Automation · 6 min read
Pick the process that is repetitive, stable, high-volume and owned by someone. Automating an unstable process locks in the wrong version of it, and automating an unowned one just makes the confusion faster.
The technology worked; it was applied to a process that should not have been automated first, or at all.
The process should be repetitive enough that the build cost is repaid. It should be stable: automating something that changes every month means rebuilding it every month. It should have real volume, because a process running twice a week rarely justifies the work. And it should have an owner, because an automated process with no owner becomes nobody's problem until it breaks.
If nobody currently owns the process end to end, the first task is not automation, it is deciding who owns it. Otherwise you are encoding an undefined process into software, which makes it harder to change later rather than easier.
A first project that saves a team a genuinely tedious afternoon each week builds more internal support than one that saves more money invisibly. Momentum matters when the second and third projects need approval.
Finally, decide the failure path before you build.
What happens when the system is unsure, or wrong, and who notices. A process with no defined exception handling will eventually produce a confident mistake nobody catches, and that single incident tends to end the programme.
Usually not. A large first project takes longer to show value and carries more ways to fail. A smaller, visible win builds the internal support you will need to fund the larger one.
Pick the process that is repetitive, stable, high-volume and owned by someone. Automating an unstable process locks in the wrong version of it, and automating an unowned one just makes the confusion faster.
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You have read what we think. If you want to know what it means for your case specifically, describe it and we will tell you which parts of how to choose a first automation project actually apply — and which do not.
