Start with a repetitive, low-risk task where you can recognize a good result. Drafting a response from approved information is often easier to evaluate than asking an AI tool to make an unfamiliar business decision.
Make it work for you.
1. List the work that repeats.
Write down five tasks you do each week. Describe the input, the output and who uses it. Be specific: “draft a reply to a new inquiry” is more useful than “improve customer service.”
2. Choose something you can check.
Look for a task with clear reference information and an easy review step. Save decisions involving commitments, money or sensitive information for a more careful process.
3. Try one representative example.
Use a fictional or appropriately anonymized example. Compare the draft with what you would produce yourself. Record corrections instead of accepting a polished tone as proof of accuracy.
4. Decide whether it is worth repeating.
Measure total time including preparation and review. Keep the workflow if the result is useful and you understand its limits. Change or stop it if review costs more than it saves.
A starting point you can copy.
Replace the brackets with your own approved information. Use this with a tool your organization allows.
Help me choose a small AI-assisted workflow. Here are five recurring tasks: [TASKS]. For each, identify the input, useful output, review step and likely failure points. Prioritize tasks where I can verify the result using information I already have. Do not estimate savings without a baseline. Recommend one task and a simple test.
Check before you use it.
A useful first workflow has a named owner, clear inputs, an output you can review and a way to stop if it fails.
Keep the source information next to the draft. Confirm facts, remove unsupported claims and decide what still needs a person’s judgment.
Make it repeatable.
Save the useful inputs and the steps you followed. Record what you changed. When the task or tool changes, run the same checks again.
Practice in a workshop