Workflow and roles
Workflow:
Builder:
Operator (runs the normal route):
Decision owner (resolves cases that need judgment):
Support owner (keeps access, instructions and settings usable):
If one person holds more than one role, write that down. It is allowed, but it should be visible.
Readiness questions
The operator should be able to answer each of these from the workflow’s own notes or screens. Mark each Yes, Partly or No, and say where the answer lives.
- What starts the workflow?
- What inputs or source records does it need, and where are they?
- What does a good output look like? Is there an example?
- When must the route stop or pass the work to a person?
- Where is the accepted result or correction recorded?
- Who has access to the tools and accounts it uses, and who can remove that access?
- What does it cost each month, and who pays for it?
Recovery cards
Write one card for each of the three most likely failures.
- Failure:
- Signal (how someone would notice):
- Immediate safe action:
- Escalation owner:
- Where the fix is recorded:
If the only safe action on a card is “ask the builder”, the workflow is not ready.
Practice cases
Run each case with the operator narrating what they see, what they trust, what they would do and what they would record.
- A normal case
- An incomplete case (a missing input or unclear request)
- An exception that should reach the decision owner
For each case, note every point where the operator needed the builder’s private knowledge.
Result
- Ready to run without the builder
- Ready with named fixes, to be retested on [date]
- Not ready; keep the builder involved until [condition]
Fixes to make, each with an owner and a date:
Signed off by (decision owner):