Automation programs fail in two directions: nothing gets built, or everything gets built and nobody can reason about the result. A method prevents both.
- ›Finding candidates systematically
- ›The build discipline
- ›Retiring automations
- ›Keeping the pile healthy
Finding candidates
Do not brainstorm. Observe.
Watch for repeated messages. "Did you see this came in?" "Who's handling this?" "Has this been done?" Each is a handoff that should have been automatic.
Watch for spreadsheets. A spreadsheet that gets updated regularly is a process without a system.
Ask what people dread. Annoyance is a better signal than time spent, because it predicts whether the automation gets adopted.
Look at the recurring calendar. Anything on a schedule with a predictable output is a candidate.
Rank by frequency times annoyance, divided by risk. See task automation.
The build discipline
For each automation:
Retiring automations
The step everyone skips, and the reason automation piles become unmanageable.
Quarterly review of every automation: has it fired, did anyone act on the output, does the process still exist? Anything failing all three gets turned off.
Delete rather than disable. A disabled automation is archaeology that confuses the next person.
Watch for silent failure. The most dangerous automation is one that stopped firing, because the absence of a notification looks like nothing needing attention. Check that each one has fired recently.
Warning: An automation nobody owns will eventually fire wrongly, and the person who finds out will be a customer. Ownership is not bureaucracy here; it is the only thing that keeps the pile safe.
Keeping the pile healthy
- ›Fewer, broader rules beat many narrow ones. Six overlapping rules is a system nobody can reason about.
- ›Document each one with its purpose in one sentence, visible to whoever inherits it.
- ›Cap the total. If you are past 30 automations in a small company, the next review should remove rather than add.
- ›Prefer platform automation over custom code. Custom scripts outlive their authors and nobody dares change them.
FAQ
How many automations does a small company need?
Ten to twenty covers most of the value under 50 people. Past that, check whether new rules are compensating for a broken process.
Who should own the program?
One person with a few hours a month, plus named owners per automation. A committee produces a backlog rather than automations.
What is the most common mistake?
Automating a process that should be eliminated. Ask whether the work needs to happen at all before automating it.
Brainis includes automations across every module plus AI agents where judgment is required, with an audit trail for both. See pricing.
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