"We want to implement automation, but we're not sure where to start. Everything feels like it could be automated, but we don't want to waste time and money on the wrong things."
Smart concern. Not every process should be automated, and the order matters enormously.
Automate the wrong process first, and you'll invest significant resources for minimal impact—killing momentum for broader automation initiatives.
Automate the right process first, and you'll demonstrate clear value quickly, creating appetite for more automation.
Here's how to identify your best automation candidates.
Start With the Time Investment Calculation
The simplest first filter: how much time does this process consume?
Formula: Frequency × Duration = Total Time Investment
Example:
- Process: Manual data entry for customer orders
- Frequency: 40 orders daily
- Duration: 15 minutes per order
- Total: 10 hours daily = 50 hours weekly = 2,600 hours annually
At $35/hour loaded cost: $91,000 annual labor cost for this one process.
Now that's an automation candidate worth investigating.
Do this calculation for every repetitive process your team handles. You'll quickly identify the top 10-15 time consumers—your initial candidate pool.
The Hidden Time Costs
Don't forget to include follow-up work when initial process has errors, coordination time between people handling different steps, status update meetings about the process, and management time reviewing outputs.
A client thought invoice processing took 20 minutes per invoice. When they included error correction, approval routing, and status tracking, actual time was 47 minutes per invoice.
That difference—20 vs 47 minutes—dramatically changes ROI calculations.
Evaluate Against the Automation Suitability Criteria
Not all high-volume processes are good automation candidates. Filter your list using these criteria:
Rule-Based vs. Judgment-Based
Good for automation: Processes that follow consistent, predictable rules
- "If order total > $10,000, route to senior approver"
- "Extract invoice date, vendor name, amount, and line items"
- "Send reminder emails 7 days, 3 days, and 1 day before deadline"
Challenging for automation: Processes requiring nuanced judgment
- "Evaluate whether this customer complaint requires escalation"
- "Determine appropriate tone for response based on customer relationship"
Note: intelligent automation with AI can handle some judgment-based processes, but rule-based processes are easier, cheaper, and less risky to automate. Start there.
Consistency and Standardization
Good for automation: Processes that work the same way every time
- Weekly report generation following same steps
- New employee onboarding with defined workflow
- Order fulfillment with standard steps
Challenging for automation: Processes with high variation
- Customer requests that each require custom handling
- Problems that require different solutions based on unique circumstances
The more consistent and standardized the process, the easier and cheaper to automate.
Volume and Frequency
High priority: High-volume, frequent processes
- 100+ customer inquiries daily
- Hourly data synchronization between systems
- Daily report generation
Lower priority: Low-volume, infrequent processes
- Quarterly board reports (4 times annually)
- Annual performance reviews
Automation requires upfront investment. High-volume processes generate faster ROI because savings compound with each execution.
Error Rates and Cost of Errors
High priority: Processes with high error rates or expensive error consequences
- Manual data entry with 5-8% error rate requiring costly correction
- Compliance processes where errors create regulatory risk
- Financial transactions where errors cost real money
Automation often reduces error rates to near zero—particularly valuable when errors are expensive.
A financial services client had 3.2% error rate in manual insurance claims processing. Average error required 90 minutes to identify and correct.
At 500 claims weekly: 16 errors × 90 minutes × 52 weeks = 1,248 hours annually spent fixing errors.
Automation reduced error rate to 0.2%, saving ~1,150 hours annually just in error correction, plus the actual cost of errors themselves.
Look for These High-Value Automation Patterns
Certain types of processes consistently deliver strong automation ROI:
Data Entry and Transfer
Moving information from one system to another, or from documents into systems, is perfect for automation.
Why good candidates: Rule-based, high volume, error-prone when manual.
Report Generation
Pulling data from systems, formatting it, and distributing to stakeholders.
Why good candidates: Highly repetitive, time-consuming, follows consistent format.
Email and Communication Routing
Reading communications, determining appropriate routing, and directing to correct person or team.
Why good candidates: High volume, pattern-based, can use intelligent automation for context understanding.
Data Validation and Quality Control
Checking data against rules to ensure accuracy and completeness.
