Have you ever begun your day focused on your objectives, only to get sidetracked?
Perhaps a meeting got delayed, or an emergency project fell onto your desk. Surprise disruptions like this can derail your schedule, causing you to fall behind.
That’s where process automation software comes into play.
With process automation software, you can automate some of your daily tasks to save you time while accomplishing more each day.
In this post, I’ll cover everything you need to know about process automation software and how you can use it to save time and streamline your life.
Before we dive in, let’s define process automation software so we know what it means.
What is process automation software?
Process automation software is a program that can execute tasks on a recurring basis for specific personal or business functions.
Many process automation software are powerful platforms that offer a simple interface, visual workflow, advanced workload automation, customizable templates, complete visibility, and so much more.
Process automation tools are useful for time tracking and more collaboration with teams as well.
Depending on the vendor, you'd likely be able to review various billing options (including monthly or annual billing) and begin your automation of tasks for complex projects.
Many businesses and professionals implement process automation software to save time and resources. By focusing on automating some of your frequent tasks, businesses can save time and money by allocating their core resources in the right way.
According to Gartner, integrating automation technology with improved operational procedures would reduce operational expenses by 30% by 2024.
But how exactly does process automation software work in an organization?
Let’s take something that happens often at new companies: the hiring of new employees.
The occurrence can often be time-consuming for managers.
Depending on how quickly the business is scaling, it can be a significant investment of one’s time to continuously train new employees on the standard company practices.
That’s why it makes sense to use process automation software in this scenario.
With process automation software, the new hire can train on their own, reviewing company policies and key modules in an interactive environment.
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Process automation software can guide the new employee through the lessons without the need for an existing employee leading the instruction.
Beyond training, process automation software can serve as a checklist, requiring an employee to turn in various onboarding documents before they can move to the next stage.
Some of the other types of processes that can be automated include:
- Administrative calendar tasks: Identifying optimizations and blocking time
- Project management: Breaking down key components of a project, assigning it to team members, and tracking completion dates of project elements
- Task management: Triggering a task to move from one stage to the next and be assigned to another person on the team
- Meeting scheduling: Sending calendar invitations and coordinating call details for essential meetings
Process automation software can also establish and standardize processes across an organization.
If processes involve multiple departments, it is beneficial to have a system in place to make sure everyone is on the same page.
What are some of the other benefits you’d reap from implementing process automation software? Let’s dive into some of the most important ones.
The benefits of process automation software
Implementing process automation software can cost time and money for organizations. Is it worth it? Does every organization need one?
Well, process automation software isn’t a required tool for every organization, but the ones that adopt it will have an advantage over their competition.
That’s because there are numerous benefits associated with using process automation software.
Some of the key benefits include:
- More time: Workers are free to concentrate on other tasks.
- More output: Software is automatically completing tasks for you.
- More variety: Team members can concentrate on more enjoyable work.
- Less overhead: You can automate processes to save on labor costs.
- Less errors: Standardizing and automating processes can reduce costly errors.
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Ultimately, process automation software makes employees more productive and accurate while saving the company money.
Plus, it can take away some of the painful, boring tasks employees are required to do each day, giving them a little more spice in their day-to-day job responsibilities.
Most process automation software can be set up in minutes. The time that it saves employees could be many hours.
This type of cost-benefit should be evaluated carefully for organizations since most businesses should have process automation software in place.
Additionally, executives can make data-driven business decisions based off the business activity monitoring conducted with the software.
Since the processes are all automated, you'll have deep visibility over what's working and what software systems need to be adjusted.
In some instances, you may be able to review performance by user per month and assess the improvements made through common processes in an average business day.
The big debate, however, is how a business should use process automation software.
Depending on the size of the business and the industry, various types of tasks can be automated.
Let’s take a closer look.
Which processes or tasks should be automated?
It can be overwhelming to begin implementing your process automation software.
This is likely because you need to add so many processes and have a long list of things you wish you could have automated. You might not even know where to start!
Start with the basics. Recurring, basic processes that require standardization or consistency should be automated.
Some of the most common tasks that businesses automate include data entry (38%), document creation and organization (32%), lead management (30%), and inventory management and distribution (27%).
These are the most common, but that doesn’t mean every business should immediately automate them.
To automate the right tasks for your business, you should ask yourself two questions:
- Which tasks am I spending a lot of my time on each day?
- Which tasks should I be spending my time on each day?
Both of these questions will help you narrow your focus and prioritize the processes and tasks that need to be removed from your to-do list.
