The 90‑Minute Monthly Automation Review: An Automation Builder’s ClickUp & Zapier Ritual

One of the most common patterns you see in automation forums is:

“We set up loads of zaps last year and now nobody knows what’s running, what’s safe to turn off, or where the risks are.”

Automations don’t just run. They age.

• Processes change.  
• Owners leave.  
• Tools ship breaking changes.

Without a simple review rhythm, you end up with a haunted forest of zaps and ClickUp automations – everyone is slightly scared to touch anything.

You don’t need a huge governance framework. You need a 90‑minute monthly ritual that an operator or automation builder can run on repeat.

At Toki’s automation practice in Norwich, Norfolk, this is the cadence we give teams who want grown‑up automation without bureaucracy.

The 90‑minute automation review, broken down

Think of the 90 minutes as four blocks:

1. 15 minutes – Prep  
2. 25 minutes – Usage & value review  
3. 35 minutes – Fixes and improvements  
4. 15 minutes – Decisions & backlog

You can run this solo, or with a small “automation council” (ops + one technical person).

How-To: Set up your Automation Review hub in ClickUp

Step 1: Create an “Automation Review” list

In your operations space, create a list called Automation Review.

Custom fields to add:

• System (Zapier, ClickUp native, CRM, payments, etc.)  
• Owner  
• Status (To review, In review, Actioned, Archived)  
• Priority (Low, Medium, High)  
• Risk level (Low, Medium, High)

Each task in this list will represent one automation (or one small group of related automations).

Step 2: Import your current automations

You can do this gradually:

• Start with your top 20–30 “money automations” – anything customer‑facing or revenue‑critical.  
• Create one ClickUp task per automation, linking to the Zap, scenario, or automation ID.

Over a couple of months, you’ll expand this list to cover the rest.

Step 3: Add a simple review template

Create a ClickUp task template or description outline with:

• What this automation does (plain English).  
• Trigger + key steps.  
• Systems touched.  
• What “good” looks like (e.g. "creates 10–30 tasks a day", "never sends more than one email per customer").

Use a checklist for each review session:

• Still needed?  
• Still correct?  
• Still safe?  
• Still owned?

Running the 90‑minute ritual

Block 1 (15 minutes): Prep

• Open your Automation Review list in ClickUp.  
• Filter to Status = To review and Priority != Low.  
• Pick 5–10 automations you’ll look at this month.  
• Skim any incidents from your Automation Incidents list that involve these automations.

Block 2 (25 minutes): Usage & value review

For each selected automation, ask:

• Usage: Is this still firing roughly as expected? Too often? Not at all?  
• Value: Does it still save enough time or reduce enough risk to justify existing?  
• Fit: Is it still aligned to how the team actually works now?

Update fields:

• If usage is off, flag Risk level = Medium/High.  
• If value has dropped, mark it for simplification or retirement.

Block 3 (35 minutes): Fixes and improvements

Here’s where you actually change things:

• Retire dead automations.  

• Turn off things nobody uses, after confirming with the team. Document the decision in the task.

• Simplify over‑engineered flows.  

• Replace 7‑step chains with 3‑step versions if the business rules allow it.

• Add guardrails.  
  • Filters to avoid duplicates.  
  • Additional checks before money moves.  
  • Better error alerts.

Log all changes in the task comments or a simple “Change log” section.

Block 4 (15 minutes): Decisions & backlog

To close the session:

• Move reviewed items to Status = Actioned or Status = Archived.  
• Create new tasks for any bigger projects you discovered (e.g. “Rebuild onboarding automations end‑to‑end”).  
• Note 1–3 key risks to watch next month.

How this ties into your incident workflow

If you’re also running the Automation Incident Playbook, your monthly review becomes the natural place to:

• Revisit recurring incident patterns.  
• Decide which systems need more monitoring.  
• Retire high‑risk automations that never quite stabilise.

Over time, your estate becomes:

• Smaller (less cruft).  
• Safer (more guardrails).  
• More explainable (plain‑English descriptions).

Frequently Asked Questions

How many automations should we review each month?  

For most teams, 5–10 meaningful automations per month is enough. Over a year, that’s 60–120 deep reviews.

Who should run the monthly automation review?  

Ideally an operations owner with a handle on the business and someone who knows Zapier/ClickUp well enough to make safe changes. In a tiny team, that might be the same person.

What if we have hundreds of automations already?  

Start with your top 20–30. You don’t need a big‑bang audit. Use the monthly ritual to gradually bring more of your estate under control.

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