Why good candidates: Rule-based, catches errors before they compound, reduces downstream work.
Scheduled Tasks and Notifications
Actions that need to happen at specific times or intervals.
Why good candidates: Perfectly consistent, easy to automate, eliminates human forgetting.
Identify Processes Currently Creating Bottlenecks
Look for where work queues up and creates delays:
"Why is there always a 3-day backlog in invoice processing?" "Why do approval requests sit for days before someone reviews them?" "Why can't we respond to customer inquiries same-day?"
Bottlenecks indicate capacity constraints—either you don't have enough people for the volume, or the process is inefficient.
Automation can eliminate bottlenecks by handling volume faster than humans can, operating 24/7 without breaks.
A client had 2-day average response time to customer inquiries because their 4-person support team couldn't keep up with volume. Automating tier-1 inquiries dropped average response time to 4 hours—and freed support team to focus on complex issues requiring human expertise.
Talk to Your Team About Frustrations
Your people know which processes are painful. Ask:
"What tasks feel like a waste of your time?" "What do you spend significant time on that feels like it should be automated?" "What processes are frustrating because they're repetitive and monotonous?"
The processes that frustrate people most are often prime automation candidates: repetitive enough to be boring, time-consuming enough to be annoying, obvious enough to be memorable.
Bonus: automating the processes that frustrate your team improves morale and retention—people appreciate when you eliminate their most tedious work.
Calculate Potential ROI Before Committing
Once you've identified promising candidates, estimate ROI:
Time Savings Value
Current annual hours × Loaded hourly cost × Percentage reduction
Example:
- 2,600 hours annually × $35/hour × 80% reduction = $72,800 annual savings
Error Reduction Value
Current error rate × Cost per error × Volume × Reduction percentage
Example:
- 5% error rate × $125 per error × 10,000 transactions × 90% reduction = $56,250 annual savings
Compare Against Automation Investment
If annual value significantly exceeds automation investment, it's a strong candidate.
Example:
- Annual value: $72,800 (time savings) + $56,250 (error reduction) = $129,050
- Automation investment: $35,000 (implementation) + $6,000 (annual maintenance) = $41,000 year 1
- Year 1 ROI: 215%
- Payback period: 3.8 months
That's a no-brainer automation candidate.
Start With Quick Wins, Then Tackle Complex Opportunities
Your first automation should demonstrate clear, fast value:
Good first automation:
- Well-defined process
- Clear ROI
- Relatively simple to implement
- 4-8 weeks to deploy
- Delivers measurable results immediately
Bad first automation:
- Ambiguous requirements
- Complex cross-department workflow
- Requires extensive integration
- 6-month project timeline
- Value only materializes after full completion
You need early wins to build organizational confidence in automation. Start with straightforward, high-ROI processes. Use that success to justify tackling more complex automations later.
The Prioritization Framework That Works
Score each candidate process across these dimensions (1-5 scale):
- Time Investment: How much time does this consume? (5 = massive time sink)
- Consistency: How standardized is the process? (5 = identical every time)
- Volume: How frequently does this happen? (5 = constantly)
- Error Rate/Impact: How problematic are errors? (5 = costly/common errors)
- Implementation Complexity: How hard to automate? (5 = simple, 1 = very complex)
- Strategic Value: How important to business goals? (5 = critical enabler)
Priority Score = (Time + Consistency + Volume + Error + Strategic) - Complexity
Higher scores = better candidates.
This framework helps you compare across different process types objectively rather than relying on gut feel.
The Bottom Line
Not every process should be automated, and starting with the wrong process can doom your automation initiative.
Best automation candidates have:
- High time investment (volume × duration)
- Rule-based, consistent processes
- High frequency
- Significant error rates or expensive errors
- Clear ROI that justifies investment
- Strategic importance to business goals
Start with quick wins that demonstrate value fast. Use success to build confidence and secure investment for more complex automation opportunities.
Identify your top 3-5 automation candidates. Calculate actual ROI. Start with the highest-value, lowest-complexity option.
Demonstrate results. Then scale from there.
That's how you build an automation program that delivers compound value rather than becomes an expensive experiment that fizzles after the first project.
