have these in the footnote), depending on your organization's preferences.
Cover the necessary material. For the procedure itself, make sure you cover the following: Make your writing concise and easy to read. If necessary, interview the personnel involved in the process on how they execute the task. Break up large chunks of text with diagrams and flowcharts. Make sure each page has control document notation.