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Strategy

All stations to automation

How to move away from manual with care and consideration

We live in a world of automation. Domestic tasks are made easier by washing machines and dishwashers. Robots have replaced human hands in building these products. The future is here with self-drive cars.

Yet, while automation is automatic when it comes to our daily lives – why stoke and maintain a fire when an oven controls the temperature and perfectly cooks food? – there are still manual tasks that could be automated when it comes to businesses.

Why, when the technology exists, do many business owners manage with manual? Manual gives a sense of control. Manual processes are literally in your hands and, if you trust said hands more than technology, then manual seems safer. The process of setting up and maintaining automated systems in business is also daunting in its complexity, as new technology often is. Why invest the time in automation when manual is working just fine? As the old adage goes – don’t fix what ain’t broken.

But it’s not broken – it’s less efficient.

 

Before pitting automation against manual and deciding who wins, here are some examples of business processes that can be automated:

  • Diaries and calendars
  • Accounting, such as QuickBooks
  • Sales
  • Payroll processing
  • Spreadsheet automation
  • Email automation
  • Cloud automation
  • Auditing

 

  • Financial insight and predictions through analytics, reports, and data capture
  • Employee leave requests
  • Email and push notifications
  • Helpdesk support
  • Backup and restoration
  • Procurement
  • Invoicing
  • Time and attendance tracking

 

In the above areas, are you using manual or automation? Remember – just because you’re not filing your accounts on physical sheets of paper, it doesn’t mean spreadsheets are the most efficient systems. QuickBooks, for example, can make keeping track of your earnings, spending, and tax payments even easier. Again, email is automation of sorts – it’s certainly less manual than handwriting and posting a letter. Yet, why attach images or documents to an email when you can more efficiently share via DropBox or Google Drive, which can be integrated in other automated processes? Assessing, not only once but regularly, whether you can switch certain tasks to automation is an important aspect of running a successful business. Plus, stay up-to-date with the latest technology, tools, and computing that automate these tasks. As with any aspect of modernity, automation develops quickly and business owners can’t afford to be left behind.

 

If understanding automation leads to business success, then what are the benefits of automation?

Although humanity views itself as the powerful and superior species, the sorry truth remains that removing people from a process can better efficiency and accuracy. Manual usually requires human involvement at every step, which opens doors to the likelihood of error. For example, an employee tasked with reminding colleagues of a scheduled meeting might write down the meeting time wrong or they might forget entirely. Auto-generated reminders via Google Calendar that ping out to everyone’s inboxes pretty much guarantee that all employees will make that meeting. The streamlining of automation also increases accuracy and quality of both the process and the results because it unites disparate parts of a business into one workflow or management system. To be human is to make mistakes, but these mistakes can be costly to the business, particularly if they damage reputation and trust.

One of the costliest consequences of human error is a breach of security, and automation plugs these gaps. Automation tightens data collection and storage thanks to password protection and the Cloud, while leaving trails that prevents data falsification and ensuring accurate data is logged and decreasing the number of people with access to sensitive information.

 

Talking about costs – automation can save a business money overall. Cost-saving is clearly front and centre of a business owners mind; success is, of course, nothing without profit. Aside from the general financial losses that can incur from human error and inefficiency, automating workflow can help detect where there is waste and repetitiveness – both in terms of physical waste, like paper, but also in terms of decisions and actions made – enabling a business owner to cut back or streamline, and therefore save money. With automation, you can also do more with less, increasing production while saving time and money. Finally, and maybe somewhat more controversially, automation reduce the number of paid employees needed in a company. For example, if you use a digital admin tool, you don’t need to pay a person for that admin role.

 

Perspectives

Automation enhances a business’s focus on its people, not detracts or removes. Technology may appear impersonal and isolating, but it can improve collaboration. Sharing via Google Docs, for example, eradicates the need to print or email documents at each new decision juncture by enabling team members to unanimously share, track and update them. Automation also creates new career opportunities, particularly high-skilled ones with better salaries. With the example of implementing a digital admin tool, although a secretarial may become defunct, a business still needs to employ someone to set up and run the automated process, and perhaps teach other employees how to do so. Technology in general – from Cloud to AI to Data – helps evolve the world of work, and success for businesses means riding the wave of new changes, not swimming against the turning tide that may sweep them away.

 

Finally, automation helps not hinders humans by giving employees the time and the headspace to work on other tasks. A 2020 report by WorkMarket (https://www.workmarket.com/go/2020-insight-report-what-ai-automation-mean-for-work) reveals that 54% of employees surveyed believe they could say 240 hours annually through automation. And saving employees time is vital to the success of a business. Despite all human flaws outlined above, people remain the most important, but most expensive, asset for a company. Automation enables businesses to better optimise their talent.

Manual tasks trap employees in repetitive and mundane tasks that drain their valuable time and energy, and decrease productivity. Tedium can have a devasting long-term effect of businesses by decreasing employee retention. Employees may quickly leave a company if they believe their talents and skills are wasted. This can have a ripple-effect on the general mood of a workplace, damaging a company’s reputation, ability to take on new hires, and overall growth. Moving to automation unlocks time for employees to focus on tasks that have a higher impact on and higher value for the company. These higher-impact tasks tend to be more creative, more challenging and more stimulating.

 

Is It All or Nothing?

However, it’s important not to over-automate. As with everything in life, moderation is key. Before moving to automation, assess each area of the business to decide whether automation is the most effective decision. Define business goals to decide whether automation will help meet them, ensure all employees will be able to understand the new automation process, and implement ways to measure results. Over-automation can have the adverse effect of costing money – setting up automated processes and training employees can be expensive – and wasting time if the automation in question isn’t needed because of the research and set-up time involved. An example where automation may hinder instead of help is customer communication. For example, auto-generated FAQs, bots, or self-serve menus on a website can decrease customer satisfaction, as people generally respond better to communicating with fellow humans. Therefore, having the option of a manual live chat function on a website or an email and telephone number can reassure customers. But, in this instance, automation and manual can work hand-in-hand – AI enables queries to be made 24/7, increases customer base as different customers may prefer different forms of communication, increases global reach because of time difference, and frees up employees to focus on more complex problem-solving for customers.

 

Concluding Thoughts

Ever since humans first used stone tools, technology has been a sign of progress and innovation. Automation in the world of business is no different. Automation benefits everyone – from the newest hire to the company CEO, improving human aspects such as satisfaction and happiness, and business processes such as productivity and profitability. And, ultimately, although automation is technology, as always its success and its enduring place in the world of business comes down to people –

it’s up to you, as the business owner, as the employee,

to make that first step, that initial decision, into automation.