Reading · 12 min
Mapping a manual process
Key takeaway: Automate a process you have already written down. Undocumented processes automate their own chaos.
Write the five lines first
- Trigger: what starts it (a form, an email, a schedule, a new row).
- Inputs: the data needed, and where it lives today.
- Steps: each decision and action, in order.
- Output: where the result must end up.
- Exceptions: what happens when data is missing or wrong.
Pick the right first candidate
The best first automation is high frequency, low risk, and boring: intake triage, meeting-note distribution, weekly reporting. Save the customer-facing, money-moving processes until your team trusts the plumbing.
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