Initial steps for automation:
Many people think that automation starts with tools, but in reality the process starts with a much simpler question: Where are we wasting time without even noticing it? In organizations, time is most often wasted not on big strategic mistakes, but on small, everyday, repetitive actions. On those little things that we have become so accustomed to that we no longer even pay attention to them. Imagine a day in a team. One employee sorts invoices, another searches for a lost file, a third repeats information that has already been said several times. Individually, these actions take minutes, but taken together, they take away hours of time per week from companies. It is these “small” processes that create a large operational overload in organizations, and it is with their identification that automation should begin. We share with you the 10 processes that we most often encounter in practice and by avoiding them, we have the opportunity to devote our energy to other, more important tasks.
1. Manually creating tasks from email
Imagine a typical workday: a letter arrives from a client or colleague, which includes a task, then you open the Task Management system and start manually entering: title, description, deadline, responsible person.
At first glance, this is only 2-3 minutes, but the problem is much deeper than the time spent. This double work itself carries a whole chain of problems. When information is transferred from one system (email) to another (task manager) manually, the human factor intervenes, the probability of making errors increases. As a result, tasks are lost, deadlines are postponed, and an unstructured workflow is formed, where no one can see the whole picture.
The real harm is that time is spent on routine processes. An employee who could take care of a client or solve strategic tasks is forced to wait and spend time transferring data.
Automating this process can fundamentally change the situation. Imagine that a specific type of email message (for example, with a certain subject or sender) automatically becomes a task. The system itself creates a task, assigns a responsible person (for example, the recipient of the message or a predefined role) and sets a deadline. The person only has to control and execute.
However, before you start implementing technologies, I recommend that you simply observe the process at the first stage. For a week, write down how many emails per day require the creation of a task. If you find that this number reaches 5-10 per day, this is already a signal that your business is ready to automate this specific process.
2. Manually generate and send invoices
Invoicing is not a creative process, it is a standardized operation.
Automatic invoice creation begins when a predefined trigger is activated, for example: the completion of a project, the end of the month or the arrival of the payment stage. By pre-defining triggers, it will be possible to perform automatic actions corresponding to these events. A system built on such a cause-and-effect relationship allows an organization to manage processes automatically and without constant human intervention.
3. Meeting Coordination
Two-way correspondence to agree on a time and wait for delayed responses is such a routine that we don’t even realize how much time we spend. The best way to reduce this time cost is through structure. Define a time frame in terms of the week when you can really hold meetings. Defining your clear framework will help you easily add an automated booking system to the process – Calendly or a similar tool. Then, when someone requests a meeting, you send them a link where they can directly see your free time and choose a convenient time for them. The correspondence disappears completely and, most importantly, you are no longer the person who fits into someone else’s schedule – you have clear boundaries that the system respects.
4. Manually transferring data between systems
Extracting data from a CRM to an accounting program, transferring data from an Excel spreadsheet to a marketing platform, is part of everyday life in many companies, so much so that these processes are perceived as part of the job. In reality, your employee is doing something that a machine can do much more accurately and quickly. Every time data is transferred manually, the likelihood of error increases. One incorrectly entered number, one omitted line can cause a chain reaction – incorrect reports, late payments, dissatisfied customers. The first step towards automation here is simple: define a single data source. Decide in which system the information will be created, updated and stored. This could be your CRM, or accounting program, or some other platform. Once this space is defined, you can adapt the rest of the systems to it. Establish a connection with Zapier, Make, or direct API integrations – so that data entered once in one system automatically appears everywhere it is needed. As a result, the slave The data is written only once, errors are eliminated, and time is freed up for analysis, decision-making, and creativity.
5. Manually preparing weekly reports
Collecting sales figures, preparing reports for management, and analyzing data is a weekly routine that takes hours. Automation also allows us to eliminate this problem so that the data is constantly updated. However, before you think about automation, it is important to correctly define and validate the measurements. Once the key indicators are identified, you can automatically extract information from different systems and bring it into one space. Google Data Studio, Power BI, or simply an automatically updated spreadsheet – these tools can add data from different platforms into a single report. Instead of manually opening Excel, your manager opens a ready-made, automatically updated dashboard where all the important numbers are already visible. Instead of collecting numbers, human resources are spent directly on analyzing them
6. File organization and distribution
Chaos in files reduces productivity, increases search time, and creates uncertainty — no one knows where the latest version of the data is stored. The main rule that applies here is that chaos cannot be automated, and before you can automatically distribute anything, you must first establish order. Start with two simple steps: establish a single standard for naming files (e.g., “project_date_version”) and create a logical folder structure. Once you have this framework, you can set up automatic rules (e.g., putting a file in a certain folder will automatically renumber it, or placing files of a specific type in a specified location). In the end, any file is easy to find, versions are not confused, and repetitive operations are performed by themselves.
7. Answering recurring questions
If you have questions of the same content that come up often and you write answers to them every day, you are literally fulfilling the duty of an FAQ. The problem is also difficult to notice, because it only takes a minute to give a specific answer. But ten such minutes are already an hour a day, five hours a week, and so on. For a week, simply note down the most frequently asked questions. If the same question is repeated several times, it should no longer be the subject of your personal answer. The solution can be a simple FAQ page on the site, or a message template that you can use with one click. In a more advanced case – a chatbot that provides answers to such questions.
8. Manually updating the status of a project
If you have to write to several people to find out the status, wait for answers, and then combine this information, this wastes time and increases uncertainty. The same principle applies here: before automating the process, you need to establish a single source. Define a place (e.g. Trello, Asana, Jira or a team board) where everyone is required to update the status. If information is scattered across emails, chats and messages, automation will not work. Once the data is gathered in one place, you can set up automatic notifications, periodic reports or status visualizations.
9. Manual reminders
When reminders for payments, deadlines or meetings depend on human memory, such an approach sooner or later leads to missed deadlines and errors. To solve this problem: write down all processes that are tied to time: payments, submission of reports, contract renewals, meetings – if the deadline is predictable in advance, it can already be automated. Calendar reminders, automatic reminders from task managers or specialized tools completely eliminate the factor of human error.
10. Onboarding Process
The onboarding process for a new employee or client is often rewritten every time: the same instructions are sent, accesses are created, and explanations are repeated, which takes a lot of time and the result is inconsistent.
The solution is simple: write down the standard onboarding steps once. What is sent on the first day? What accesses should be created? What training should be conducted? When you have described the process step by step, its identical parts easily turn into templates, checklists, and, ultimately, an automated chain of actions. As a result, everyone receives the same, complete information, and the process requires minimal intervention.
When we talk about automation, many imagine complex integrations, artificial intelligence, and expensive software. But the truth is that automation is, above all, process transparency and discipline. Before you think about choosing a tool, ask yourself this one question: “If I had to explain this process to a new employee tomorrow, how many steps would it take to do it?” If the answer is vague, then optimization is needed first. You can’t improve something that can’t be measured, and you can’t simplify something that isn’t vague. If the process is clear, if you can explain it step by step clearly and simply – then you’re good to go. Automation is not only possible, it is inevitable. Automation tools only work effectively when there are well-organized processes behind them.
Identifying these processes is just the beginning. For full efficiency, knowing other strategic nuances is essential. Explore SMART Support’s Business Automation Blogs to discover more insights, common mistakes to avoid, and expert tips for your growth.