Building an automation: the new-hire kickoff

Step 1: Map the current process At Brightwater today, when a candidate accepts an offer, an HR coordinator: emails a welcome message; emails the manager a checklist; emails IT to request a laptop and accounts; adds the start date to a tracker. It takes about 25 minutes, is sometimes forgotten in a busy week, and the welcome email varies in quality.

Step 2: Write the specification Write this before opening the tool. It is your design, your test plan and your documentation in one.

Step 3: Build

1. Prepare the source. Create the spreadsheet with one column per input field and add two fictional test rows using email addresses you control.
2. Create the Zap and set the trigger. Choose the spreadsheet app and the “new row” event, connect the account, select the sheet, and test. Zapier pulls in a sample row so that you can use its fields in later steps.
3. Add the filter. Continue only if Status exactly matches “Offer accepted”.
4. Add the formatter. Convert the start date to a readable form such as “Monday 9 November 2026”.
5. Add the draft. Either compose the email in the email step using fields from the trigger, or add an AI by Zapier step with a prompt like the one below and defined output fields.
6. Add the human checkpoint. Add Human in the Loop, choose Request Approval, pass in the draft, allow the reviewer to edit, choose how they are notified, and set the timeout and what happens when it expires.
7. Add the send step. Map the approved text from the approval step, not the original draft, so that the reviewer’s edits are what gets sent.
8. Add the manager email, the IT request, and the write-back to the spreadsheet.
9. Name every step clearly, so the Zap can be understood by someone else.
10. Test each step, then the whole Zap, using the test plan below. Only then switch it on.

You are drafting one paragraph for a new-hire welcome email at Brightwater Logistics.

Inputs: - First name: {first name field} - Role: {role field} - Department: {department field} - Manager: {manager name field}

Write ONE paragraph of 2-3 sentences that welcomes the person to the {department} team in their role as {role} and says their manager will meet them on day one.

Rules: Warm, plain language. No exclamation marks beyond one. Do not mention pay, benefits, dates, or anything not in the inputs. Do not make promises. If any input is empty, return exactly: NEEDS REVIEW.

Notice the design. The AI writes only the part that benefits from variation. Dates, addresses and benefits come from fixed template text and spreadsheet fields, where they cannot be invented. The step is told

what to return if something is missing, which a later filter can catch. And a person sees the result before it is sent.

The two-step variant for the free plan Trigger: new spreadsheet row. Action: send an email to the HR coordinator containing the completed welcome text and the manager checklist, ready to forward. The person remains the sender, which is itself a human-in-the-loop design. It saves the drafting time and guarantees consistency. This meets the assignment requirement of a working automation that reduces administrative effort.

Step 4: Test

Step 5: Run and maintain

• Check the Zap history weekly at first, then monthly.
• Turn on error notifications to the owner.
• Record every change in a change log.
• Re-test after any change to the template, the spreadsheet columns or the connected apps.
• Compare time spent before and after, and report the saving.