Digital journey is not without its cogwheels

Venturing onto a digital or the automation journey needs good preparation and planning. While automation would save a few resources or knock out a few mins from a process, it is important to take a holistic perspective of the impact of the automation on multiple aspects

a)     People – how would the change impact people and their morale? Are their careers being thought through? Do we have suitable alternatives for the people being affected? What is the message the management wants to give them?

b)     Processes – localized process improvement in a specific process could save time or improve quality; however the impact of this “new” or evolved process needs to be documented and aligned with other stakeholders; It is also good to socialize and publicize the good work being done in the organization to inspire other stakeholders

c)      Organization – with the changed process landscape, very often the team structure and reporting relationships are likely to change. It is important to understand the to-be picture and define the new structures. Availability of data and visibility of reports increases with automation. Thus some stakeholders may feel loss of control and likely to trigger additional challenges in the roadmap

A good planning to incorporate all of these aspects needs end to end understanding of the organization’s process landscape. Not every process is fit for automation. The business case for automation looks into aspects of repetitiveness, rule based processing, number of resources and the return on investment in terms of time saved, rework avoided, throughput improved or even the Net promoter score for a process.

While selection of the appropriate tool (eg: RPA or OCR tools) is important, assessing the process architecture to identify the right candidates and defining the to-be processes is a critical first step. Technology is an enabler after all. Usually a PoC (proof of concept) will help create awareness in the team about the potential benefits of RPA and the areas it can influence. A detailed study after the PoC helps build the business case. And not to forget the monitoring that needs to be in place after the automation solution is deployed and rolled out. Continuous feedback mechanism is vital to ensure that the new solution is meeting the needs of the process users and the end customers.