Both big and small businesses are into automation, and for a good reason, too.
Automation is the process of creating software such as an AI-powered chat platform that can use a particular input and run on its own.
As its name suggests, automation eliminates the need for a human operator and saves resources, time, and money. Thus it is easy to see the appeal of workflow automation.
Automation is a way to free up time and human resources at your company and redirect them to more meaningful work.
Here are the ten commandments to follow in order to create workflow automation that works.
Document your pre-existing workflows
In each team and department, there are dozens if not hundreds of established workflows that are already in place.
Before introducing automation to your workplace, make an effort to document as many of those workflows as possible, making the transition to automation that much easier.
Apply automation where it makes sense
Automation has many advantages and can help your productivity in many ways – as long as you apply it in an area that makes sense. Automation is the first step to AI for efficient usage of human resources as you will not have to work on redundant tasks that computers could do better. Take up the AI Online Course from Intellipaat to chart your course in the AI domain.
Take a good look at your business practices and see where there is a lot of space for human error, as those are the ones that can benefit from automation the most.
You should also automate the processes that are time-consuming and resource-intensive. Automating such processes makes your workload much lighter, and automation can do all of it much faster so you can divert your resources to more important matters.
Slowly introduce automation to manual processes
Bringing automation to your entire business or even just one asšect of it can be too sudden a change and cost a lot, not to mention how difficult such a significant change can be to adapt to, even if it is a change for the better.
That is why an iterative approach can be both a cheaper and smoother way to go.
For starters, you could find a manual process that can be made faster by introducing some simple tools to make it go quicker and build upon that basis over time.
Keep adding new elements to it, and with some luck, you will end up with a fully automated process before you even know it.
Do not limit automation to your internal work
Automation works wonders when it comes to optimizing your internal workflow, but its power doesn’t stop there.
You can also use it to boost your revenue as more than half of B2B (business to business) trading and buying is completed online.
Use different automated solutions for selling your goods and services and pair those with automated ad platforms to get the best results.
Decide how many people need to use the automation
Even if you think that you have found the automation solution of your dreams, don’t just go and spend your hard-earned cash before deciding how many people will need to rely on it.
Is this an automation solution meant only for the select few, or will everyone have access to it?
Check what type of licensing and limitations there are before you make the purchase.
Use automation to deal with repetitive tasks
One of the advantages that Artificial Intelligence has over human beings is its capability to deal with – and sort through – the so-called Big Data.
That makes automation the perfect tool to deploy when dealing with vast quantities of repetitive text or any other type of massive amount of data but low on variety.
Not only is AI better equipped to deal with a plethora of data, but it can also handle it much faster than any human being ever could.
Once again, automation can save you the most valuable asset at your disposal – time.
Know that all the workflows are not equal
You might not even be aware of it, but you are already using many different workflows in your everyday business.
If we define a workflow as a standard set of rules and practices to be used in a specific situation or an aspect of your work, you will quickly realize that there are many workflows already in place at your company.
All you have to do now is determine which ones are the most valuable to you and use automation to make them as streamlined and efficient as possible.
Some companies might prioritize the customer-facing things such as sales and discount approvals, while others might be more interested in onboarding new workers and processing their data.
See what matters to your company the most and focus your automation efforts there first.
Automation doesn’t necessarily mean perfection
Even after you introduce automation to your workflows, this doesn’t mean that your work is done.
No matter how intelligent and data-driven an automated workflow is, it won’t be perfect right away. You will need to measure its efficiency and see any bottlenecks in your particular case that demand further improvements.
Keep your data integrated
All the valuable data that you have gathered through automation will be almost useless unless you can apply it elsewhere in your working process. This makes data integration one of the vital parts of automation.
With data integration, you will have a way to use data gathered on one system on another, and thus all of it will become more valuable for your business.
Always plan ahead
To get the most out of your automation solution, you have to know precisely what you want to get from it. Depending on the type of work that you do, there are different options for almost any aspect of it, each with its own benefits but also quirks and downsides.
Do your research beforehand and do your best to get the most out of automation as soon as you start implementing it.
