5 Essential Workflow Planning Steps Before You Automate
Automation has become a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. Adding AI and automation tools can save time, reduce errors, and free up your team to focus on higher-value work. But before you rush in and apply automation to every process, it is crucial to prepare your workflows properly. Without a clear plan and understanding of your existing workflows, automation can cause confusion, create new problems, or even slow you down.
To help you avoid these pitfalls, here are five concrete steps every business should take before automating workflows. These steps help you identify the right processes to automate, clarify goals, and lay the groundwork for successful implementation. Each step includes examples and practical advice you can use to get started right away.
Step 1: Map Your Current Workflow in Detail
Before adding automation, you need a clear and accurate picture of how work currently flows through your business. This means mapping each step of the process as it is done today, from start to finish.
Start by identifying the workflow you want to automate. Then, write down or diagram every task involved. Include who performs each task, the inputs and outputs, and any tools or systems used. Don’t skip small steps or handoffs. These details often reveal hidden inefficiencies that can be fixed before automation.
Example: A customer support team wants to automate ticket routing. Mapping the workflow might show that tickets are currently filtered manually by an agent who decides the right team. This step reveals a clear opportunity to automate ticket assignment rules based on ticket type, priority, or customer history.
Step 2: Identify Pain Points & Bottlenecks
Once you have a clear map of the current workflow, the next step is to find the pain points where delays, errors, or inefficiencies occur. These problem areas are where automation can add the most value.
Look for steps that are repetitive, time-consuming, or prone to human error. Also pay attention to handoffs between people or departments where things can get lost or delayed. These pain points are often hidden beneath the surface but cause frustration and slowdowns.
Example: A sales team might discover that manually entering lead data into a CRM causes frequent mistakes and takes too much time. This step highlights a clear candidate for automation, such as automatic data capture from forms or emails.
You may want to gather feedback from employees who work on the process every day. They will often have valuable insights about what slows them down or causes errors.
Step 3: Define Clear Objectives for Automation
Before implementing automation tools, it is important to set specific goals. What exactly do you want to achieve with automation? Clear objectives help you select the right tools and measure success.
Examples of common automation objectives include:
Reducing process completion time by a certain percentage
Eliminating manual data entry errors
Increasing the number of tasks completed per day
Improving customer response times
Freeing employees to focus on strategic work
Be realistic and specific with your goals. Avoid vague objectives like "make things faster" or "improve efficiency." Instead, define measurable outcomes you can track.
Example: A finance department might set an objective to reduce invoice processing time from five days to two days through automation.
Step 4: Standardize & Document the Workflow
Automation works best when workflows are consistent and repeatable. If every employee performs a process differently, automation can create confusion or break down.
Before automating, take time to standardize how tasks should be done. Create documented procedures and guidelines that define the correct steps, inputs, and outputs.
Example: A marketing team getting ready to automate their campaign approvals noticed that each manager reviewed content differently. To avoid confusion, they created a clear checklist and documented each step in the process. This made the workflow consistent so automation could work smoothly and everyone understood what was expected.
“ You can’t just automate a broken process. First, you need to understand the work as it is, fix what isn’t working, and only then apply technology to speed it up.”
Step 5: Test & Refine Manually Before Automating
Jumping straight into automation without testing the workflow can lead to costly mistakes. Instead, run through the process manually a few times using the new standards and improvements you plan to automate. This helps catch any missing steps or unclear handoffs.
Testing manually also gives your team a chance to get familiar with changes and provide feedback before automation goes live.
Example: Before automating order processing, a retail business might run a pilot where employees follow the new, standardized steps and record timing and issues. They use this data to adjust the process before building automation.
From Theory to Practice: How TD Bank & FedEx Benefited from Thoughtful Automation
Two major North American companies, TD Bank and FedEx, provide excellent examples of how preparing workflows carefully before automation leads to measurable improvements.
TD Bank: Streamlining Loan Processing
Facing long turnaround times and manual bottlenecks in loan approvals, TD Bank automated critical parts of the application review and verification process. By standardizing data entry and automating routine checks, they slashed processing times and reduced costly errors. Take a look at the results:
Reduced loan approval time by up to 50%
Minimized manual errors in application data entry
Freed employees to focus on complex cases and customer support
Enhanced customer satisfaction with faster, more reliable service
FedEx: Boosting Package Sorting and Delivery Efficiency
FedEx’s growing parcel volumes, especially during peak seasons, put pressure on their sorting centers to deliver faster without mistakes. They improved their workflow and introduced automated sorting and routing systems that boosted throughput while cutting errors. Take a look at the results:
Increased sorting speed by over 35%
Reduced misrouted packages and delivery errors
Improved workforce productivity by automating repetitive tasks
Enabled faster, more reliable deliveries during peak demand periods
Both TD Bank and FedEx demonstrate that success with automation depends on deliberate planning and clear workflow preparation. These companies followed steps similar to those outlined above, resulting in smooth automation adoption and real business benefits.
Automating workflows can transform your business, but the key to success lies in solid preparation. Taking the time to map your current process, identify pain points, set clear goals, standardize tasks, and test manually can save headaches later.
Good workflow planning makes automation smoother, more effective, and easier to adopt by your team. It also helps you choose the right AI and automation tools that truly fit your needs instead of blindly applying technology for technology’s sake.
Start with these five essential steps to build a strong foundation for automation. The time you invest upfront will pay off with faster processes, fewer errors, and happier employees. When you are ready, automation will not be a leap of faith but a natural next step toward a smarter, more efficient business.
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