Half the value is in the green dot
In brief
- A monthly import done by hand ends up forgotten, and nobody knows who did it or when.
- Here, an "Import" button starts the whole chain: refresh, loading of the positions, checks, then a Teams notification to the team.
- A timestamped green dot says it's done, and nobody asks "has the import been done?" anymore.
Every month, in a finance department, someone has to import the bank positions file. And every month, someone forgot. Nobody knew who, or when.
Three ways to get an import wrong
A monthly import done by hand can go wrong in three ways.
- Done late. The teams enter data on outdated positions.
- Done twice. The positions come in twice. Duplicates appear.
- Not done at all. Everyone works on last month's figures. Without knowing it.
The third case is the sneakiest. Nothing signals a problem. The figures display normally. They're simply last month's.
The real question: is it done?
Looking closely, the action itself wasn't the problem. Everyone knows how to import a file.
The problem was the status of the action. Has the import been done this month? When? Nobody could answer at a glance. So people asked around: "has the import been done?"
A question that comes back every month is a sign that a piece of information is missing from the screen.
What was built
A single button: "Import". Behind it, the full chain runs on its own.
- The refresh.
- The loading of the positions.
- The checks.
When the chain has finished, the team gets a notification in Teams. And on screen, an indicator turns green. With the time.
That dot is what changes everything. It says two things at a glance: it's done, and here's when.
The Teams notification matters just as much. It tells the team the moment it's done, without anyone having to go and check. Those waiting for the positions to enter their data know they're working on the right ones.
The result that isn't counted in minutes
The gain isn't measured in minutes of data entry. What was costly was the uncertainty around the action: entries on outdated positions, duplicates, a month behind without knowing it.
The real result is a question that disappeared. Nobody asks "has the import been done?" anymore. The answer is on screen, in green, with the time.
That's what I mean when I write that automating isn't replacing the action. It's making its status visible. Half the value is in the green dot.
A green dot must tell the truth
To be honest, a green dot is only worth something if it tells the truth.
One day, on this same import, everything is green, the message says "Import complete", and zero rows are imported. The job was reading the Excel file as text, then deleting the rows in error. Nothing was left, and nothing, for a machine, is a success.
Since then, when the import brings back zero rows, the message says so. And when something fails, the alert email carries the link to the run. I told this incident in detail in "Import complete", zero rows imported.
A green dot is a promise made to the whole team. It must be true, or it must not light up.
What this means for you
Think of the tasks your team does once a month. An import, a mailing, a close, a reconciliation.
- Can you tell, right now, whether it has been done this month?
- Can you tell at what time?
- If it had been done twice, would you know?
- If it hadn't been done, who would notice?
If the answer requires sending someone a message, the task has no visible status.
Automating it doesn't mean taking it away from people. It means the task says on its own that it's done. The team keeps its hand on the button. The tool takes care of the rest, and of letting everyone know.
The full project is in the case study The green dot. What the Microsoft 365 license already lets you build: zero software purchased. Scheduled imports and alerts are described on the page Tasks that run by themselves.
Automating isn't replacing the action. It's making its status visible.
Your questions
Because the action isn't the problem. The problem is knowing whether it was done, and when. Automating means making that status visible.
Done late, the teams enter data on outdated positions. Done twice, it creates duplicates. Not done, everyone works on last month's figures without knowing it.