Low value-added tasks have a major impact on companies. They are a source of wasted time for organizations, and loss of motivation or even procrastination for employees. The automation of tasks therefore offers both financial and human benefits… at least when properly implemented.
In this article, we won’t use fancy words like performance, productivity, efficiency or optimization. They won’t help you in your automation process. Our aim is to give you concrete methods and tools for your transformation projects.
If you had only one thing to remember from this article :
Task automation is a collective exercise, and is much more relevant when thought through at process level rather than task level (a process being a combination of tasks). This preliminary study then enables us to choose the right technological solution, whether it be automation software, work automation platforms or RPA tools.
What is task automation?
Task automation is the replacement of so-called “manual” tasks (computerized or not) by actions performed by specific software without human intervention.
There are two main reasons for asking the question of task automation:
- The lack of digitalization and software in companies
- The use of cumbersome software not adapted to company operations.
Two types of low value-added tasks should not be confused:
- repetitive entries, which correspond to a sequence of specific actions performed several times an hour, a day, a week…
- multiple entries of the same information in different tools.
Automating tasks therefore saves time, reduces the costs associated with an activity, reduces errors and also removes a task that is boring for employees (or even gets them involved in more important issues for the company).
All company functions are affected by automation: sales, sales administration, design, production, logistics, customer service, accounting, finance, human resources, information systems…
Why is it important to automate a task?
Here is a non-exhaustive list of the benefits of task automation
Improve process lead times
A task can represent a long processing time or a bottleneck with a negative impact on the rest of the process and the various tasks. Automating a task allows you to deliver faster to the customer.
Increase customer orders
Whether you have one, ten or a hundred files to manage, an automated task will no longer be an obstacle to growth. Orders can be delivered faster if the right steps have been automated.
Reduce costs and expenses
In all cases, automation reduces the cost of a task. It’s then up to the company to decide whether it wants to free up the person or position them on another activity that’s more interesting for them and for the organization.
Digitizing know-how
Automating tasks makes it possible to document know-how and eliminate knowledge silos linked to a specific job or a specific employee.
Interconnecting software
Some software programs don’t communicate with others. Automation means fewer re-entries of the same information.
Avoid errors and checks
Repetitive manual tasks and lengthy checks are bound to lead to mistakes – it’s human nature. And a small mistake can lead to a catastrophe (cf. the butterfly effect).
Motivating and rewarding employees
In particular, automating tasks enables certain employees to spend more time on less tedious activities, and in some cases to be better rewarded.
Understanding company processes
An automation project requires precise identification of the organization’s processes. Processes are a company’s identity, and knowing them is the best way to improve without failing.
Examples of task automation
Here is a non-exhaustive list of examples, covering the various professions
Sales administration
- Create, send, follow-up and sign quotations
- Ditto for invoices
- Ditto for contracts
- Automated sales reports
Accounting
- Payment management
- Payment reminders
- Monitoring cash receipts
- Importing invoices into accounting software
- Expense management
Marketing / Sales
- Automatic opportunity identification
- Qualifying requests in CRM
- Information gathering
- Making an appointment
Customer service
- Qualifying requests
- Handling certain customer requests
- Sending out questionnaires
- Reporting
- Monitoring quality indicators
Production management
- Alert and boost
- Collecting data
- Automated data entry
- Tidying up notes
- Planning
Purchasing
- Inventory tracking
- Alerting and notification
- Order entry
- Controlling the validation circuit
HR
- Notifications related to the recruitment process
- Leave request process management
- Onboarding management
Information systems
- Qualification of support requests
- Processing certain tickets
- Computer security alerts
The simple way to automate tasks
Even if you’ve identified a task you’d like to automate, you shouldn’t jump headlong into automating it. In fact, it may make more sense to automate another task upstream or downstream.
Indeed, task automation is a methodical process. So it’s important to understand how a work process works in its entirety before you start automating tasks within it.
In this section, we’ll show you how to automate a task.
Step 1 – Collectively map out the entire process by carrying out a process audit
Automating tasks is a team effort!
It’s essential to work closely with the employees involved in the process. If the number of employees involved is large, it may be necessary to consult a representative group of this population.
