How to Map a Business Process for Automation
Turn what people do today into a clear sequence of steps, inputs and decisions.
Walk the process with the people who do it
Do not map a process from the manager's description alone. Sit with the person who does the work and follow one real case from start to finish: a new client, a contract, an invoice. Write each step as a verb and an object, such as review contract or send reminder. Note where information comes from, who decides and where work waits. Waiting is often where automation adds the most value.
- Follow one real case end to end
- Write steps as verb and object
- Note inputs, decisions and waits
- Mark steps that reach the client
Find the trigger, the decisions and the end
Every workflow has a start event, decisions along the way and a clear end. The start is what makes the work begin: a form, a new record, a signed document, a date. Decisions are the places where people choose a path, for example if a contract has risky clauses or if an amount is above a limit. The end is the outcome the client cares about: a signed contract, a paid invoice, a team informed.
Write these three things at the top of your map. If you cannot name them, the process is not ready to automate.
Decide what not to automate
Some steps should stay with people: judgement calls with legal or money impact, sensitive conversations, and anything the client is not comfortable delegating. Mark these as approvals or tasks for a person. A workflow that respects these limits is adopted; one that ignores them gets switched off.
Worked example: a new client process
Following one new client at a design studio, a developer recorded: receive enquiry, draft proposal, wait for acceptance, file contract, send for signature, wait for signatures, wait for advance, open project, send welcome email. The trigger was the enquiry form, the decision was whether the amount needed the owner's approval, and the end was a project started with the advance paid.
Two steps stayed with people: approving large proposals and the first kickoff call. Everything else became a workflow with three waits that had previously been tracked in someone's head.
Common mapping mistakes
A wrong map automates the wrong thing efficiently. Time spent mapping is repaid many times.
- Mapping from a manager's summary only
- Missing the waits between steps
- No clear end outcome
- Automating judgement calls the client wants to keep
- Map from one real case with the person who does the work.
- Name the trigger, the decisions and the end outcome.
- Waiting steps often hold the most value.
- Keep judgement calls with people as approvals or tasks.
Pick one client process and follow one real case. Write the steps as verbs and objects, then mark the trigger, each decision, each wait and the end outcome. Circle the steps that should stay with a person.
Check your understanding
1. Who should you map a process with?
2. What three things must every workflow name?
3. Which steps should stay with people?
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Templates from our playbooks
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