Before AI Can Help You, It Needs to Know How You Work
Did you know?
“61% of organizations manage half or more of their content outside of official systems, leaving critical processes undocumented and informal.” (AIIM white paper pdf)
You have a company SOP, but ask five people how they actually complete the task — and you’ll get five different answers. Somehow, it works… until it doesn’t. Maybe someone leaves, and their “unofficial” method leaves with them. Or leadership wants to add AI to the process, only to discover no one is following the SOP to begin with.
The truth is, SOPs describe what should happen, but individual workflows reflect how work actually gets done. And as AI tools like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, and RPA bots become part of everyday work, companies are learning that AI can’t improve or automate what it doesn’t understand.
If AI is going to help — instead of create chaos — companies must first document the real workflows people use, then align and evolve their SOPs. AI-ready businesses start by understanding how their people truly work.
What Is an Individual Workflow — and Why It’s the Missing Link
An individual workflow is the personal, step-by-step process an employee follows to get a task done — the real way work happens, not just what’s written in the manual. These workflows often include shortcuts, workarounds, and adjustments employees make to keep things moving.
For example, entering expense reports might involve downloading files, renaming them for easier tracking, and manually copying numbers into a system — but AI could automate steps like data extraction if it knew this process existed. Or think about responding to customer emails — employees might reference templates or past emails. AI could draft replies, but only if it understands the flow.
While SOPs say “what should happen,” individual workflows reveal what does happen — and what AI needs to learn to be useful. Ignoring these workflows leads to inefficiency, mistakes, and missed opportunities for AI to improve the process.
Why AI Needs to Understand Individual Workflows to Be Useful
AI tools are only as good as the workflows they’re built to support. Without a clear understanding of how work actually happens, AI risks making processes more complicated, not less.
We’ve all seen AI miss the mark — suggesting steps that don’t align with how teams really operate, or automating the wrong part of a process because no one mapped the workflow in the first place. Imagine AI drafting reports that don’t match your company’s format, or flagging data that employees never review.
To avoid this, companies need to understand real workflows — every step, decision point, and tool involved. Only then can AI be trained (even for internal use) to augment human effort instead of creating extra work. AI doesn’t replace human knowledge — it depends on it. And without that insight, AI can’t help you the way you expect.
How to Capture and Analyze Individual Workflows (with AI Augmentation in Mind)
To bring AI into your processes effectively, you first need to know what’s really happening on the ground — step by step. Here’s a simple framework for capturing individual workflows and spotting where AI can add value:
- Identify key tasks where AI could assist — like reports, communications, or data entry.
- Interview and observe employees doing those tasks. Focus on the real details, not just the big-picture steps.
- Document the entire workflow, including decision points, workarounds, and tools used — even the sticky notes on someone’s monitor!
- Analyze for inefficiencies and AI opportunities:
- What can be automated?
- What needs human judgment?
- Where can AI assist or accelerate decisions?
- Compare these workflows to existing SOPs to spot gaps or conflicts.
💡 Example: “If you find that employees spend hours manually formatting spreadsheets for reports, Copilot in Excel could handle that. But until you map that step, AI won’t know it’s needed.”
Mapping workflows this way makes AI a partner, not a guessing game.
Building AI-Augmented SOPs: Combining Company Standards with Real Workflows
“According to McKinsey, nearly 30% of sales-related activities can be automated, freeing up valuable time for human interaction and higher-value work.” (McKinsey & Company white paper pdf)
Once individual workflows are documented and analyzed, it’s time to bring them back into the official playbook — but better. Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) shouldn’t be static documents that gather dust. Instead, they should become AI-augmented blueprints that reflect how work truly gets done, with AI built in.
What does an AI-augmented SOP include?
- Standard steps everyone should follow.
- Known workarounds that employees use to handle exceptions.
- AI-assisted actions, like “Use Copilot to generate a first draft summary.”
- Human checkpoints to review AI outputs (ex: “AI drafts email, human reviews before sending.”)
Why is this important? Because AI can’t replace human context, but it can amplify human effort when workflows are clear and aligned. Plus, as AI tools evolve, SOPs that already map where AI fits in are easier to update, keeping processes efficient and future-proof.
Real Benefits of Mapping Individual Workflows for AI Augmentation
“74% of companies prioritize AI, but few align it to real workflows.” (PwC Global AI Study white paper pdf)
When companies take the time to document how work actually happens — and build AI into those workflows — the benefits are immediate and long-term.
First, productivity skyrockets. AI takes over repetitive, time-consuming steps, freeing employees to focus on higher-value work.
Second, errors decrease, and consistency improves. When AI is guided by real workflows, it follows the same steps every time, reducing mistakes caused by manual processes.
Third, onboarding becomes faster and smoother. New hires don’t have to guess how to get things done — they follow a clear, AI-augmented process.
Finally, mapping workflows creates a culture of innovation. Employees see how AI can make their work easier and start to suggest more ways to improve processes, fueling continuous improvement.
Conclusion: Why Individual Workflows Are the Starting Point for AI-Ready Businesses
If there’s one takeaway, it’s this: before AI can help your business, it needs to know how you work.
Too often, companies try to layer AI on top of broken or undocumented processes — and then wonder why the results fall short. But when you start by understanding and mapping individual workflows, AI has a clear path to follow. It knows where to help, where to step back, and where human input is essential.
By capturing the real way work happens and evolving your SOPs to include AI, you’re not just adding a tool — you’re creating a smarter, more resilient way of working.
The companies that thrive in an AI-powered future will be the ones that respect how people really get work done — and give AI a role that truly fits.
So, start by asking one simple question — one that might change everything: “How do you really do this task?”