7 tips to improve effectiveness of business process automation

Every organization wishes to improve its’ efficiency to remain competitive. Automation of business processes is one of the most effective ways of improving efficiency. However, it is also true that automation benefits tend to dissipate quickly over time, necessitating a continuous flow of initiatives to retain efficiency. For automation professionals, it often feels like running on a treadmill. The more you run, the more you remain in the same place.

Seasoned automation professionals know from experience that the half-life of any business process automation is about 6 months, give or take a few. For longer sustenance and improved benefit realisation, the most adept ones follow these seven principles of automation.

1. Do not replicate the current process steps directly, while automating.First of all, review the need for the process itself. Then review the need for the complexity in the process. There is really no point in automating a redundant process and performing it efficiently. Once the need for the process is confirmed, it may be noted that the existing process steps are likely derived from manual and Excel based ways of working. They would have been adapted for process changes over time, constrained by domain knowledge boundaries of the processor. When a process is sought to be automated, the automation team tends to take knowledge transfer from the person currently managing the process, resulting in direct process flow replication and thereby of the underlying inefficiencies. A rigorous study of the process need, utilisation of the process output, input data, parameters used, and process logics are essential, before the automation is executed. Ask ‘why’ of each process, input and steps, before considering them valid for automation.
2. Identify the process variables carefully and parameterise them, to make them change proof.Process variables should be carefully segregated from processing logics and built into a parameter input file. This would mean that any process change can be easily incorporated into the automation artefact by the user, enabling continued adoption and future proofing the automation.
3. Realise the benefits immediately on automation implementation. Release idle bandwidth.One of the common misconceptions of automation professionals is to consider automation as an end in itself. If the resultant release of effort is not realised immediately on automation deployment, the bandwidth tends to be absorbed in performing non-productive work. It may therefore feel like no benefits were realised. Process experts know that work expands to fill the time available for its’ completion. This insidious expansion of work can be avoided if the available bandwidth for process execution is immediately reduced, corresponding to the effort released by automation.
4. Review regularly the utilisation of existing automation and provide fixes where necessary.Automation artefacts tend to experience a progressive reduction of usage over time. This is due to changes in the business process, people changes, reverting to manual ways of working and the automation being cumbersome to use for small lots. A regular review will identify these adoption and attrition challenges, enabling fixes and optimal utilisation of these valuable automation artefacts.
5. New automation initiatives should first consider improvement of existing automation.Process innovation and efficiency drives often results in listing of current manual processes as opportunities for automation. Quite often, these manual processes are the fallout of not using the existing automation effectively. A review of the automation artefacts will reveal past efforts at automation of that process and speed up the automation initiative, many a time by merely adopting the existing automation artefact. Reinvention effort can thus be avoided. Proliferation of automation artefacts and effort in maintenance can also be avoided.
6. Manage, execute and control the automation artefacts from a central repository.Automation artefacts are optimally managed from a central repository. This enables effective version control on changes, tracking of usage of artefacts, review of effectiveness in adoption, making continuous improvements, avoiding loss of knowledge on processes, automation documentation, scaling up for reuse by new and adjacent process teams, and business continuity effectiveness.
7. Base your automation justification on process predictability, and as a knowledge repository.Quite often, a business case for automation is built on efficiency parameters, such as reduction in number of people and reduction in output time. While these are direct cost benefit parameters for justification, there are other qualitative parameters that provide long lasting business benefits. Automation drives predictability of the process by error proofing the output. It acts as a repository of organizational knowledge, which otherwise would be lost due to changes in people managing the processes. Automation drives process controls, provides trails for process audits, enables monitoring of process efficiency, besides the immediate objective of cost reduction. These are very important considerations for adoption of automation, even if faced with inadequate direct cost reduction benefits. A longer term view of automation will invariably prove beneficial.Automation is undoubtedly a necessity, for any organization to remain agile and efficient. It is often said that, if the necessity doesn’t exist, invent one. If executed well, the benefits can be long lasting and generate a culture of innovation, efficiency and effectiveness.