Sample runbook
Governed workflow documentation with owners, approval gates, and evidence.
Draft-first by default. External actions remain blocked until approved.
Runbook metadata
Runbook ID: RBK-LEAD-01
Workflow: Lead intake → follow-up pack
Risk: Low
Version: v1.0
Approval gate: Required before external release
Last updated: 15 Feb 2026
Inputs & outputs
Inputs: Lead form, inbox request, CRM entry
Outputs: Draft follow-up, task pack, CRM update
Tools & SLA
Tools: Notion, Google Workspace, Slack, CRM
SLA: Draft within 30 mins. Approval within 4 hours.
Exception handling
- If approval missing, set status to Blocked
- If data risk detected, trigger kill switch
- Escalate to owner with evidence links
- Pause conditions: missing approval, data risk, client request
- Rollback: revert last change and log incident note
Needs approval
External sends are blocked until the owner approves. Reason and evidence are recorded in the audit trail.
Steps
Step 1 — Capture request
- Owner
- Ops
- Control point
- Validate request + assign owner
- Evidence captured
- request link + run ID
- Exception path
- missing context → status Blocked
Step 2 — Generate draft output
- Owner
- Ops
- Control point
- Draft-only, no external sends
- Evidence captured
- draft link + change note
- Exception path
- low confidence → route to owner
Step 3 — Route for approval
- Owner
- Client owner
- Control point
- Approval required before execute
- Evidence captured
- approval note + timestamp
- Exception path
- approval timeout → reminder + escalate
Step 4 — Execute approved action
- Owner
- Ops
- Control point
- Execute only approved scope
- Evidence captured
- change log entry + evidence link
- Exception path
- execution error → pause + rollback path
Step 5 — Review and update runbook
- Owner
- Ops + owner
- Control point
- record changes + update runbook version
- Evidence captured
- updated runbook link + sign-off
- Exception path
- repeated exceptions → revise controls
Evidence
| Time | Run ID | Step | Owner | Control | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 09:18 | wf_20260215T0918Z | Draft created | Operaitions | Draft | Draft doc |
| 09:29 | wf_20260215T0929Z | Approval recorded | Client owner | Approved | Approval note |
| 09:33 | wf_20260215T0933Z | Executed update | Operaitions | Approved | Change log |
| 09:34 | wf_20260215T0934Z | Exception handled | Operaitions | Exception | Incident note |
Change log
| Date | Change | Approved by | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 Feb 2026 | v1.0 created | Operations lead | Baseline runbook |
| 16 Feb 2026 | Added rollback path | Client owner | Exception readiness |
| 17 Feb 2026 | SLA clarified | Operations lead | Delivery consistency |