5 tips for implementing automation

The concept of work automation is nothing new, but the emergence of new tools for automating business processes (BPA) has fundamentally changed the organisational landscape for knowledge workers. And although automation has sparked controversy around workplace safety, it will become more and more a part of everyday working life as time goes on.

Taking full advantage of automation requires a multi-faceted process that needs to be approached with proper planning and organisation. Here are five practices to consider when starting an organisation on the automation journey.

1. Define your goals

As with any new business, a successful automation implementation should start with the company deciding what it wants to achieve with the technology and how it will measure success. If you don't start the process with this conversation, IT and the business may have different ideas about what automation will look like.

The conversation should cover different aspects of automation, such as processes, decisions, and a discussion about analytics. We recommend that you try to come up with an overall vision of what the future state of the company will look like after automation is implemented.

This will allow you to focus on the type of technologies and the type of methods you want to use to achieve the outcome.

To simplify the planning process, first try to figure out what you want to increase, whether it's efficiency of work, repeatability of a task or process, or just consistency. This will help you determine the next steps.

2. Choose your methods

Once you have defined your automation goals, you need to choose which aspects of your business you want to automate and how. To determine what needs to be automated, we find that many companies build a simple two-by-two matrix and map their processes into it.

One axis usually shows how the process transforms the customer experience, while the other axis shows how practical it is to implement the technology and how ready the organisation is for the change it will bring. However, the axes can be replaced by any component that is most important to the organisation.

One of the most important concepts to clarify when selecting the processes to automate is how the changes that automating a particular part of the business will bring about will affect customers.  

In order to create differentiated value from digital transformation initiatives, you need to think about 'How can I reinvent the customer experience?'

The methods you use will likely play a role in the tools you end up using. We recommend adopting a lean strategy, which can make it easier to pivot and experiment with different tools and techniques.

3. Build your team

Another important aspect of an automation initiative should be the people behind it. Initially, this means figuring out how much of the project will be handled in-house and how much will be handled by a third party. We find that many organisations are not able to change their processes and introduce automation themselves because the maturity of the processes is relatively low.

Especially in the early stages of planning digital transformation initiatives, it makes sense to use an external consultant or professional services.

An external firm can help you rethink your automation architecture, better manage change, and gain stakeholder support. But if you bring the system in-house, it should be managed by the business.

Digital transformation should not be an IT-led initiative because it truly impacts the core of how the business operates.

4. Communicate your vision

When setting the automation roadmap, business leaders need to be aware of the long-term impact of automation on employees. Technology today can automate more thought-based tasks and this will impact the workforce.

There needs to be a very clear definition of the long-term direction that these employees will follow.

After surveying hundreds of companies, we have found that the human aspect is actually less understood than the technology, but the attitude of employees towards automation needs to be taken into account, as the wrong attitude can lead to poor performance.

Attitudes are heavily influenced by fear of losing their jobs, and the fear of being marginalised by advanced technology.

5. Beware of red flags

When introducing automation, it is worth being aware of some of the red flags that may make you re-evaluate your approach. If you don't have a clear reason why you are automating certain processes and don't understand the potential impact, you need to take a step back.

It is important that IT managers are clear about the type of automation they want to introduce and whether there is a good return on investment in introducing this type of tool. There is a lot of hype around machine learning and AI these days, but not all types of decisions are suitable or appropriate for these types of tools.

Another red flag can be whether there is enough customer analytics (or the right kind of customer analytics). Misunderstanding customer impact can cause serious damage not only to your automation initiative, but to your entire business.