What should a business automate first?
Automate the task that repeats most often, follows rules someone can write down, and can be checked before it reaches a customer. That is usually a dull task that takes hours every week.
Start with the work that takes the most time and the least judgment. A good first project is usually something a capable person does every week by copying, sorting, or reminding.
Four questions to ask about any task
How often does it happen?
A task done fifty times a week pays back quickly. A task done twice a year does not.
Can the rules be written down?
If the person who does it can explain each step, most of it can be automated.
Can a mistake be caught?
Choose work that can be reviewed before it reaches a customer or the bank.
Does someone own it?
One person must be able to say what a correct result looks like.
Good first candidates
- Entering supplier invoices that arrive by email.
- Following up on quotes that got no reply.
- Sorting a shared inbox into tasks.
- Rebuilding the same weekly report.
- Copying records from one system into another.
What to leave alone for now
- Anything that decides money, pricing, or a commitment to a customer.
- Work that changes from month to month.
- Tasks nobody can describe step by step.
- A process that is already broken. Fix it first, then automate it.
How to rank your own list
Write down every task that repeats. Next to each, note how many times a week it happens and how many minutes it takes. Multiply the two. Then cross out anything that fails the four questions above. What is left at the top is your first project.
Sometimes the fix is a setting in software you already pay for, or a clearer handoff between two people, and the task goes away without any automation.
Keep the first one small
A small first project can be tested on real cases and judged quickly. It also shows your team what the next one should be.
See how a project runs