Performance-Driven Cron Interval Tuning

Overview

Automated systems often start with arbitrary intervals and output limits (daily, weekly, max 10 items). As usage data accumulates, the organization tunes intervals and limits to optimize for quality over quantity. This prevents proposal fatigue, reduces noise, and improves approval rates by focusing on high-signal outputs.

How It Works

The team monitors approval rates and quality feedback for automated proposal systems. When approval rates drop below 70% or leadership reports 'too many low-quality proposals,' the team reviews the automation's configuration. Common adjustments include tightening freshness windows (7 days → 3 days), reducing max output (8 proposals → 5), raising impact thresholds (Medium → High for oversaturated patterns), and adding deduplication layers. Changes are applied to the cron job config and the underlying script parameters.

Tools Used

Outcome

Intel-to-proposals pipeline tuned from 7-day lookback / 8 max proposals to 3-day / 5 max. Approval rate improved from 62% to 71%. Leadership feedback shifted from 'too many duplicates' to 'right volume, better quality.' Principle now applied to all automated proposal systems: start permissive, tune toward quality as patterns emerge.