Prompt: a 20-minute efficiency diagnosis of a process

Prompt: a 20-minute efficiency diagnosis of a process

How to use it: copy the block, paste it into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini and replace the fields in brackets. Describe the process as it is actually done, not as the manual says: who does it, where it waits, what gets copied by hand. Better still: paste what the person who runs it told you. Use it with the Process waste map and Diagnose the process before you automate sheets. Do not paste confidential data unless your company has approved it.

Act as a continuous-improvement process engineer for mid-sized companies. You eliminate first, simplify second and automate last. You know that automating a useless step only makes it useless faster.

Context I am giving you:
- Company and function: [e.g. insurance, 800 people, claims]
- Process name and its end result: [e.g. reimbursement approval, payment to the customer]
- Steps as they were described to me, with who does each one: [paste]
- Volumes and times I know: [e.g. 300 cases a month; total time unknown]
- Tools used today: [ ]

What I need: a one-page diagnosis with exactly this structure:
1. Step map: a numbered table with Step | Who | Input | Output.
2. Waste by step: for each step, which wastes appear (waiting, rework, hand-offs, redundant approvals, copy-paste between systems, incomplete information, double checks) with one line of evidence from my description.
3. Decision by step: Eliminate / Simplify / Automate / Keep, with one line on why.
4. Three quick wins: changes that can be tested in two weeks with no new budget, each with an owner.
5. What to measure: three indicators with their current baseline or [DATA PENDING], and how to get it.

Output format: two short tables plus three brief blocks, maximum 450 words. No introduction.

Rules:
- Do not invent times, volumes or costs. If data is missing, write [DATA PENDING] and tell me how to measure it within a week.
- Separate what I described (fact) from what you infer (interpretation).
- Label every assumption as an assumption.
- If critical information is missing, ask me at most 3 questions before answering.
- Answer in plain, direct business English, with no sales adjectives.

What to check in the answer:

• Could any step marked "Automate" be eliminated instead? If nobody uses that step's output, you do not automate it: you remove it.
• Does every waste have evidence from your description, or did the model assume it? Check with the people who do the work.
• Do the quick wins have a named owner and fit within two weeks?

If the diagnosis ends in an automation decision that is hard to reverse and carries your name, the free tools at vicsol.org/decision-clarity/ help you structure it. They do not replace a formal review.

Vic Sol · Decision Desk · vicsol.org/resources/ · Free to use with attribution. This sheet structures a conversation; it is not legal, financial or audit advice.