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Before automating a task, watch someone complete it and document what actually happens—including decisions, handoffs, exceptions, and workarounds. Then improve and test the process with the people who do it, and pilot automation on a narrow scope with clear success measures. This helps you design around a workflow the team understands; it does not guarantee success or mean every manual step should disappear.
1. Choose a process with a clear beginning and end
Start with one bounded workflow, not a broad goal such as “automate operations.” Define the condition that starts the work and the observable result that counts as completion. Record why the team wants to change it: for example, to reduce repeated data entry, shorten avoidable waits, or make a required check more consistent.
Set boundaries around the process so the people involved can recognize which cases belong in the exercise and which do not. A workflow with a clear start and finish is easier to observe, discuss, test, and measure than an open-ended department-wide initiative.
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Ask someone who regularly performs the task to walk through a real, ordinary case from start to finish. Have them explain what they are doing and why, rather than relying only on a written procedure or a manager’s description. A live walkthrough can surface actions that are routine for the worker but absent from documentation; an anecdote in a Reddit discussion describes this kind of discovery, but it is not evidence of how often it happens or what outcomes it produces: r/AI_Agents discussion.
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Also ask the worker to show at least one case that does not follow the usual path. Capture:
- What information or event starts the task, and what counts as a completed outcome.
- Each action, decision, and rule used to choose the next step.
- Who owns each step, where work is handed off, and which systems are involved.
- Waits, repeated entry, corrections, workarounds, and missing or incorrect inputs.
- Exceptions that require judgment, approval, escalation, or a different route.
Do not correct the worker’s process while you are observing it. First record what happens; proposed changes belong in the redesign stage.
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3. Map the current state—not the intended one
Turn the walkthrough into a simple flowchart or a written sequence with branches. If the people who need to review it already use BPMN, a BPMN-style diagram may be appropriate; otherwise, a clear sequence and labeled decision points are enough. Show the owner for each step, the information it uses, and what happens when an input is missing or a check fails.
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4. Find the problem before selecting an automation approach
Use the map to distinguish the root problem from its visible symptoms. A task may feel slow because it waits for an unclear approval, not because the data-entry step is manual. A repeated check may be required for compliance, while a separate duplicate entry may add no value. Identify which rules are necessary, where ownership is unclear, and where avoidable delay, rework, or inconsistent inputs occur.
Only then define the desired outcome and consider whether automation fits. Microsoft lists repetitive, high-volume, error-prone, or compliance-critical work as potential candidates, but that is vendor guidance rather than a universal rule. Assess the process itself across these dimensions:
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- Rule predictability: Are decisions governed by clear rules, or do they depend on context and judgment?
- Frequency and volume: How often does the work occur, and is its volume stable enough to matter?
- Error consequences: What happens if the process produces an incorrect result?
- Input quality: Are required inputs complete and consistent?
- Exceptions: How often does a case need a different route or human decision?
- Accountability: Does a person need to approve, review, or escalate the outcome?
These factors inform a decision; they do not produce a universal score or threshold. Keep human review where judgment, risk, or accountability calls for it. Salesforce’s planning guidance similarly recommends defining goals and identifying root causes before choosing an approach: Salesforce Help: Get Started Automating a Business Task with a Flow.
5. Test the redesigned workflow before building it
Draft the proposed process and walk through it with the people who perform the work and anyone who owns a handoff, rule, or approval. Test ordinary cases as well as missing-input, incorrect-input, exception, and escalation scenarios. Where relevant, consider whether the process still behaves as intended when the volume of cases increases.
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A paper prototype or another low-cost walkthrough can help reveal unclear rules before implementation. The National AI Centre’s Australian Government workflow redesign guidance recommends documenting the workflow, testing before building, and recording the test results and decision to proceed. Its examples include paper prototyping, stakeholder review, exception-case testing, and load testing: National AI Centre: Redesign your workflow.
Before moving to a build, agree on who reviews outputs, what qualifies as an error, and when a case must be paused or escalated. If reviewers disagree about what should happen in an exception, the process is not yet specified well enough to automate that decision reliably.
6. Pilot narrowly and measure the result
Choose a limited scope for the first live use: a defined subset of cases, a specific team, or another boundary that lets you review outcomes. Before the pilot begins, record a baseline and choose a small number of measures tied to the goal. Depending on the problem, these might track completion time, correction or rework frequency, exception handling, or the share of cases that require human review. Define how each measure will be counted so the baseline and pilot can be compared consistently.
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