SOP vs work instruction: one task written three ways

An SOP says who does what, and when, across a process. A work instruction says how one person does one task, click by click. Below, one admin-panel task is written as a process map, an SOP and a work instruction, so you can see which fact belongs at which level.

By The stepkeep team. Published .

The short answer

  • An SOP (a procedure) says what is done, by whom and when. A work instruction says how one person does one task, at the level of each click.
  • The SOP points to the work instruction, never the other way round. One SOP can point to several work instructions.
  • Screenshots belong in the work instruction only.
Level Question it answers Reader What changes it Screenshots
Process What happens, and who hands off to whom? Auditors, managers, anyone new A step or a role is added or removed No
SOP (procedure) Who does what, when, under which rules? Everyone in the process A rule, an approver or the scope changes No
Work instruction How do I do this task, click by click? The one person doing the task The screens change Yes, one per step

For what an SOP is and the parts it can have, see What is an SOP. This page only separates the levels.

One admin-panel task as a process map, an SOP and a work instruction: what each one holds, where screenshots go, what to update. 52 seconds, narrated, with captions.

Open the video on its own page

The task used on this page

Jonas has joined the content team at Northwind (a made-up company) and needs Editor access in Northwind admin, a demo app. Three people take part: the team lead who asks, the IT owner who approves and the admin who grants the role. That is enough people to make the process level real. The same task is written three times below.

Level 1: the process

  1. Request Team lead
  2. Approve IT owner
  3. Grant Admin
  4. Confirm Team lead

Four boxes, one role under each, nothing else. The map answers "what happens, and who hands off to whom". It names no button and no screen. ISO 9000:2015 (clause 3.4.1) defines a process as a "set of interrelated or interacting activities that use inputs to deliver an intended result" (SQT Training). Here the input is a request and the intended result is a colleague who can edit.

Who reads it: auditors, new managers, anyone asking "how does access work here".

Level 2: the SOP

ISO 9000:2015 (3.4.5) defines a procedure as a "specified way to carry out an activity or a process". An SOP is a procedure, written down. The same task as an SOP:

Title
Granting access to the admin panel
Purpose
Every person gets the role their work needs, approved before it is granted.
Scope
New staff and role changes. Not for contractors.
Owner
IT owner
Version and date
Version 1, 29 September 2026
Rules
  • Access needs written approval from the IT owner in the ticket.
  • Editor is the highest role given without a second approval.
  • The admin grants the role within 1 working day of approval.
Steps
  1. Team lead requests the role by ticket.
  2. IT owner approves in the ticket.
  3. Admin grants the role, following WI-07 "Grant a role in Northwind admin".
  4. Team lead confirms the colleague can work, and closes the ticket.

Step 3 names the work instruction instead of repeating its clicks. The rules above are what only the SOP holds: no screenshot can show an approval rule or a deadline.

Level 3: the work instruction

WI-07, Grant a role in Northwind admin. One reader, the admin. Before step 1: an admin account, and the approved ticket open.

  1. In the menu on the left, click Users.
  2. In Search by email, type the colleague's email from the ticket. Only their row stays in the list.
  3. Click the colleague's name. Their details open above the list.
  4. In Role, choose Role: Editor.
  5. Click Save changes.
  6. Check that Role updated appears beside the button, and that the row in the list shows Editor.
Northwind admin Users page with a numbered ring on the search field; the email typed into it and the email in the one remaining row are blurred
Step 2: the search leaves one row. The colleague's email is blurred here and in every later screenshot.
The user details for Jonas Weber, with a numbered ring on the Role select, which shows Role: Editor
Step 4: the Role select, set to Editor. The list below still says Viewer until you save.
After saving: a numbered ring around the notice Role updated beside the Save changes button, and the row below now showing Editor
Step 6: "Role updated" beside the button, and Editor in the row.

Expected result: the colleague's row shows Editor. If Role: Admin, or the whole select, is greyed out: stop and ask the IT owner; roles above Editor need a second approval (see the SOP, rule 2).

In small teams this is the document people usually call "the SOP". That is fine, as long as the approval rule is written down somewhere too. How to word steps like these is in How to write step-by-step instructions.

Where screenshots belong

Only at level 3. A screenshot in the SOP ties a rule that rarely changes to a screen that changes often. The process map and the SOP stay true when the admin panel is redesigned; the work instruction does not, and that is why it is the one you re-record.

The work instruction is also the only level made of clicks, so it is the one level a click recorder can produce: it captures each click with a screenshot and a numbered step, and you add the checks and blur the personal data. Attach the result to the SOP step that points to it. The SOP's rules and the process map are still yours to write; no recording contains them.

When something changes, which document do you update

What changed Update
The Save changes button is now called Apply The work instruction only
Admin roles now also need the security lead's approval The SOP, and the process map if a box is added
The team moved to a new admin panel Rewrite the work instruction; in the SOP, change only the tool's name and the link
Contractors now get access too The SOP's scope

Keeping the levels apart is what keeps the upkeep small: a renamed button costs one screenshot, not a new SOP. For how often to review each, see Maintain in the SOP guide.

Is a procedure the same as a process

No. A process is what happens, from trigger to result; a procedure is how it is carried out, who does what, when and in which order. Process vs procedure shows both on one refund.

Above the procedure sits the policy, the rule it carries out; Policy vs procedure shows one refund rule at both levels.

Does ISO 9001 require work instructions

No. ISO 9001:2015 uses neither "SOP" nor "work instruction"; it speaks of documented information. As SOPX summarises the two clauses that matter:

  • Clause 7.5.1: your quality system holds the documented information the standard requires, plus what you decide is necessary.
  • Clause 8.5.1: the work runs under controlled conditions, which include documented information that defines the work and its results being available. In SOPX's words, "The instruction has to reach the person doing the job."

So you decide which tasks get a work instruction. A common test: would a new person get the task wrong without one?

Sources

All pages checked on .

  1. SQT Training: Applying the process approach to a quality management system. The ISO 9000:2015 definition of process (3.4.1).
  2. NIST glossary: procedure. The ISO 9000:2015 definition of procedure (3.4.5).
  3. Auditor Training Online: Management systems, what needs to be documented (part 1). Note 1 to the definition of procedure: procedures can be documented or not.
  4. ISOTracker: Document control in ISO 9001:2015, what the standard requires. The standard's term "documented information" for documents and records.
  5. SOPX: ISO 9001 SOPs and work instructions, what is required. SOPs and work instructions are not mandatory; clauses 7.5.1 and 8.5.1.