Intelligent automation is here, and employee reaction is often a mixed bag. Some are excited about the changes it will bring to the workplace, while others are fearful of what it means for their job.
As you look to implement intelligent automation in the workplace, there are steps that you can take to prepare your team so the transition can go as smoothly as possible.
Six Steps to Intelligent Automation at Work
Often, manual, menial work are the tasks that your employees dread doing the most. Thankfully, these tasks can be taken off their plate and automated.
Simple, rule-based tasks like data entry can be offloaded to software to let your team focus on more complex, high-think work. This will lead to an increase in overall employee satisfaction and improve the quality of work from all fronts.
There are steps that you can take to prepare your team for intelligent automation processes to make the transition seamless.
1. Identify the Right Processes
Not all processes will benefit from automation, so it’s critical that you identify the right processes from the start. Consider where your team spends their time.
Are there any manual processes that don’t require a lot of complex thought? Data entry is a common use case for automation, but there are others.
Once you have automation in place, process mining can help you find other candidates based on the results of their reporting.
2. Clean Up Your Data
Your intelligent automation is only as good as the data you put in it, so make sure that it is clean and standardized. You are programming it to complete a set of tasks based on certain rules. If the data does not meet the rules, it will not complete the task.
This may be a challenge in itself, so make sure that you are able to tackle the data standardization before implementing the automation. It will save you time in the long run if you have clean data to start with.
3. Set Up the Technology Infrastructure
Intelligent automation may have its own set of requirements that must be in place in order for it to function properly. This could be system requirements, operating system, processing speeds, network size, and so on.
If you do not have the right infrastructure, it will not function as expected. This can reduce the return on investment until you have it functioning properly, so be sure to complete any necessary system upgrades before you invest in intelligent automation.
4. Care for Your Team
Automation can be challenging for many workers to adjust to, especially if they think it is taking their jobs. However, you can prepare your team by emphasizing the benefits.
As you approach them, you want to focus on the “What’s in it for me” to get the best results.
- Less manual labor: The menial tasks they dreaded will no longer be part of their responsibilities.
- Increased creative work: There is more time for the work they feel most passionately about.
- Additional support: It will feel like there is additional capacity on the team as intelligent automation takes on many of the routine tasks.
Many employees will react more positively to these types of benefits than discussing how much of a cost savings it is to the business. Cost savings, while a big motivator for implementing intelligent automation, can actually be a negative indicator to employees that something is wrong.
5. Implement Change Management Processes
There will be a learning curve, so you want to make sure that you care for it through effective change management. Not all of your team needs to be trained in automation, but they all need to know that it is happening.
Identify who should be aware of this and share top-level training with them. Then, train those who are directly impacted by the automation, even if they need to have a general awareness of the processes that are taking place.
Be slow and thoughtful in your approach to integrating intelligent automation in the workplace. Don’t try to do everything all at once. Not only will you likely cause disruptions in your workflow, but you will also inspire dissatisfaction and fear in your workforce.
6. Listen and Improve
Intelligent automation processes can often recommend new avenues for automation in your workflow to drive efficiencies, but also be sure to listen to your team. They can tell you what’s working, what needs to be improved, and what is not working at all.
Be sure to listen to what they have to say and make adjustments. The point of intelligent automation is to make room for innovation across all areas of your business.
The Final Say on Intelligent Automation
Intelligent automation increases productivity and speed-to-market without reducing product quality. It can reduce the cost of human labor while freeing up your team for more value-added work.
Intelligent automation will only continue to grow in the marketplace as we find new avenues to streamline workflow.
