How to Document a Workflow Before Automating It

How should a team document a workflow before automating it with AI?

Write down how the work really happens today, not how the procedure says it should. Capture the trigger, each step and who does it, the systems and information used, the decisions and exceptions, and where it waits. Time a few real runs. That one-page map shows what to automate, where a person must approve, and the baseline to measure against.

What this means in practice

Watch or walk through real runs with the people who do the work.
Note every decision point and the information it depends on.
List the exceptions and how often they happen.
Record time per run and waiting time as the baseline.

How Lid Vizion approaches it

We start with the business decision and operating context, define ownership and measurable milestones, then use configuration, integrations, automation, or custom software only where each earns its place.

--- title: "How to Document a Workflow Before Automating It" description: "Write down how the work really happens today, not how the procedure says it should. Capture the trigger, each step and who does it, the systems and information used, the decisions and exceptions, and where it waits. Time a few real runs. That one-page map shows what to automate, where a person must approve, and the baseline to measure against." url: https://lidvizion.ai/answers/how-to-document-a-workflow-before-automating-it/ site: Lid Vizion index: https://lidvizion.ai/llms.txt --- [Direct answers](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/) # How should a team document a workflow before automating it with AI? Write down how the work really happens today, not how the procedure says it should. Capture the trigger, each step and who does it, the systems and information used, the decisions and exceptions, and where it waits. Time a few real runs. That one-page map shows what to automate, where a person must approve, and the baseline to measure against. ## What this means in practice - Watch or walk through real runs with the people who do the work. - Note every decision point and the information it depends on. - List the exceptions and how often they happen. - Record time per run and waiting time as the baseline. ## How Lid Vizion approaches it We start with the business decision and operating context, define ownership and measurable milestones, then use configuration, integrations, automation, or custom software only where each earns its place. ## More on Automation & custom AI - [How should a company prepare its data before using AI?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/how-to-prepare-company-data-for-ai/) - [When should a company build custom AI software instead of using existing tools?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/when-should-a-company-build-custom-ai-software/) - [How can a contractor or site team use computer vision to spot visible scaffolding issues such as missing guardrails, toe boards or tags between the required inspections?](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/how-to-check-scaffolding-with-computer-vision/) [Compare services](https://lidvizion.ai/services/) · [Use a planning tool](https://lidvizion.ai/tools/) · [Explore workflow use cases](https://lidvizion.ai/use-cases/) · [More direct answers](https://lidvizion.ai/answers/) Talk it through ## Have a version of this question inside your company? Bring the decision, the constraints, and what a good outcome looks like. [Talk through the decision](https://lidvizion.ai/contact/?need=fractional-chief-ai-officer&from=%2Fanswers%2Fhow-to-document-a-workflow-before-automating-it%2F#write) · [Book a call](https://calendar.app.google/bB26LdA9e2gmGFp69)

What this means in practice

How Lid Vizion approaches it

More on Automation & custom AI

Have a version of thisquestion inside your company?

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question inside your company?