What to automate, and what not to

Automation is powerful, but automating the wrong thing wastes time and creates fragile systems nobody understands. Before building anything, it helps to know which tasks are good candidates.

Good candidates

A task is usually worth automating when it is:

• Repetitive: it happens many times a week in the same way.
• Rule based: the steps can be described clearly, without judgement calls.
• Digital: the information already lives in tools with integrations or APIs.
• Error prone when done by hand: copying data between tools invites typos and missed steps.
• Time sensitive: things like responding to a new lead quickly benefit from instant action.

Examples: adding new form responses to a CRM, creating a task when a deal is won, saving email attachments to a shared folder, sending a reminder before a meeting.

Poor candidates

Be cautious when a task:

• Happens rarely, such as once a quarter. The time to build and maintain may exceed the time saved.
• Requires judgement that changes from case to case.
• Is still changing. Automating a process the team has not settled on locks in today's confusion.
• Involves sensitive actions where an error is costly, such as sending money, without a human check.

A quick calculation

Estimate the time a task takes, how often it happens and how long building and maintaining the automation would take:

Task: copy web form leads into the CRM and notify sales
Time per lead: 3 minutes
Leads per week: 40
Time per week: 120 minutes
Build time: about 2 hours, maintenance: 15 minutes a month

This one pays back within the first week or two. A task that takes 5 minutes once a month would not.

Time is not the only benefit

Automation also improves speed, consistency and visibility. A lead contacted in five minutes instead of the next morning is more likely to respond. A process that runs the same way every time is easier to audit. These benefits can justify automating something even when the time saved is modest.

Keep a human in the loop where it matters

You do not have to automate a whole process. Often the best design automates the boring parts and leaves a human to approve or decide. An automation that drafts an invoice for someone to check is safer than one that sends invoices without review.

List five repetitive tasks from your week and score each against these criteria.