Simple Automation To Solve Management Problems

Automation is everywhere we go. From the tiny pocket computers we call smartphones to laptops, PCs, and even IoT devices connected to WiFi. Everything relies on some kind of automation or workflows. The same is true for business processes. When it comes to management and keeping everything in line, we create systems. Those systems often fall apart due to human error. When they fall apart, we miss deadlines, budgets get blown out, and teams suffer. Wouldn’t it be easier if all of these moving parts could be automated? Now, imagine automating it with just a few sentences. No more annoying noodle charts.

The problem

Any team that sells time - SaaS companies, software agencies, consultancies - lives on the gap between hours planned and hours spent. When that gap grows unseen, sprints slip, fixed-price projects lose money, and clients get nervous. A daily overrun alert keeps the budget in view and actions small. Hours are logged in Everhour; estimates live in Jira. When real work goes over the estimate, the team often finds out too late.

The automation

We think of automation as hiring a bunch of people who are proficient in IT, who can move mountains by writing Python scripts. On the other hand, it can be as easy as connecting multiple charts together on what we call a “Noodle chart canvas”. But it could be simpler than that. We always had a problem of doing repetitive manual work, and that meant building reports that only management could read. This cost us both time and mental energy because you’re distracted by the menial work while you could be working on something that moves the needle. 

Okay, we thought, “Why do we have to do this manual work? How can we automate it?”. We started tinkering with different automation tools like Make, Zapier, and even N8N. In the end, we created our own, proprietary solution that allowed us to automate reports with a basic instruction. Write it in simple English, and out goes your automation.

One sentence to build it all

The biggest shift in automation came from a simple sentence:

Every weekday at 18:00, cross-check today's Everhour logs with Jira; If an issue is over 15 % of its estimate, comment "budget overrun" on the ticket, append the details to the Budget Watch sheet, and post a summary to #pm-alerts.

We told MYGOM AI to send us a budget report every weekday at 18:00. Not by dragging around fancy charts, not by hiring a bunch of IT support. But by simply writing one clear sentence that anyone could understand.

How the automation works

Below is a closer look at what happens when this sophisticated automation runs. Each step is handled by a dedicated AI agent in Mygom AI, and you don’t need to create any graphs or map any API calls yourself.

1) Schedule kicks in - The flow wakes up on workdays at 18:00.

2) Everhour entries are pulled - Mygom AI fetches all time logs added since the previous run.

3) Estimates are fetched from Jira - The agent matches each Everhour entry to its Jira issue and retrieves the original estimate and status.

4) Variance is calculated - if actual hours are 15% or more over the estimate, the ticket is flagged as an overrun for the day.

5) Jira is updated - A comment “Budget overrun” is added to the ticket, so anyone opening it sees the alert.*

6) Sheet is updated - The issue key, estimate, actual hours, variance %, and date are appended to the Budget Watch Google Sheet.

7) Team is notified - A concise summary of all overruns is posted to #pm-alerts in Slack.

How to set it up

1. Connect Everhour, Jira, Slack, and Google Sheets to Mygom AI. You will need to do it only once.
2. Click Create Automation, paste the sentence above, and just submit it.
3. Review the draft flow that has been built. Check its automation goal, success criteria, schedule information, and make adjustments if needed. 
4. Run a Test Execution to see a sample Slack post and sheet entry.
5. Launch and enjoy the workflow!

From pain to relief

Just some weeks ago, we were still struggling to keep up with reports, and the constant pressure to generate them distracted us from working on things that actually matter.

After feeding MYGOM AI the instructions, we were able to automate the painful parts of the management, and keeping pulse now happens in the background at predictable intervals. 

So what’s changed?

Our project manager no longer has to spend their time copying data by hand. They can actually manage projects and clients.

We get alerts on overruns right here and now instead of waiting for weeks.

We get to see the clear history of what has happened and predict where the future is headed.

Direct alerts to Slack and other communication channels get our attention, and we can react faster without waiting for everything to collapse.

Minimizing human error and allowing the MYGOM AI agents to do the work removes emotion and relies only on factual information. That’s how decisions are made.

Automations like these finally saved us time and effort that we can allocate elsewhere. Quite a number of other applications and platforms offer similar solutions, but they often end up costing more in the long run. Limitations and a lack of support are what drive people to look for alternative ways to automate their processes and own their data.

Do you feel the pain of menial work and want to spend time working on more meaningful tasks? Drop an email below and let’s have a chat!