How to start untangling a gnarly process: A practical guide

You’ve spotted the gnarly process. Everyone’s frustrated. You’re ready to fix it.
Now what?

Before you jump into tools and templates, here’s how to approach process improvement like a pro - and make sure you’re solving the right problems in the right way.

Step 1: Pick the right process to fix

Don’t try to fix everything at once. Start with a process that’s:

• High-friction (people actively dislike it)
• High-impact (it touches lots of people or is mission-critical)
• Gnarly enough to warrant change, but not so broken it needs a full rebuild

Good candidates:

• Legal intake
• NDAs
• Compliance tracking
• Vendor onboarding
• Trademark renewals

Step 2: Map what’s actually happening

Before you can fix a process, you need to understand how it works in real life (not just on paper). This is where most process improvement efforts go off the rails.

How to do it:

• Talk to the people who use the process every day
• Ask what really happens, not what’s supposed to happen
• Capture every step, decision, approval, handoff, and tool used
• Look for exceptions and workarounds (those are your pain points)

Pro tip: Sketch it on a whiteboard or use a basic flowchart tool. Don’t over-engineer this step.

Step 3: Identify the gnarly bits

Now ask: what’s making this process painful?

Look for:

• Bottlenecks and delays
• Manual steps and repetitive work
• Unclear responsibilities
• Lack of visibility
• Poor or missing data
• “We’ve always done it this way” logic

Circle the steps that are clunky, unclear, or frustrating. That’s your short list of what to fix first.

Step 4: Define what “better” looks like

Before you fix anything, define your goals. Are you trying to:

• Speed up approvals?
• Reduce manual work?
• Improve tracking or compliance?
• Make it easier for users to submit requests?

Be specific. “Make it better” won’t help you measure success.

Step 5: Choose the right tool for the job

Here’s where platforms like Autologyx come in. Look for tech that:

• Supports full process automation (not just one slice)
• Allows non-technical teams to build and adapt workflows
• Integrates with your existing tools
• Provides visibility, audit trails, and reporting

Avoid the temptation to fix one step with a new app or plug-in. You’re not solving the problem - you’re just moving it.

Step 6: Start small, then scale

Pick one workflow or use case to automate - just one. Nail it. Show the results. Then use that momentum to roll out improvements elsewhere.

Example:
Automate legal intake for just one business unit → Prove the time savings → Expand to all business units → Move on to triage and routing → Eventually link it to contract review

Step 7: Track and iterate

Process improvement isn’t one-and-done. Once your new workflow is live:

• Gather feedback from users
• Look at how it performs against your original goals
• Tweak, optimise, and iterate

Celebrate the wins. Then move on to the next gnarly beast.

Ready to go from sticky notes and spreadsheets to something that actually works?
Let’s start untangling.