Follow one piece of work
Choose a real request and trace it from arrival to completion. Note every copy, wait, clarification and approval. Speak to the person doing the work, not only the process owner.
Count friction, not just clicks
Frequency matters, but so do errors, delay and the cost of recovery. A daily handoff that loses context can be more valuable to improve than a high-volume task that already works well.
Check whether the process is stable
If the rules change every day, automate a smaller part first. Capture data, make the queue visible or standardise the input before attempting a fully automated workflow.
Define one acceptance test
Describe what must happen, what evidence proves it and what occurs when the step fails. That is a better starting scope than “automate operations.”
