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A '''standard operating procedure''' ('''SOP''') is a set of step-by-step instructions compiled by an [[organization]] to help workers carry out routine operations.<ref>“Standard operating procedure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/standard%20operating%20procedure. Accessed 15 Jun. 2023.</ref> SOPs aim to achieve efficiency, quality output, and uniformity of performance, while reducing [[miscommunication]] and failure to comply with [[industry regulation]]s.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
Some [[military]] services (e.g., in the [[United States|U.S.]] and the [[United Kingdom|UK]]) use the term '''standing operating procedure''',<ref>{{cite web |last=Nolen |first=Jeannette L. |title=standard operating procedure |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/standard-operating-procedure |access-date=15 June 2023 }}</ref> since a military SOP refers to a unit's unique procedures, which are not necessarily standard to another unit. The word "standard" could suggest that only one (standard) procedure is to be used across all units.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
The term is sometimes used facetiously to refer to practices that are unconstructive, yet the norm. In the [[Philippines]], for instance, "SOP" is the term for pervasive corruption within the government and its institutions.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wFkEEAAAQBAJ&q=sop%20%22operating%20procedure%22|isbn=9780824858902|title=In Pursuit of Progress: Narratives of Development on a Philippine Island|date=31 January 2017|publisher=University of Hawaii Press}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://anticorruptiondigest.com/2016/11/24/philippines-sop-corruption-in-police/|title=Anticorruptiondigest.com|website=anticorruptiondigest.com}}</ref>
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