In addition to company teams, it can be important toinvolve other players such as partners, service providers, suppliers and, why not, prospects or customers, to take their opinions into account.
Moreover, it’s crucial to talk to the right people to get a clearer understanding of how things work. For example, it may be more advantageous to talk to a line manager rather than your manager.
Last but not least, adopting a benevolent, listening and pedagogical attitude will be beneficial to the success of the project, especially if it entails major organizational changes.
Describing your job isn’t always intuitive
Some people find it difficult to explain their daily tasks, whatever their position in the hierarchy. You mustn’t hesitate to check what employees are saying, otherwise you’ll end up automating things incorrectly.
If possible, we strongly advise you to carry out observations in the workplace, for example using the DILO (Day In a Life Of) method. This approach allows you to directly observe the execution of activities and gather information in real-life situations. It also fosters a good understanding of the project.
Find out more in our article on how to conduct a process audit.
Map or model the process
A picture is worth a thousand words. Below is a model of a recruitment process.
Mapping should be seen as a visual roadmap of a process, allowing you to identify :
- The different events (beginning, middle and end), represented by red circles.
- Participants, with distinctly colored dots.
- Tasks and processes, illustrated by rectangles.
- Simultaneous decisions, conditions and actions (called gateways) in the form of diamonds.
- Links between elements, including sequence and message flows.
In addition to this graphical representation, a supplementary document or other mapping may include for each process :
- Tools, software and applications used.
- Oral, paper or software interactions.
- Procedures to follow.
- The time needed to complete the process.
- The completion time for each task.
- The frequency with which they are carried out.
- Available stock at each phase.
- Employee satisfaction with each operation.
- The difficulties and shortcomings encountered at each stage.
Step 2 – List and prioritize automation opportunities
Following collaborative formalization of the process, it will be easier to identify opportunities for automating tasks such as :
- Writing automation in Excel
- Reporting
- Document creation
- Sending quotes
- Dunning and notification management
- Collecting and monitoring performance indicators
- Data prioritization and sorting
- Multiple entries in different software packages
- The qualification of documents…
However, a company can’t solve everything at once! It’s important to prioritize each task potentially automatable.
To prioritize the various needs, an organization can use an evaluation matrix like the one shown below.
Example of a prioritization matrix for a purchase order entry task.
Once all the tasks have been prioritized, the company can build its automation roadmap to gradually improve productivity.
Step 3 – Choose the right task automation tools
There are different families of task automation tools.
- Automation software such as Zapier, Make and N8N.
- Business process automation platforms such as Lapala, Power Automate and Workato.
- RPA tools such as UiPath or Automation Anyware.
Automation software
Automation tools such as Make, Zapier and N8n help companies connect various applications and online services, enabling them to automate simple, ongoing tasks.
Each automation starts with a “trigger” and chains together as many actions as possible, taking certain conditions into account.
However, there can only be one trigger per automation. If you need two triggers, you need two automations.
Pricing for these automation tools is based on the number of automations per month per user. This can very quickly become expensive, even if their call prices are relatively low, between €9 and €19 per month.
Business process automation platforms
Business process automation platforms, such as Lapala or Workato, are comprehensive, robust solutions designed to digitize, automate and optimize a company’s operations.
These platforms act as control towers that centralize processes and data, connecting them with other tools. Their functionalities aim to improve operational efficiency by modeling, implementing and monitoring a company’s various processes.
Process automation platforms enable, for example:
- Connection of all existing software, spreadsheets and databases within a company,
- Digitizing all business processes
- Integration of action sequences and customized multi-trigger validation circuits
- And of course, like automation software, the automation of non-value-added tasks.
Robot Process Automation (RPA) tools
RPA (Robot Process Automation) is the use of robot software to automate tasks.
It’s usually the last chance for automation if automation software and platforms don’t cover a specific need. This is particularly the case for software that doesn’t respect Internet standards in terms of data communication and architecture.
RPA tools are generally very expensive, and require implementation services provided by integrators.
How to choose the right automation software? Our comparison table
Now you know all about task automation. Now it’s your turn! See you soon for more content!
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