Business Process Digitalization Playbook

Digitalizing a business process rarely fails because of technology. It fails because the process wasn't well understood before it was digitalized. This playbook walks through the sequence that tends to work — starting with the process itself, not the software.

Identify the manual process

Start with volume and pain, not novelty. The best first candidate is usually a process that happens often, involves multiple people, and already causes visible friction — not the most complex process in the company.

Map the current workflow

Document how the process actually runs today, including the exceptions. A process map that only shows the 'happy path' will miss most of what makes the current process painful.

Define approval rules and governance

• Who has authority to approve, at what level and amount
• What happens when an approver is unavailable
• Which decisions require more than one approver
• How exceptions are requested and recorded

Define integration needs

Decide early which systems the new workflow needs to read from or write to — HR data, financial codes, or existing internal tools — so integration isn't an afterthought.

Measure outcomes

Agree on what will be measured before rollout, using your own baseline — cycle time, number of manual follow-ups, or reporting effort. Treat any improvement figures as illustrative until you have your own data.