Fix the process before you automate it

Automation doesn't fix a process. It makes it run faster. If the process is messy, you get the same mess, just quicker and harder to see.

Map what actually happens

Before you automate anything, write down how the work really gets done today, not how it is supposed to work. Then look for:

• Who owns each step
• Where decisions are made
• Steps that exist for no good reason
• Where things usually go wrong

Then decide what happens to each step

• Remove it, if nobody would miss it
• Keep it manual, if it needs judgment
• Automate it, if it is clear, repeatable and stable

Only the last group is worth automating. The cheapest step to automate is the one you removed.