Understanding the Need for Automation in Operations
Sometimes it feels like technology is both the villain and the superhero in our lives. You know the feeling - fear that the tech will take your job, but at the same time, you can't live without it. And for business operations, automation really is making itself useful in all sorts of ways. It saves time, reduces costs, and can even help you create a new revenue stream.
The way I see it, itâs not surprising that automationâs scope is truly expanding. The way I see it, it seems that automation is much more than just being a tool to speed up work and reduce errors - though it does do those things too. When you look at the truth, companies today are under constant pressure to optimise their operations to stay competitive.
Automation helps them overcome these issues by offering scalable solutions that increase productivity and improve decision-making. In India specifically, over 70 percent of Indian CEOs believe that AI will significantly change their businesses in the next five years. And with good reason - AI has revolutionised processes in many companies. Even as the need for automation is increasing, each company needs to keep in mind that their systems are unique, so they must have solutions that are tailored to their needs.
With flexible workflows, teams can quickly scale up or down as required. That flexibility comes with scalability, and by automating mundane tasks like data entry and validation, you can free your human resources for more strategic tasks. But yeah - Itâs normal to worry about the future and AI becoming smarter than us.
In fact, some people would call it a healthy fear. But if you take the right steps to implement automation in your operations with caution and balance, thereâs every chance youâll come out stronger on the other side.
Step 1: Assessing Current Processes for Automation Opportunities
Thereâs a fair bit of romance around the idea of automation. I Suspect robots in aprons flipping burgers. Rows of computers sorting logistics, while weâre freed up to finally start that band, or take up skydiving, orâmore likelyâqueue for a discount coffee.
But before you set the bots loose in your operation, youâve got to actually know what they should be doing. This is where a no-nonsense assessment becomes vital. Automation can certainly bring efficiency and cost savings, but only if itâs mapped to the right tasks - the sorts of processes that are repetitive, routine, and quantifiable.
Manual data entry. Managing customer bookings. Chasing invoices. People waste a lot of time doing things a spreadsheet could have handled in 2004.
The trick is figuring out which those are - and not going overboard automating things people are happy to do by hand. Sometimes you just want a cup of tea brought by a person. The temptation with new tech is always to tinker around the edges; to automate something for the sake of it. But some things donât need automation yet - or wonât respond well to it (at least not at first).
Like answering phones or talking to someone about why their order was delayed. If you do decide to automate, ask yourself if youâre doing it because it will save time and money - or because it's a shiny toy. A good, honest process assessment doesnât take very long, but it will definitely help you scale later on when youâre flat out and wondering why everyone seems so unhappy with their robots. It will also help you figure out how much resources - time, energy, money - automating something could save you each week or month or year, while also bringing efficiencies elsewhere you may not have realised at first glance.
After all, thereâs no use in automating an already slick process if the ones upstream are clogged with paper and cranky managers holding onto paperwork from 1987 âfor reference. â.
Step 2: Choosing the Right Tools and Technologies
I think weâve all been guilty at some point of trying to run before we walk when it comes to investing in tech and tools. Itâs fairly tempting, Iâll admit, to want to buy the best out there. Or, at the very least, the shiniest. Especially if youâve been in business for a while and you feel like youâve earned that right.
But donât fall into the trap. More expensive doesnât always mean better (no matter how hard an Instagram advert will try to convince you otherwise). And if something isnât better for you specifically, why are you wasting your money.
The right tool is what fits your budget and needs today and where you can see things going in the next six months or so. If itâs too far ahead for what your business can more or less cope with now, it could just add unnecessary layers of complexity that could ultimately make things slower. When choosing tools, then, look for things that save you time and energy now. Something thatâll automate boring repetitive tasks is always a good shout.
Or something that gives your customers a more pleasant experience is also worth investing in. Tech should be about making things easier or less complicated (or both) for everyone involved - especially when automation is the focus. Itâs also a good idea to consider what you already have and whether that needs replacing first - not everything does.
Some things could use an upgrade, but if nothingâs wrong with them now then upgrading them may cause more problems than they solve. Newer isnât always better and simpler isnât always best; sometimes itâs finding a comfortable middle ground.
Step 3: Implementing Automation Solutions
It seems so easy, until youâre the one responsible for picking the right plug-in or system. Once youâve found the processes that need automating, you do have to make a fair few decisions. Sort of.
And implementation is where it gets fairly tricky. You canât just switch systems and expect everyone to get onboard. Implementation needs a plan.
A good one at that. You may need to explore different options for automation and test out which ones work best for your team. More or less.
From email scheduling and simple templates to more complex processes like workflow management, there are many things to automate in an organisation. It also helps if teams or team members who will use these tools are part of the selection process, since theyâd know whatâs likely to work best for them. This is also a good place to take any feedback on board and make any changes that would suit people using these systems every day - not just those monitoring them on occasion.
And yes, there will be some teething issues at first but they can be ironed out with a little patience. Ultimately, automating processes helps teams collaborate more effectively and improves internal communication too - both of which are essential for scaling up. The right automated solution can be an asset and enable effective delegation too - making everyoneâs job easier in the long run.
Step 4: Training Your Team for a Smooth Transition
I've seen it happen quite a lot. A company gets excited about introducing a new automated system, spends countless hours and dollars finding the perfect fit, and then launches it across the organisation. But thereâs just one hitch - no one knows how to use it.
Automating processes isnât as easy as flipping a switch or uploading files. There are many moving parts to consider - integration, security, compliance, and more.
And all of them are nearly always subject to how well people use them. Sure, you can usually try and hope for the best that everyone will pick it up eventually, but thatâs not nearly enough when youâre investing in something so impactful. For change management to be effective, you need to create and execute an effective training programme - one that covers every aspect of your new automated system in detail. Training helps employees get familiar with new workflows and features so they can reduce friction and adopt automation with ease.
I think that also means making sure your training sessions cover best practices on how to use every feature and tool in your new systems so they know exactly what happens when they use it in their daily tasks. Sort of. Itâs equally important to teach them about process changes including any workarounds or temporary fixes while the transition is ongoing.
And you know what else. Encourage your teams to share feedback about their experience using automation. This can help teams identify areas that need improvement as well as recognise processes that work well so they can be extended into other departments too.
Step 5: Measuring Success and Continuous Improvement
The greatest part of automation is itâs fairly fool-proof. Just keep clicking away until your scheduled task finally happens (no matter how many times you forgot to save). But that almost takes away the fun of tracking improvement - making all our dashboards and charts lose their relevance.
Almost. Measuring progress can seem a little pointless when things move so fast, except when you start tracking scale. Thereâs more than one way to measure growth, but Iâve noticed itâs easier to track by the number of people you employ - simply because itâs a surefire indicator that you need some help. And if Iâm being honest, thatâs when most businesses come asking for guidance in the first place.
Sort of. After all, thatâs what scaling is for - helping businesses to do more with less. The way to leverage growth is by learning from it and designing new processes that either serve new needs or support your current ones better. In other words, optimising SOPs to identify bottlenecks or inefficiencies so your business can keep doing what it does best and even improve those offerings.
It makes sense really - as companies scale they rarely get opportunities like this to pause and look back at the strides theyâve made and re-examine the processes that got them here. Just like in any relationship, establishing clear lines of communication and feedback loops are crucial for continuous improvement as long as it doesnât become the goal itself. It can be tempting for businesses to get carried away in the optimism of endless returns on investment with absolutely no intervention involved but life just doesnât work that way (someone should have told tech moguls this).
But remember there are only so many times you can automate an operation before exhausting every possibility until new technology lets you scale again at another inflection point in your businessâ story. Sort of.