Use this checklist before building or approving a business automation.
Automation works best when the process is already understood. If the rules, required information, exceptions, and owner are unclear, the workflow will only repeat the confusion faster.
1. The Process Is Clear
- The task has a clear starting event.
- The current steps can be written in order.
- The expected result is specific.
- The process does not change every time it runs.
- The task happens often enough to justify automation.
2. Required Information Is Available
- Every required field has been identified.
- The source of each field is known.
- Names, dates, phone numbers, email addresses, and IDs have consistent formats.
- The system has a rule for missing or invalid information.
- Duplicate records can be detected.
3. The Business Rules Are Written
- Filters and router decisions can be stated as clear if-then rules.
- The valid outcomes are known.
- The workflow knows when to stop.
- The workflow knows when a person must take over.
- AI is not being used where a fixed rule would be safer.
4. Important Actions Require the Right Approval
- Public content is reviewed before publishing.
- Sensitive customer messages are reviewed when needed.
- Payments, refunds, contract changes, and deletions are protected.
- Approval requests include enough context for a person to decide quickly.
- The system records who approved the action and when.
5. Errors and Exceptions Have a Path
- Temporary errors can retry safely.
- Failed records are saved instead of lost.
- The owner receives one useful alert rather than repeated noise.
- The alert states what failed, why it failed, and what to do next.
- The workflow can be paused without damaging records.
6. One Person Owns the System
- A named person is responsible for the workflow.
- Someone knows where the scenario, credentials, and documentation live.
- Access is not tied to a former employee or forgotten account.
- The owner knows how to pause, test, and restart the system.
- Changes are recorded before the workflow is edited.
7. Success Can Be Measured
- The current time or cost of the manual process is known.
- A target result has been defined.
- Failures and manual exceptions are counted.
- The workflow reports completed actions.
- The system will be reviewed after the first week and first month.
Readiness Decision
Ready: The process is stable, the data exists, the rules are clear, the exceptions are known, and one person owns the workflow.
Not ready: The process depends on unwritten judgment, required fields are often missing, nobody owns failures, or the automation would publish or send without review.
When a process is not ready, fix the process first. That work usually makes the eventual automation simpler, cheaper, and more reliable.