Guide
How to turn a screen recording into an SOP your team will actually use
October 30, 2026 · Written by the New Odyssey team, with AI help.
Someone on your team knows how to do the task. They have explained it to three new hires, and each explanation was a little different. Writing it all down feels like a weekend project, so it doesn't happen.
A screen recording is the faster starting point. Here is how to turn one into an SOP people use.
1. Pick one task, not a process
"Onboard a client" is a process. "Create the client's folder and send the welcome email" is a task. Record one task at a time. Short SOPs get opened, and long ones get skipped.
2. Record it the way you do it
Share your screen and talk through what you do and why. The reason behind a step is the part that never makes it into a written document, and it is what lets someone cope when something looks different.
Do it once, at normal speed. If you stumble, say so and carry on: the stumbles show where people will get stuck.
3. Turn the recording into numbered steps
Watch it back and write one step for each action, in the order it happens. Each step should start with a verb: click, enter, choose, send. Add a screenshot wherever a step is easy to get wrong, and a line on what you should see when it has worked.
4. Add what the recording doesn't show
- Why the task exists and when to do it.
- Who owns it, and who owns updating the SOP.
- How to tell it's done correctly.
- What to do when it goes wrong, and who to ask.
5. Test it on someone new
Give the SOP to a person who has never done the task and watch without helping. Every question they ask is a gap. Fix it, then test again.
6. Decide how it stays current
Processes change and SOPs don't, so name an owner and set a review date. When one step changes, re-record only that step instead of rewriting everything.
Where Praxa will fit
Praxa will turn a screen recording and walkthrough into numbered steps with screenshots, a quiz and a training path, which you review and approve, then assign to a person, a role or a location and track who has finished. Praxa isn't built yet; join the early-access list to be invited as places open.
Questions
How long should an SOP be?
As short as the task allows. If it runs past a page or a few minutes of video, split it into smaller tasks.
How often should an SOP be reviewed?
Whenever the process changes, and on a set date otherwise. Put the review date and the owner on the SOP itself.