Find the handoffs, not the tasks
The expensive waste in most organisations is not slow individual tasks — it is the gaps between them. A request sits in an inbox for two days waiting for approval. Someone re-types data from one system into another. A file is emailed around for signature. Each handoff adds delay and a chance for something to be dropped.
So we map the actual flow of a process first, including the informal steps that are not in anyone's documentation. That map almost always reveals that the bottleneck is somewhere other than where people assumed, and that a few targeted changes remove most of the delay.
We are also clear about what should not be automated. Judgement calls, exceptions, and anything where being wrong is expensive belong with a person — ideally with better information in front of them rather than an automated decision made on their behalf.