How do you pick what to automate?
Look for work that is repetitive, rule-based and slow because it moves between people. A good candidate has a clear start and end, happens many times a week and causes delays or errors today. Skip anything that needs regular human judgment.
Which seven processes are worth looking at first?
- Order to invoice Orders arrive by phone, email and chat, get retyped into several sheets, and then into accounting. One workflow where the order is entered once and an invoice is created from it removes a lot of re-entry and errors.
- Lead capture and follow-up Website enquiries and messages go into one list, each with an owner and a follow-up date. Reminders do the remembering.
- Approvals Leave requests, purchase approvals and discount approvals often travel by email. A simple workflow shows who has it, how long it has waited and what the decision was.
- Customer or employee onboarding The steps are the same each time: collect documents, create accounts, send a welcome message, schedule a first meeting. A checklist that triggers each step saves time and avoids missed items.
- Payment reminders Chasing overdue invoices is awkward and easy to forget. Automatic, polite reminders on set days improve cash flow with no extra effort.
- Appointment scheduling Booking, confirming and reminding by hand takes more time than it looks. Automated confirmations and reminders cut no-shows and back-and-forth.
- Reporting If someone spends two days every month copying figures into a report, the report can be built from the same data automatically, and kept current.
What should you not automate?
- Anything you do not yet understand or agree on.
- Rare, one-off tasks.
- Decisions that depend on judgment, empathy or negotiation.
- Processes that are about to change completely.
How do you start small?
Pick one process. Follow a few real cases from beginning to end and write down every handover. Agree the stages and who owns each. Build the smallest version, run it alongside the old method for a few weeks, and then switch. Resist the urge to automate everything at once.
How do you measure whether it worked?
- Time from start to finish of the process.
- Number of items stuck beyond a set time.
- Errors per month.
- Hours of manual work each week.
- Staff feedback, because a tool people avoid has failed.
A short example: automating payment reminders
Suppose a distributor chases overdue invoices by phone whenever someone remembers. Cash arrives late and the awkward calls fall on whoever is free.
A simple workflow can send a friendly reminder three days before the due date, another on the due date and a firmer one a week later, and alert the account owner when an invoice passes a set age. Nobody has to remember. Customers get consistent messages. It is a small project with a visible effect, which makes it a good first automation.
Who should own automation inside your company?
Name one person who owns each automated process. They are not necessarily technical. They know how the work should flow, review the results and decide when something needs to change. Without an owner, automations quietly drift out of date.
A quick-start checklist
- Choose one process with a clear start and end.
- Walk through five real cases and write down each step.
- Agree stages, owners and time limits.
- Build the smallest useful version.
- Run old and new side by side for a few weeks.
- Review results with the people who use it.
No-code tools or custom software?
No-code tools are quick and cheap for simple, standalone workflows. Custom software makes sense when the process is central to your business, involves complex rules or must connect several systems. Many companies use both, starting simple and building custom only where it pays off.
Related: AI and workflow automation · Custom software and integrations · All articles