Three types of activity
In everyday school life there are three fundamentally different types of activity that are often confused:
- Routine tasks: recurring, clearly defined tasks with little variation – e.g. recording attendance, checking the timetable.
- Projects: one-off undertakings with a clear start and end point – e.g. planning a school event, introducing a new system.
- Processes: recurring workflows involving several people, decision points and defined outcomes – e.g. the annual class assignment, the procedure for teacher cover, or handling parent enquiries.
What makes a process
A process has:
- A defined trigger (when does it start?)
- Clear steps and sequence (who does what, in what order?)
- At least one handover point between people or systems
- A clearly defined outcome (when is it complete?)
If any of these is missing, the activity is either a routine task or a project – but not a process in the proper sense.
Why the distinction matters for digitalisation
Digitalisation does not mean automating all activities – it means understanding which ones are actually worth digitalising. Processes with clear steps, handovers and outcomes lend themselves well to digital support or automation. Routine tasks can often be simplified. Projects, on the other hand, need project management, not process automation.
Treating projects as processes, or processes as routine tasks, leads to digital resources being used ineffectively.
Examples from school life
- Routine task: entering students in WebUntis, checking the cover plan
- Project: redesigning the school website, introducing a new learning management system
- Process: enrolling new students, approving field trips, handling sick-note submissions
First step: make processes visible
Many school processes are implicit – they exist, but nobody has ever written them down. The first step towards better support is always: make the process visible. Who starts it? What happens next? Where are the decision points? Who is responsible? Only then can you assess whether and how digital support makes sense.
Key takeaway
Understand before you automate. A poorly understood process does not get better through digitalisation – it just gets faster at being broken.