The process as it really runs
Mapped from the people doing it, workarounds and all, not from the version written down two years ago.
The real eleven steps, not the tidy six
Service
Business process automation consulting that starts with your actual week
Before anything gets built, we map how the work really runs, put a cost against each manual step, and tell you which ones are worth automating. Sometimes the answer is fewer than you hoped.
In short
Business process automation consulting means mapping how work actually moves through a business, finding the steps where people are moving information by hand, and deciding which of those are worth automating. The mapping matters more than the tooling: most firms already own the software they need, and the problem is the gaps between systems where a person is acting as the bridge.
Works with the systems you already run
n8n
Airtable
Excel
Slack
JiraThe problem
The process on the wall chart is not the process
Every business has a documented process and a real one. The documented one has six steps. The real one has eleven, three of which exist because a system does not talk to another system, and one of which is a spreadsheet somebody maintains at home on Sunday evening.
Automating the documented process is how projects fail. You end up with a tidy system running beside the messy reality, and the messy reality wins because it is the one that handles the exceptions.
It breaks in four places, and the people doing it feel every one.
- 01The invisible middle
Nobody owns the gap between two systems
Sales owns the CRM. Finance owns the accounting software. The part where information crosses from one to the other is owned by whoever happens to be doing it, and it is almost never written down anywhere.
- 02Workarounds as infrastructure
A spreadsheet is holding up a department
It started as a temporary fix. It now has forty tabs, one author, and a load-bearing role in the month-end close. Everyone knows it is a risk and nobody has time to replace it.
- 03Exception handling by memory
The rules only exist in one person's head
What happens when the amount is over a threshold, or the client is in a different country, or the paperwork is missing a page. The answer is real and consistent, but it has never been written down, so it cannot be handed over or automated.
- 04Measuring the wrong end
The reporting shows outputs, not effort
You can see how many invoices were processed. You cannot see that two of them took eleven minutes and one took two hours. Without that, the expensive steps stay invisible.
What changes
The same week, run differently
How it runs nowHow it runs after
The process exists in three people's heads and one spreadsheet.
It is written down, costed, and the expensive steps are visible.
Automation candidates are chosen by who asks loudest.
They are ranked by hours saved against effort to build.
Exceptions are handled from memory.
The rules are written down, so they can be handed over or built.
You find out a project was not worth it after building it.
You find out before, on paper, for a fraction of the cost.
What we build
What the mapping gives you
A cost against every step
How often, how long, and what it costs when it goes wrong, so priorities stop being an argument.
Priorities settled with numbers
A ranked build order
What to do first, second and third, with the expected payback next to each one.
Sequenced by payback
The honest no
The steps that are too rare or too varied to automate, and the ones that just need a rule changed.
Money not spent badly
Proof
Every engagement we have delivered started this way, whether or not it was called a mapping exercise. The document work at ReserveStudy.com, the invoice backlog at a fintech firm, the data room review at a private equity firm: in each case the build was the easy half. The half that decided the outcome was working out which step was actually costing the money.
How it works
From first call to running system
- 01
We sit with the people who do the work
Not the managers describing it. The people whose Tuesday it is. That is where the workarounds live and the workarounds are the interesting part.
- 02
We map it as it actually runs
Every handoff, every copy and paste, every point where somebody waits for somebody else. Including the parts nobody is proud of.
- 03
We put a number against each step
How often it happens, how long it takes, what it costs when it goes wrong. This is what turns an opinion about priorities into an argument you can settle.
- 04
You get a ranked list and an honest recommendation
Including which steps are not worth automating. Some are too rare, some are too varied, and some just need a rule change rather than a system.
Confidence & control
What happens when the system is unsure
- The map is yours either way
- The output of the mapping is a document you own. If you take it to another firm to build, or build it in-house, that is a legitimate outcome and we would rather you had a good map than a bad build.
- We will talk you out of things
- Plenty of steps are not worth automating: too rare, too varied, or fixable with a rule change instead. Saying so costs us work and saves you money, which is the only way this stays useful.
- Nothing changes without you
- Mapping is observation. We do not touch a live system during this stage, so there is no risk to anything currently running.
- You own it when we leave
- It is built inside your own accounts and your own cloud. If you never speak to us again it keeps running, and another team could pick it up. You are not renting your own process back from us.
Scope
What an engagement covers
Included
- Working sessions with the people who run the process day to day
- A map of the process as it actually runs, workarounds included
- A cost against each manual step: frequency, time, error rate
- A ranked list of what to automate, with expected payback
- An honest note on what should not be automated, and why
- A written recommendation you keep regardless of what you build next
Not included
- Building anything. This stage produces the decision, not the system.
- Software licences or a recommendation to buy a specific product.
- Headcount analysis or restructuring advice.
- A guarantee that automation will be the right answer for every step we look at.
Scope, timeline and price are agreed after a short call, never before. We write down what the system has to do, and what it costs, before any build starts.
Questions
Frequently asked
Why not go straight to building?
Because the most common reason automation projects fail is that the wrong process got picked. Mapping first is cheap relative to a build, and it regularly changes which process goes first. It also occasionally shows that the answer is a rule change rather than a system.
How long does the mapping take?
It depends on how many people touch the process and how many exceptions there are. A single process inside one department is quick. Anything crossing three departments takes longer because the interesting parts are in the gaps.
Do we have to build with you afterwards?
No. The map is a document you own and plenty of clients take it in-house. We would rather be the firm that gave you a clear picture than the one that talked you into a build you did not need.
Our team is busy. How much of their time does this take?
A few short sessions with the people who actually run the process, plus some observation. We work around the calendar rather than pulling people into workshops for whole days.
What if we already know what we want automated?
Then we will say so quickly and get on with it. But it is worth an hour to check, because the step that annoys people most and the step that costs most are often different steps.
What does it cost?
Every engagement is priced to its own scope, so there is no list price. After a short discovery call we agree in writing what the work covers and what it costs, before it starts.
Related
Other things we build
Bring us the workflow that keeps eating your team's week.
Let's find the first one to fix.
The audit is free. If we can't find automation worth more than it costs to build, you owe us nothing, and you keep the roadmap.
Prefer email? info@chronexa.io
Or tell us what's slow
We'll review your workflows and come back with where AI saves the most time and cost.