Checklists / Which process should you automate first? Scorecard
Which process should you automate first? Scorecard
Write down three to five processes you are considering. Give each process a score from 1 to 5 per row and add them up. The process with the highest score is usually your best first project — not the process you are most excited about.
9 points · fits on one page · print with Ctrl+P or Cmd+P
Add up (1 = little, 5 = a lot)
- How often does it happen? Daily scores 5, a few times a year scores 1.
- How much time does it take each time, counting everyone involved?
- How often does it go wrong, and what does fixing it cost?
- How predictable is it? Does it always follow the same steps, or is every time different?
- How many systems are involved that currently do not talk to each other?
Subtract (1 = minor concern, 5 = major concern)
- What happens if it goes wrong and nobody notices in time?
- Does it involve personal data or money, and how sensitive is that?
- How many people have to change the way they work?
- How dependent is it on a system we have no access to?
Add up the first group and subtract the second from it. The highest number is your starting point. If nothing scores above zero, this is not the moment to automate — and that is an outcome too.