How to choose your first automation workflow

Shortlist three workflows, not a hundred tools

List repeated work from recent operations: organising enquiries, drafting quotation follow-ups or classifying documents. For each, record frequency, active handling time, exceptions, sensitivity and the final approver. High frequency is not enough: a process whose rules change daily may be a worse first candidate than a smaller stable one.

Write a one-page operating boundary

Describe the trigger, input fields, steps, output and accepting owner. An example boundary is producing a reviewable draft after an enquiry is confirmed, not sending it directly. Missing fields, duplicate submissions, denied access and uncertain model output each need an explicit human destination.

Require approval before overwriting original data, sending externally or moving money. Keep the original records and versions. Name the person who can pause the workflow and document how the existing process takes over after failure.

Finish one review cycle before expanding

Measure the current process, then test anonymised normal, missing-data, duplicate and exception cases. Log review time and correction reasons for every output rather than timing only the demonstration. At the agreed review date, decide whether to retain, change or stop the workflow before adding another.