A request seems simple: when an order is approved, generate the invoice. But what happens if delivery is partial? If the customer changes their address? If a line is cancelled after approval?
These questions are not details to sort out later. They define what “approved” means and what the automation is allowed to trigger.
Follow a case from start to finish
Choose a recent case. Follow the messages, files and decisions that moved it forward. Ask the person handling it to show what they actually do, including copying and pasting and checks outside the tool.
A workaround can reveal a constraint missing from the official process. Removing it without understanding its purpose risks creating a new incident.
Distinguish the causes
- Missing data calls for an input check.
- An ambiguous rule calls for a business decision.
- An underused tool calls for work on adoption.
- A technical error calls for a fix and a test.
These problems can produce the same symptom. Yet they cannot be solved with the same automation.
Plan what happens after a failure
An automation should let you see which case failed, what has already run and how to resume without creating duplicates. Restarting the whole workflow may be the wrong response if an invoice already exists.
Reliability also matters when the normal process breaks down.
Deploy a manageable scope
Start with a workflow whose rules are explicit. Test a normal case, a common exception and an invalid input. Then check the document or record actually created, with the person who will use it.
Expanding the scope becomes easier when the team can explain what works, what remains manual and what still needs a decision.