Before building an automation, write down the business problem, the current workflow, its owner, the exceptions, and what a successful first release would prove. This one-page scope sheet makes the request specific enough to assess without pretending to be a full technical specification or permission to build.
Start with one workflow and a business outcome
Choose one contained process with a clear start and finish—not “automate the business” or “add AI.” Describe what is difficult today and the observable outcome the business wants instead. For example, a request might be “reduce the time staff spend routing routine customer enquiries,” rather than “buy an AI chatbot.” The National AI Centre suggests looking for processes with meaningful volume, a real pain point, useful data, and boundaries that can be clearly defined. Its examples include returns, inventory stocking, enquiries, onboarding, proposals, invoicing, bookings, and appointment scheduling; these are candidates to assess, not recommendations to automate. See the Australian Government’s process-mapping guide.
Copy this one-page scope sheet
Use the prompts below as a discovery brief. Keep answers short; mark unknowns as open questions rather than filling gaps with guesses.
| Block | What to record |
|---|---|
| Request | What business problem is occurring? What observable outcome should change? |
| Workflow | What event starts the process, and what marks its end? Who is accountable for it? Who else participates or is affected? |
| Current steps | List the steps in order. For each, note who or what performs it, the system used, and the input and output. |
| Workload and baseline | How often does the work happen? Estimate volume, handling time, delays, or rework if known. State where estimates come from. |
| Rules and decisions | What written rules, thresholds, approvals, or judgment calls affect the path? Separate documented policy from habit or assumption. |
| Exceptions and recovery | What unusual, incomplete, or conflicting cases occur? Who reviews errors, escalates them, or handles the work manually? |
| Inputs, data, and dependencies | What information and applications are involved? Note sensitive data, access needs, system owners, and other teams or services the process depends on. |
| First-release boundary | What should the first release include—and explicitly exclude? What conditions require human review or a safe handoff? |
| Success and next decision | What evidence could show whether the outcome improved? Who approves the next step? What questions must be resolved first? |
This is a practical synthesis of project-intake and process-mapping guidance, not a standardized form. Project intake guidance recommends shaping the process around its purpose: as Jami Yazdani, Founder and Chief Consultant at Yazdani Consulting and Facilitation, puts it, “Will it be used to approve projects? Plan resource allocations? Gather requirements to streamline project planning and kickoff? Let your purpose drive your process design and the information you will capture.” Read Smartsheet’s project and work intake guidance.
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Map the existing process before drawing an idealized automated version. For each step, capture the action, responsible person or system, input, output, and time if it is reasonably available. That helps reveal where information is re-entered, approvals happen, or work waits. The Australian Government guide uses these same practical mapping elements.
Make the boundary concrete: for example, “from receipt of a complete appointment request to confirmation or escalation,” rather than “manage appointments.” Name one accountable workflow owner even when several teams contribute. The owner can help confirm whether the map reflects actual work and who should decide how exceptions are handled.
Make rules, exceptions, and human ownership visible
Automation is easiest to scope when routine cases follow clear rules. Record decision points such as thresholds, required approvals, or conditions that route a case to a person. Distinguish written policy from what staff currently do out of habit. If the right action depends on judgment and the rule is not yet agreed, write that down as an unresolved decision.
- List common exceptions, such as missing information, conflicting records, or a request outside the normal range.
- Identify which cases can proceed automatically and which require review or approval.
- Name who monitors failures, who receives escalations, and who can complete the work manually if the automation is unavailable.
- Note data sensitivity, access requirements, integrations, and dependencies on other teams or systems.
Scoping guidance from OpenFn connects business value and operational requirements with feasibility, roles, training, rollout, administration, and support. A checklist from Aimspace Consulting also emphasizes triggers, exceptions, approvals, integrations, monitoring, fallback, and acceptance conditions. Those are reasons to include operational ownership on the sheet, not to assume every detail can be settled in one page.
Set a boundary and a measurable acceptance condition
State what the first release covers and what it does not. A narrow first boundary makes it easier to assess risk, access, and feasibility. Define an outcome the business can actually observe—such as fewer manual routing steps or shorter handling time—but do not promise a savings figure without a baseline and evidence. The source guidance does not establish a quantified result for using a one-page scope sheet.
Specify what should happen when the automation cannot safely continue: stop and request review, route to an owner, or return the task to a manual process. Then identify the person who can approve moving from discovery to assessment or planning. Intake can be a staged decision process, with approval depth appropriate to the work; completing the sheet is not itself a build authorization.
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Use the sheet to compare candidate workflows
If several processes could be automated, compare them using the same evidence rather than selecting the one with the most exciting tool idea. Consider volume, present pain and handling effort, clarity of inputs and rules, exception severity, system access, human fallback, likely value relative to effort and risk, and whether success can be observed. This is a practical decision aid, not a validated scoring formula. A high-volume process may still be a poor first choice if its rules are unclear or recovery from errors is unsafe.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Know when one page is no longer enough
The scope sheet is an intake and discovery artifact, not a detailed process map, technical design, security assessment, or implementation plan. If the work depends on complex integrations, sensitive information, several teams, significant exception handling, or consequential approvals, use it to identify the questions that need deeper analysis. OpenFn’s scoping material describes workflow diagrams as a way to connect operational needs with technical feasibility, rollout, and support. Smartsheet’s intake guidance likewise separates discovery, assessment, and planning. A request-management platform may help track that later workflow, but no special software is required to write this brief.
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Quick Recap
Best Value
- KNOW WHAT IS WORKING AND WHAT IS NOT Each quarter opens with a structured review across revenue, time, clients, marketing, and content, so you understand what actually happened in your business before you decide what comes next.
- QUARTERLY PLANNING SYSTEM Break your annual vision into four focused 90-day plans using the 12-week-year structure that coaches and entrepreneurs rely on, giving you a strategic layer that sits above your daily calendar and holds the direction your scheduling tools cannot.
- TRACK REVENUE-GENERATING ACTIVITIES EVERY MONTH Every month gets a dedicated spread to set priorities, track revenue and the activities driving it, and review results against plan, keeping the business moving between quarterly reviews.reviews instead of drifting.
- A5 PU LEATHER HARDCOVER, FULLY UNDATED A5 size (5.8" x 8.3") in linen with gold foil stamping, reinforced binding, and thick lay-flat pages built to hold a full year of planning. Organized by quarter and fully undated, so you start in any month without wasting a page. For business owners who invest in tools that match what they're building.
- A THOUGHTFUL GIFT FOR NEW BUSINESS OWNERS, COACHES AND CREATORS A quarterly planning system makes a purposeful gift for someone building a business alongside a full life, useful long after a birthday or a business milestone has passed because they will reach for it at the start of every quarter and every month.
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