The whole category in one page.
FIX THE PROCESS BEFORE AUTOMATING IT, BECAUSE AUTOMATING WASTE PRESERVES IT PERMANENTLY
Remove steps that add nothing, approvals never refused, and information gathered twice — then automate what remains.
EXCEPTIONS ARE WHERE AUTOMATION FAILS, AND NOBODY MENTIONS THEM WHEN DESCRIBING THE PROCESS
Ask what happens when things are not normal. Automate the common path and route the rest to a person.
START SMALL, LOW-RISK, AND RUN IT ALONGSIDE THE MANUAL PROCESS UNTIL IT HAS HANDLED REAL EXCEPTIONS
Then actually stop the manual work, because automation added without removing it saves nothing.
SET UP NOTIFICATION ON FAILURE, BECAUSE SILENT FAILURE IS WORSE THAN NO AUTOMATION
An automation that stops quietly leaves work undone with nobody aware.
AUTHENTICATE CONNECTIONS WITH BUSINESS ACCOUNTS, NEVER INDIVIDUAL ONES
Automations built on a person's account stop when they leave, and nobody knows why.
REQUIRE HUMAN APPROVAL FOR ANYTHING THAT MOVES MONEY, DELETES DATA, OR REACHES CUSTOMERS UNREVIEWED
TEST DATA EXPORT BEFORE COMMITTING TO ANY PLATFORM, SINCE ONE HOLDING YOUR OPERATIONAL DATA THAT YOU CANNOT LEAVE CONTROLS THE BUSINESS
CALCULATE COST AT YOUR EXPECTED VOLUME, NOT YOUR CURRENT ONE, AND WATCH FOR TRIGGERS FIRING FAR MORE OFTEN THAN YOU ASSUMED
AND MAKE SURE SOMEONE OTHER THAN THE BUILDER CAN MAINTAIN EACH AUTOMATION, OR IT IS JUST A DEPENDENCY ON ONE PERSON
