How to run a process audit on your own RTO
The questions we ask in a process audit, written out so you can run the first pass yourself before you speak to anybody — including us.
THE SHORT ANSWER
- A process audit maps each step, times it, and separates clerical work from professional judgement.
- Interview the people who run the process, not the people who designed it.
- Record the process as it actually happens, including the workarounds.
- The output is a timed process map plus an hours-available figure.
What a process audit is actually for
It answers one question: how many hours are spent on judgement, and how many are spent moving information between places? The second number is your automation opportunity.
Steps
1. Pick one process and name its trigger and finish
If you cannot state it in one sentence, the scope is still too wide.
2. Walk it with the people who do it
45 minutes, screen shared. Watch for steps that never made the documented procedure.
3. Time every step and note the system it touches
Minutes, not impressions. Every system boundary is a re-keying risk.
4. Mark each step: judgement or clerical
Judgement stays human. Clerical work is the automatable pool.
5. Total the clerical hours and multiply
Annualise by frequency × loaded hourly cost. That figure is your business case.
Frequently asked questions
One process takes about 45 minutes of staff time plus write-up.
Prefer we run the first one with you?
We audit one process free, and you keep the map and the business case.