Chapters · 3 of 8

About 14 min · Lesson and activity

Chapter 3 of 80 complete

Map the Steps and Owners

Give every step an owner and its own level of autonomy.

See the situation

Start with the situation below. Next, we will work through an example together before you try the activity.

Samir · Workflow operator

The case

Assign an owner to every workflow step

Assign each step an owner, autonomy level, waiting state, and fallback for when it does not finish.

Five steps carry the work from a decision to a booked conversation. The step list is the easy part. The two columns most people leave off are what makes it a specification.

Your task

Assign an owner and automation level to each step. Add a fallback for work waiting on a person.

Need a little guidance?

You’re done when: Every transition has a person or system that owns its completion.

Unowned work is where automated processes quietly stall.

Need a reminder? Reopen the worked example

Watch one example first

A qualified request enters seller review. If the seller is unavailable, manager Lee receives the waiting task. The fallback changes ownership, not the requirement for human authorization.

Why this follows from the evidence

Each transition needs an owner and a waiting/fallback path. Otherwise an apparently complete diagram can leave real work unowned.

GTM Lab

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Five steps carry the work from a decision to a booked conversation. The step list is the easy part. The two columns most people leave off are what makes it a specification.

Workflow workbench

Assign owners and automation levels

Assign each step to the role asked when it stalls, choose its autonomy separately, name a manager fallback for person-owned waits, then turn the outbound response into a reviewed draft.

Five steps · ownership and automation are different columnsRead in numbered order. Each handoff needs an owner and acceptance evidence.

1. Choose the accountable role
Flag the qualified record
Accepts: Prior step produced its recorded handoff
Releases: Autonomy: not selected
Not checked
2. Choose the accountable role
Assign the account seller
Accepts: Prior step produced its recorded handoff
Releases: Autonomy: not selected
Not checked
3. Choose the accountable role
Draft the first response
Accepts: Prior step produced its recorded handoff
Releases: Autonomy: not selected · fallback: not assigned
Not checked
4. Choose the accountable role
Attempt and log a call
Accepts: Prior step produced its recorded handoff
Releases: Autonomy: not selected · fallback: not assigned
Not checked
5. Choose the accountable role
Book or record a reason
Accepts: Prior step produced its recorded handoff
Releases: Autonomy: not selected · fallback: not assigned
Not checked

1. Flag the qualified record

Accountable role

Autonomy for this step

2. Assign the account seller

Accountable role

Autonomy for this step

3. Draft the first response

Accountable role

Autonomy for this step

If the usual owner is unavailable, who is the taught fallback?

4. Attempt and log a call

Accountable role

Autonomy for this step

If the usual owner is unavailable, who is the taught fallback?

5. Book or record a reason

Accountable role

Autonomy for this step

If the usual owner is unavailable, who is the taught fallback?

The first message has external impact. What should the system do?

Before / proposed outbound stepCompare the original state with the proposed change. This preview does not change live records.

Before / proposed outbound step
Item	Before	Proposed	Why
First response	System could send on qualification	Choose the send boundary	A failure in an automated step still has a named human owner.

First response: BeforeSystem could send on qualification; ProposedChoose the send boundary; WhyA failure in an automated step still has a named human owner.

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Inspect the example policy saved by this activity

These are the supplied example-plan entries, not another test. Complete the workbench above to save its result.

An owner is a role, and it is whoever gets asked when the step does not happen. Which assignment is right?: Two roles, split at the point where the work stops being system work. Each one is who you would actually go and ask.
How much of each step happens without a person?: This workflow uses four levels, each chosen for a reason specific to the step. The right mix depends on its effects and recovery paths.
One of these five would do the most damage running automatically. Which, and why?: The internal steps still matter, but this proposed send creates an external effect that may not be reversible. That is why this example keeps it behind human review.

Your place saves as you go.

Chapter 3 of 80 complete