One of the most common questions new Tines users ask is: "Where do I start?" The good news is that intelligent workflow opportunities are everywhere. You just need to know what to look for.
What makes a good workflow candidate?
The best intelligent workflow opportunities share a few key characteristics:
Repetitive: The task happens regularly (daily, weekly, or triggered by specific events).
Time-consuming: It takes significant time away from higher-value work.
Rule-based: The task follows a predictable pattern or set of steps.
Multi-system: It requires pulling data from or pushing data to multiple tools.
Error-prone: Manual steps create opportunities for mistakes or inconsistencies.
🪄Tip
Steps to identify a potential intelligent workflow
Here's a simple framework to help you spot intelligent workflow opportunities in your everyday work:
Step 1: Observe daily tasks
Pay attention to the work you do over the course of a week. What tasks do you repeat? What processes require you to switch between multiple tools? What steps feel tedious or manual?
Keep a list of these tasks. You might be surprised by how many repetitive processes you encounter.
Step 2: Ask key questions
For each task on your list, ask yourself:
Does this task follow the same steps every time?
Do I need to copy and paste data between systems?
Could someone else do this task if I wrote down the steps?
Does this task require me to wait for information from another tool or team?
Would automating this save me (or my team) meaningful time?
If you answer "yes" to most of these questions, you've found a strong intelligent workflow candidate!
Step 3: Map the process
Before you build anything in Tines, sketch out the workflow on paper or in a document. Identify:
The trigger: What starts this workflow? (An email, a scheduled time, a webhook from another tool?)
The steps: What happens, and in what order?
The systems involved: Which tools or platforms does this workflow touch?
The decision points: Where does the workflow need human input or conditional logic?
The outcome: What does success look like?
Step 4: Start small, then scale
You don't need to automate an entire process all at once. Start with one piece, maybe the most time-consuming step or the most error-prone handoff, and build from there.
As you gain confidence, you can expand the intelligent workflow to include more steps, more systems, and more complexity.
Real-world intelligent workflow examples
Intelligent workflows aren’t just for technical teams. Anyone can use Tines to make their work easier or bring creative projects to life. Here are just some examples of Tines being used to save time, reduce errors, and make work more efficient: