VA SOP template pack

Trigger. New mail in the shared inbox, checked at the times you agree.

Tools. [the inbox], [the folder names], [where a decision gets logged].

1. Sort into the folders you named: needs a reply today, waiting on someone else, and filed.
2. Draft replies only for the types of mail you listed. Leave the draft. Do not send it.
3. For anything else, write one line on what it is and who should see it.
4. Send the count: how many need you, how many are waiting, how many were filed.

Done. The inbox is sorted, drafts are unsent, and you have the count.

Stop and ask. Money, a person being hired or let go, a legal question, or a sender you have not named.

Trigger. A request for time on [the leader's] calendar, or a meeting that needs a pack.

Tools. [the calendar], [the agenda doc], [the video link tool].

1. Offer times inside the hours you were given. Do not move a block marked as held.
2. Put the purpose in the invite title. Add the video link and the doc.
3. The day before, send the agenda: the decision needed, the documents, and who is in the room.
4. After the meeting, list the to-dos with an owner and a date. Send that list the same day.

Done. The meeting is booked, the agenda went out the day before, and the to-dos have owners.

Stop and ask. A request to cancel a held block, or two people promised the same hour.

Trigger. [the day and time] before the weekly meeting.

Tools. [the scorecard], [who owns each number].

1. Ask each owner for their number. Use the same message every week.
2. Enter what they send. Leave a blank as a blank. Do not guess.
3. Mark any number that is missing, and the name of the person who still owes it.
4. Send the sheet to the meeting owner before the time you agreed.

Done. The sheet has reported numbers only, and every blank has a name.

Stop and ask. An owner who misses two weeks, or a number that changed definition.

Trigger. A task that has happened twice and should happen the same way next time.

Tools. [where the procedure will live].

1. Name the trigger, the tools, and what done looks like before you write the steps.
2. Do the task once while you record it, or write the steps from the last time you did it.
3. Give the assistant the procedure and one real example.
4. They do it once while you can still see the result, and they mark the step that was unclear.
5. Edit that step. They run it the next time without you in the room.

Done. The procedure is in the shared folder, and the assistant has run it once.

Stop and ask. A task that needs a judgment you have not written down. It is not ready to hand over.