Foundation
Map a workflow before automating it
A workflow tool can speed up a process that is already understood. It cannot make an unclear process clear. Map the work first so that you know what the automation is allowed to do.
Start with a real outcome
Name the result a person is trying to obtain—not the software action. “Send an invoice after approval” is more useful than “call the billing API,” because it exposes the decision and the business outcome.
Write down five parts
- Trigger: What event starts the work?
- Inputs: What information must be present, and who owns it?
- Decision: What rule determines the next step?
- Action: What is changed, sent, created, or recorded?
- Exception: What happens when information is missing or a result is uncertain?
Useful test: If a colleague cannot handle an exception from the map, the workflow is not ready for unattended automation.
Choose a narrow first use
Begin with a task that is frequent, bounded and reversible. Preserve an approval step when a result affects money, access, legal commitments, health, safety, or a customer relationship.
Measure the right thing
Record baseline completion time, exception rate and rework before changing anything. A workflow that runs faster but creates more corrections is not an improvement.