Dealing with a repetitive task? Automating it can seem like the obvious next step. Someone copies information, sends a reminder, or updates a spreadsheet—and the team wants that work to happen automatically.
Before choosing a tool, check what is making the work difficult. A faster task may help, but the larger delay could sit elsewhere in the process. Before automating, consider how the change will affect the business: the people doing the work, the information they need, the decisions they make, and the customers they serve. These five questions will help you decide what to improve first.
1 What outcome needs to improve?
Define the process from its trigger to its useful result. For a service request, that might mean from receiving the request to delivering an answer—not simply moving its details into a system.
Look at a few recent examples with the people who do the work. Where did a request wait? What had to be clarified or corrected? Agree on the problem before describing the automation. You may discover that automation isn’t needed at all.
Ask: Which delay, error, or repeated effort are we trying to reduce?
2 Does every step still serve a purpose?
Walking through how the work gets done can reveal duplicated information, repeated reviews, and unclear responsibilities. Ask what each step contributes and whether an existing tool already supports it.
For example, if a team enters the same request in two spreadsheets, first establish why both records exist. One may be unnecessary; the other may serve a genuine reporting need. The answer determines whether to remove the duplicate entry, connect the records, or keep a deliberate check.
Ask: Can we remove, combine, or simplify this work before automating it?
3 Are the information and decision rules clear?
An automated step needs usable inputs and a defined way to act on them. Check required fields, status meanings, and who is responsible for the next action.
If a request is marked “urgent,” what does that mean? Who determines its priority? What happens when information is missing? Write the rule and test it against real examples. If the decision requires judgment, define where a person stays involved and which decisions they are authorized to make.
Ask: Could two people apply this rule consistently to the same request?
4 Who handles exceptions and failed runs?
Plan beyond the usual path. A record may already exist, an approval may be delayed, or a connected system may be unavailable. Decide how the team will notice the issue, who will resolve it, and how work will continue.
Consider what happens if a step runs twice. Repeating an update may be harmless; sending the same customer message twice may cause confusion. Define recovery before relying on automation.
Ask: When this step cannot finish, who knows and what happens next?
5 How will you know the process has improved?
Record a baseline before making the change. Choose a few measures connected to the problem: time from request to resolution, requests returned for missing information, or manual follow-ups per case.
Test a limited part of the process and compare similar work before and after. Include the effort needed to monitor and maintain the automation. A successful run tells you the tool executed; the measures tell you whether the work improved.
Ask: What evidence would justify keeping, changing, or stopping this automation?
Start with one process
You do not need to document the entire organization before making a useful change. Choose one process and work through these questions. Involve the people who do the work; they’re the experts, after all. The next step may be a clearer responsibility, a simpler form, an integration, an automated action, or a new tool or software application.
ARIA offers an example of this approach: a shared case register, role-specific views, reminders, and reporting brought previously scattered tracking into a common workflow using existing Google tools. Read the ARIA case study to see how the pieces connected.
At DEVOGEL, we understand the work, design the change, build what is needed, and improve from evidence.
Read the ARIA case study →Find a clearer starting point
Use our free Business Process Diagnostic to examine one business process and identify what is making work harder and where improvement may be needed. It does not provide a complete redesign or implementation plan.