Monday.com's automation builder is powerful. It's also a trap.
I've seen teams spend days building elaborate automations that nobody uses after the first week. Here are the automations that actually save time.
The Automations That Work
1. The Daily Nudge
When: Date column "Due Date" is Today
Then: Notify item's Owner
That's it. People forget. A daily notification surfaces what needs attention.
2. The Stale Item Alert
When: Item hasn't been updated for 14 days
And: Status is not "Complete"
Then: Notify item's Owner
And: Change Priority to "High"
Projects don't fail at once. They die slowly through neglect.
3. Status-Based Handoffs
When: Status changes to "Ready for Review"
Then: Notify [Reviewer]
And: Assign [Reviewer]
Handoffs are where things fall through cracks.
4. Won Deal Processing
When: Status changes to "Won"
Then: Create item in "Onboarding" board
And: Notify [Success Team]
And: Set "Won Date" to Today
5. Lost Deal Documentation
When: Status changes to "Lost"
Then: Show popup asking "Lost Reason" (required)
And: Move to "Lost Deals" group
Without forced documentation, nobody records why deals are lost.
The Automations That Don't Work
Over-Notification
When: Status changes
Then: Notify everyone
People start ignoring notifications. Then they ignore the important ones too.
Complex Conditional Chains
When: Status is "X"
And: Priority is "High"
And: Owner is not "John"
Then: Do 5 different things
Nobody remembers what it does. Nobody can debug it.
Automating Bad Processes
Before automating, ask: "Should we even be doing this?" Automation amplifies whatever process you have — good or bad.
The Meta-Advice
Start with 3-5 automations. Pick the highest-impact, simplest ones. Run them for a month.
Document your automations. When you need to debug later, this saves hours.
Review quarterly. Processes change. Disable unused automations.
Resist the urge to automate everything. The goal isn't maximum automation. It's minimum friction.
Need Monday.com Automation Help?
We can help you build automations that actually get used.
Eyal Gantz
Founder & Lead Developer
Expert in e-commerce development and business automation with 10+ years of experience building custom technology solutions.
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