Keeping a focused to-do list is essential for a healthy, productive workforce.
This is important because professionals can sometimes fall into the trap of “false productivity.”
This is when they feel like they’ve had a productive day but really only accomplished a handful of minor tasks without chipping away at their main objectives.
Process automation software can remove basic tasks from your schedule, forcing you to concentrate on what matters.
This will ultimately enable the company to achieve more, grow faster, and drive better results.
Now that you know the benefits of process automation software and what tasks you should automate, let’s take a look at the four key steps for implementation.
How to implement process automation software
Convinced you need to implement process automation software as soon as possible but don’t know where to begin?
There are four key steps that you should take to begin implementing process automation software.
1. Audit your current day.
Take a look at your schedule and audit your current day. Review your calendar from start to finish. What is taking up your time the most?
It’s easiest to accomplish this by assigning categories to the type of work that you do.
For example, reconciling credit card expenses might fall under an “Administrative” category. Updating spreadsheets with customer data might fall under a “Data Entry” category.
Once you have an understanding of the types of tasks that are sucking time out of your day, you can begin to prioritize them for automation.
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Consider moving the most common, basic, and time-consuming tasks to the top of your prioritization list —not just the ones you don’t want to do.
This is because once you have the everyday tasks that take up a sizable amount of time off your plate, you can focus on automating the rest of your tasks.
In addition, evaluate current processes that are in place in your business.
If you conduct a process analysis, you might determine that some processes need updating or even need to be overhauled with automation.
Some processes, whether they use the waterfall methodology or Agile management method, might need to be reviewed and optimized.
2. Identify the right software solution.
Now that you know what you need to automate, how do you do it?
Select the right software solution that will deliver on the needs of your business.
There are many different ways to evaluate process automation software in the market:
- Price: How much will the service cost your business?
- Capabilities: Does the software offer everything you need?
- Ease of Use: Is it simple enough to implement and update accordingly?
- Support: Do you have access to a knowledge base and a team to help?
Many process automation software in the market offer a free trial, making it easy for you to take one for a test drive before committing fully.
3. Build the process logic in the software’s back-end.
Once you’ve selected a software, it’s time to configure the process in the back-end.
Most platforms have a simple way to integrate with your existing tech stack and assign specific logic to automate steps. Often, you can structure these using “if” and “then” statements.
These statements direct the software to take certain actions when something occurs.
For example, you could set up a logic that states, “If the module is completed, then move the user to the next phase.”
This would keep the process moving forward once users have reached a significant checkpoint.
4. Test and iterate.
Your job is not complete simply because you’ve set up your process automation software. In fact, it is just the beginning.
You need to continuously optimize and assess whether your processes are working correctly.
One of the worst things users do is set up an automated process and leave it without any quality control parameters in place.
This is dangerous because there might be a flaw in the logic that stalls the tasks’ progress. Instead of benefiting the organization, the software will hinder it if it isn’t configured correctly.
That’s why you should routinely evaluate, test, and iterate on the processes that you’ve automated using technology.
How Motion enables users to automate key processes
With Motion, you can save time and supercharge your productivity.
There are various features that enable users to take charge of their day (while automating other tasks to keep them on track).
Some of the key process automation features include the ability to:
- Optimize your calendar: Motion adds tasks to your schedule around meetings, giving you a minute-by-minute plan for your day.
- Create recurring tasks: Save time by creating daily or weekly tasks. Motion will block time on your calendar to ensure that nothing gets booked during specific windows and that you have the chance to complete key priorities.
- Accelerate project planning across teams: Add your project and let Motion assign it out to your team by adding it to their calendars, measuring work for each member, building customizable schedules, and automating the planning.
- Schedule fewer meetings more quickly: Use Motion’s meeting assistant to take over the hassle or booking and coordinating meeting times. The automation functions like a personal assistant who keeps your calendar clean and optimized while setting up calls and conferences as needed.
With process automation software integrated into your daily life, you’ll begin to notice how much time you're saving on daily tasks.
The only thing you’ll be wondering is: why didn’t I do this sooner?
Conclusion
Implementing the right process automation software can be a game changer.
Once you have one in place, you’ll create more time, output, and variety in your day-to-day while reducing errors and overhead.
Take a look at which recurring tasks suck your time away everyday and consider automating those processes as soon as possible.
Increase your productivity and try Motion for free to experience automation and AI that intelligently plans your day, schedules meetings, and builds the perfect to-do list.
