Follow one real request
Pick a recent customer request and trace it from arrival to completion. Record each tool, each handoff and every point where somebody waited. The useful picture is how work actually happens, including the spreadsheet nobody mentions in the process document.
Separate decisions from movement
Some steps require judgment. Others simply move information. Mark which decisions need context or approval, and which steps repeat a rule. This gives you a practical boundary for automation without pretending that every exception can be anticipated.
Remove before connecting
Ask whether every approval, report and data field is still necessary. A field may exist because an old system needed it. An approval may repeat a decision already made elsewhere. Removing one unnecessary step can be more valuable than connecting five tools.
Choose a measurable first slice
Start with a workflow that has a clear owner and a visible result. Agree how to evaluate it: time to assignment, unresolved exceptions or manual corrections are possible measures. Capture a baseline before implementation and compare like-for-like work afterwards.
Design the exception path
Write down what should happen when data is missing, a service is unavailable or a request does not fit the rules. A useful automation has a clear route back to a person, with enough context for that person to act.
Start with one workflow. Understand it well. Build from there.
Talk through your workflow