Workflow Mapping

In this lab, you'll analyze a real workflow and identify specific opportunities for AI integration. You'll practice the systematic process analysis skills that separate strategic AI operators from those who apply AI randomly.

What you'll create:

• A detailed workflow map
• AI suitability scores for each step
• A prioritized AI integration roadmap

Choose one of these workflows to analyze:

Option A: Content Creation Pipeline How content (blog posts, reports, marketing materials) goes from idea to publication.

Option B: Customer Onboarding How new customers get from signed contract to actively using your product/service.

Option C: Hiring Process How candidates go from job posting to hired employee.

Option D: Monthly Reporting How data becomes insights becomes decision-making documents.

Option E: Your Choice A workflow you know well from your work or experience.

If you don't have direct experience, choose one and research or imagine the typical steps.

Map Every Step

For your chosen workflow, document each step using this format:

STEP [#]: [Name]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Trigger: What causes this step to start?
Owner: Who is responsible?
Input: What does this step receive?
Actions: What happens? (bullet points)
Output: What is produced?
Duration: How long does it take?
Tools used: What systems/tools?
Dependencies: What must happen first?
Pain points: What problems occur here?
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Document at least 8-10 steps

Include steps that might seem minor—they often hide AI opportunities.

Identify Bottlenecks

Mark which steps are bottlenecks:

• Where does work pile up?
• Where are the longest delays?
• Where do errors most often occur?

Score Each Step

For every step in your workflow, rate these factors (1-5):

Calculate AI Suitability Score

Total score = Sum of all factors

Complete the Scoring Matrix

For Each High-Potential Step

Document the AI opportunity:

OPPORTUNITY: [Step name]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Current state: [What happens now]

AI integration type:
☐ Automate (AI does it independently)
☐ Assist (AI helps human do it faster)
☐ Augment (AI provides inputs for human decision)

What AI would do: [Specific description]

Expected benefits:
- Time saved: [Estimate]
- Quality improvement: [Describe]
- Other value: [Describe]

Requirements:
- Data needed: [What AI needs access to]
- Integration: [Systems AI must connect with]
- Human oversight: [What verification needed]

Risks:
- [Risk 1]
- [Risk 2]

Implementation complexity: Low / Medium / High
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Identify 4-6 AI Opportunities

Focus on steps with the highest AI suitability scores.

Prioritization Matrix

Plot your opportunities on this matrix:

HIGH    │ ★ Quick Wins      │ ★ Strategic Bets
IMPACT  │ (Do first)        │ (Plan carefully)
        │                   │
        ├───────────────────┼───────────────────
        │                   │
LOW     │ Fill-ins          │ Avoid
IMPACT  │ (Do if easy)      │ (Don't bother)
        │                   │
        └───────────────────┴───────────────────
              LOW EFFORT         HIGH EFFORT

Create Phased Roadmap

Phase 1: Quick Wins (Week 1-2)

• [Opportunity 1]
• [Opportunity 2]

Phase 2: Core Integration (Month 1-2)

• [Opportunity 3]
• [Opportunity 4]

Phase 3: Advanced (Quarter 1-2)

• [Opportunity 5]
• [Opportunity 6]

Success Metrics

For each phase, define:

• What will be measured?
• What's the target improvement?
• How will you know it's working?

Create Before/After Comparison

Before (Current State):

[Step 1] → [Step 2] → [Step 3] → [Step 4] → ...
  ↓          ↓          ↓          ↓
[Pain]    [Pain]     [Pain]     [Pain]

After (AI-Enhanced):

[Step 1]    →   [AI: Step 2+3]   →   [Step 4]   → ...
    ↓               ↓                   ↓
[Improved]      [New AI]           [Enhanced]

Show which steps are:

• Eliminated
• Automated
• Augmented
• Unchanged

Create a comprehensive document containing:

1. Workflow Overview

   • Name and description
   • Scope (start and end points)
   • Key stakeholders

2. Current State Map

   • All steps with full documentation
   • Bottleneck identification
   • Pain points summary

3. AI Suitability Analysis

   • Scoring matrix
   • Methodology notes

4. AI Opportunities

   • 4-6 detailed opportunity descriptions
   • Integration type for each

5. Integration Roadmap

   • Prioritization matrix
   • Phased plan
   • Success metrics

6. Future State Vision

   • Before/after visualization
   • Expected improvements

Calculate the Business Case

For your top AI opportunity:

1. Estimate current cost (labor hours × rate)
2. Estimate AI implementation cost
3. Estimate ongoing AI cost
4. Calculate ROI and payback period

Document your assumptions and calculations.