How to choose a business process worth automating
Choose a sensible first automation with a clear trigger, an honest time calculation and a small pilot that includes the awkward cases.
An Alembic resource · Version 1.1
Find the small workflow worth fixing first
Map one recurring task, separate active work from waiting, and choose a small improvement with a clear owner and review point.
Start with one case you can follow
Choose a recurring task whose start, finish and owner you can name. One customer enquiry or purchase request is a workable boundary. “Improve operations” leaves too much room for the problem to move.
Before considering a tool, write four things:
| Question | A useful answer contains |
|---|---|
| What starts a case? | A specific event, such as an approved request arriving. |
| What proves it is finished? | The result the next person can actually use. |
| Where does it wait? | The missing input, decision or accepting owner. |
| What can we try? | One change with an owner, a comparison and a stop condition. |
Keep active work and waiting separate. Eight minutes clarifying a request and four hours waiting for a reply describe different problems. Overnight elapsed time does not mean someone worked all night.
Look at an unfinished case too. Choosing only completed work makes unresolved delays disappear from view.
The full editable worksheet adds a case log, a decision table for common workflow problems and a trial agreement. A fictional studio example shows why the team tries one change at a time. Copy the blank sections into a document or spreadsheet your team already uses.