Choosing What to Automate

Key Concepts

Frequency × Effort × Impact - A prioritization framework for deciding which workflows to automate. Each factor is scored relative to the others in your backlog, then used together to rank what to build first versus what to defer or reject.

New Capability - An automation that doesn't speed up an existing manual process but makes something possible that wasn't being done at all. These often emerge from observing pain across teams rather than from direct requests.

Quick Reference

Frequency: How often does the workflow run?

• Daily or continuous = high priority
• Weekly = worth considering
• Less than weekly = low priority at the start
• One-off or "when it makes sense" = deprioritize

Effort: How long will it take you to build?

• High frequency + medium effort = ship first (fastest time to value)
• High frequency + high effort = worth the investment, but sequence it after quicker wins
• Low frequency + high effort = deprioritize

Impact: Score these three questions

1. How much pain does this eliminate, and how often is that pain felt?
2. How many people or teams benefit?
3. How close is the workflow to revenue or key metrics (leads, pipeline, conversion)?

Validating requests from others

• Always ask: "How often are you actually doing this today?"
• Look for proof of recurring pain, not enthusiasm for the idea
• A "game-changing" pitch with no recurring use case is a red flag

Sorting your backlog

Categorize every idea into one of three buckets:

• Build first - high frequency, reasonable effort, broad impact
• Build later - valid but lower frequency or higher effort
• Wrong target - low frequency, narrow impact, or no proven demand

The best automation ideas often come from paying attention to pain nobody has filed a request for, not from a ticket queue.