Practical Guide
Which routine work is worth automating?
How to choose a task, test it with staff and measure the complete change in work.
Repeated entry, document preparation and status updates can take time away from customers. Before buying software, follow one task through the business and check whether a different workflow would reduce the work.
Watch the task being done
Ask a staff member to demonstrate a recent task from receipt to completion. Note which messages they read, where they find missing information, what they enter into each system and who takes the next action. Keep examples of incomplete and unusual requests as well as ordinary work.
Record how often the task happens and how long the full process takes. Look for repeated entry, waiting for a handover or searching through documents. These details help you choose between a process change, an existing software feature and a new automation.
Compare a few candidate tasks
Use the table to discuss possible projects with the people doing the work. Frequency and time spent indicate the size of an opportunity. Variation, consequences and the information involved indicate what the design and review will need to cover.
Keep notes for each row. A frequent task may still need careful handling if it changes customer records or involves sensitive information. Identify how staff will recognise and take over exceptions.
| Factor | Lower | Moderate | Higher | Question to answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frequency | Monthly or irregular | Several times a week | Daily or more | Is there enough work to justify implementation? |
| Time spent | A few short steps | Regular staff effort | Sustained handling or rework | Where does the time go? |
| Variation | Stable inputs and rules | Known exceptions | Frequent judgement calls | Which cases need a staff member? |
| Consequences | Easy internal correction | Customer delay or rework | Financial or safety consequences | Who approves the action? |
| Information | Public information | Routine customer details | Sensitive or extensive records | Which information is actually needed? |
Example design: enquiry follow-up
For an enquiry-follow-up workflow, the design could collect the contact details and service request, then prepare a reply using approved business information. A coordinator checks the recipient, facts and any commitments before sending it.
Missing details, unusual requests and complaints need a route to staff. Decide what the workflow records after delivery, such as status and the person responsible for following up. Staff should also have a manual template to use when the automated step is unavailable.
- Receive the enquiry and collect the details needed for the request.
- Prepare a draft using the business’s approved service information.
- Ask a coordinator to check the recipient, facts and commitments.
- Send the approved message through the business account.
- Record delivery status and any follow-up action.
Agree access and information handling
List the records the workflow needs to read and the changes it can make. Give its account the permissions required for that work. A draft-preparation task may need to read service information without changing customer accounts or payment details.
New Zealand’s Privacy Act governs the collection, storage, use and sharing of personal information. Include the person responsible for privacy when reviewing the tool’s data arrangements. Establish what information goes to each service and how long it is kept.
Before a live trial, name the owner who can pause the workflow and explain how staff will continue the task manually. Test those arrangements alongside the main function.
Measure all of the work
Establish the start and finish of the task before timing it. Include finding information, preparation, checking, corrections and exception handling. Use the same definitions during the trial and note changes in task volume.
Keep service measures alongside time. For enquiry handling, these may include completed replies, incorrect details and requests requiring follow-up. Ask staff whether work disappeared or moved to another person. Faster drafting can still leave a coordinator with more checking.
Include software costs and maintenance effort when comparing the old and new arrangements. Record actual expenditure separately from time made available for other work.
Run a limited trial
Agree the trial scope with the business owner. One team or enquiry type is easier to observe than a release across the whole business. Choose a schedule that allows staff to test, correct and review the work while normal service continues.
- Preparation: map the current process, confirm permissions and record the baseline.
- Testing: try ordinary examples, missing details and known exceptions. Check approval and pause functions.
- Limited use: release to the agreed staff and task type, with a manual option available.
- Review: compare time, corrections, exceptions and service results, and ask staff about the workload.
- Decision: document what to retain, change or stop, who owns it and when to review it again.
Make exceptions visible
A useful workflow needs to show when it cannot complete a task. Identify missing or conflicting information and route it to someone who can decide what to do. Record enough status for staff to distinguish an unfinished task from one that has already been processed.
Test what happens if a connected service is unavailable or a task is submitted twice. Agree how staff will check incomplete work before retrying it. If a message goes to the wrong person or a system makes an unauthorised change, pause the affected workflow and investigate before resuming.
Review it after the trial
Compare the records with the original process. Check time spent, quality, running costs and the effort needed to maintain the workflow. If the benefit comes from handling more work, identify that additional work and whether demand exists.
Keep the parts that staff can use and maintain. Adjust data preparation, permissions or exception handling where the records show a problem. If the task still requires too much checking, reconsider the scope or another approach.
After rollout, review changes in documents, software and staff responsibilities. The workflow needs an owner who can update the instructions and arrange another test when the process changes.
Common questions
Should we buy a tool first?
Start with the task and the system connections it needs. Then compare existing features and new tools against that requirement, including access, running cost and staff review.
Can the workflow use customer information?
Review what is necessary, where it will be sent and how the chosen service handles it. Involve the person responsible for privacy before connecting customer records.
What does the reviewer need?
The source information, time to check it and authority to reject or correct the result. State which actions wait for approval and how exceptions reach the reviewer.
How do we decide whether to keep it?
Compare total staff effort, operating costs and service quality with the previous process. Use the records to choose what to retain, adjust or stop.
