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Workflow Audit

Use when a recurring workflow feels slow or error-prone and you need to map it, find the real bottleneck, and decide where AI actually helps.

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Workflow Audit

Most AI gets bolted onto a broken process and makes the chaos faster. This skill maps a workflow end to end, finds the actual constraint, and decides where AI belongs — and where it does not.

When to use this skill

Use this skill when:

  • A recurring workflow is slow, inconsistent, or error-prone.
  • You are tempted to "add AI" but are not sure where it would help.
  • You want a defensible before/after baseline for an improvement.

Inputs needed

  • The workflow name and its trigger (what starts it) and outcome (what ends it).
  • The current steps, owners, and tools, even if rough.
  • Rough time and error data per step, if available.
  • The volume: how often the workflow runs.

Process

  1. Define the workflow's trigger and its done-condition in one line each.
  2. List every step with its owner, tool, typical time, and rework rate.
  3. Mark each step as value-adding, necessary-non-value, or waste.
  4. Find the bottleneck: the step that constrains the whole workflow's throughput.
  5. For the bottleneck and the top waste steps, ask whether the fix is process, tooling, or AI.
  6. Propose the smallest change that relieves the bottleneck; ignore the rest for now.
  7. Define the baseline metric and the target so the change can be measured.

Prompt or workflow

You are auditing a recurring business workflow.

Workflow: [NAME]
Trigger: [WHAT STARTS IT]
Done when: [WHAT ENDS IT]
Runs: [HOW OFTEN]
Current steps (owner, tool, time, rework):
"""
[PASTE STEPS]
"""

Produce:
1. MAP: a numbered step list with Owner | Tool | Time | Rework for each.
2. CLASSIFICATION: tag each step value-add / necessary / waste.
3. BOTTLENECK: name the single step that constrains throughput, with evidence.
4. FIX TYPE: for the bottleneck and top 2 waste steps, classify the fix as
   process / tooling / AI, and say why.
5. SMALLEST CHANGE: the one change to make first.
6. MEASUREMENT: baseline metric + target to prove it worked.

Rules:
- Identify exactly one bottleneck.
- Do not recommend AI where a process or tooling fix is cheaper.
- Prefer the smallest viable change.

Quality checklist

  • Trigger and done-condition are both explicit.
  • Every step has an owner and a tool.
  • Exactly one bottleneck is identified, with evidence.
  • Each proposed fix is classified as process, tooling, or AI.
  • The first change is the smallest one that relieves the bottleneck.
  • A baseline metric and target are defined.

Common mistakes

  • Optimizing a step that is not the bottleneck.
  • Recommending AI for a problem a checklist would solve.
  • Skipping the baseline, making improvement impossible to prove.

Example output

Workflow: Monthly close. Trigger: month-end. Done when: books locked.
Bottleneck: intercompany reconciliation (avg 3 days, 40% rework).
Fix type: tooling first (auto-match), AI second (exception narratives).
Smallest change: auto-match rule for the top 3 recurring intercompany entries.
Measurement: baseline 3 days -> target 1 day for reconciliation.
  • Prompt Refinement Loop — once AI is the right fix, make the prompt reliable.
  • Meeting Notes to Action Plan — to turn audit findings into owned actions.
  • Decision Memo Builder — to get sign-off on the proposed change.

Attribution

This skill was created by Vectory and is licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Source: https://vectory.io/skills/workflow-audit

Attribution: "Workflow Audit" by Vectory.