Process automation refers to the use of digital technology to perform a process or processes in order to accomplish a workflow or function. The term “business process automation” is also used to describe digital process automation.
A wide variety of business processes and activities can be automated, or more often, they can be partially automated with human intervention at strategic points within workflows. Sales, marketing, production, supply chain, inventory control, administration, IT and management process are among those benefitting from digital process automation.
According to Forrester, 73 percent of consumers say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide good service.IBM
Digital Process Automation Helps us to Visualize, Understand and Improve Business Processes
When we first introduce a new process, we specify the steps that must be completed to achieve the desired result. But over time, the process will change, often for good reasons. However, this organic development of processes makes process flow documentation inaccurate and out of date. Should management wish to analyze the process to determine whether it can be improved, there’s no clear picture of the status quo.
When processes are documented using process management software, each change is made in real time and recorded. Not only that but the people who are responsible for moving the process along know where they are in the process flow, even after sweeping changes have been made.
The Sooner You Start, the Better
In a competitive and constantly changing business environment, the ability to adapt fast gives us a competitive edge. To achieve an outcome, many complex, interrelated process may contribute. Every change has knock-on effects, and these can be unpredictable. But digital process automation software allows you to set up highly complex process flows and test them, making adjustments as soon as the need for adaptation becomes apparent.
Ultimately, business process automation allows you to manage organizational outcomes, not only the individual processes that contribute to them.
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IT has never been, and will never be, a rarefied department all on its own. IT is a tool and a very powerful one at that. IT experts increasingly have to become all-rounders in the understanding of how businesses work, and the people who make businesses work need to understand IT, at least as it applies to their area of activity.
This calls for close collaboration in which operations and IT feedback to one another on a continuous basis. By accessing the technology, an overview of operations is easily obtained, and individual role players can see exactly what is required of them. If they need to raise an issue, they can do so within the digital process automation system, facilitating communication.
Check Your Analytics
Since digital process software captures processes and workflows in real time, it can also perform detailed analytics. You can determine whether a problem was just a blip or whether it falls into a pattern. When the workflow fails, analytics help you determine where and why they failed. Managers overseeing the process can, therefore, pinpoint areas for improvement rapidly without the need to manually analyze huge chunks of data first.
Successful Implementation Requires Commitment
Digital process automation can be a route towards business excellence, but a tool is only useful when it is put to work. Those who adopt business process automation with a firm commitment towards using it as means of improving business processes in a drive towards ultimate efficiency will benefit most from it.
By building business excellence at every level, your competitive edge in terms of efficiency, resource utilization, and customer service will be enhanced. However, change is almost inevitable, and entrenched methodologies may be challenged.
Yes, we can use digital process automation to follow the same steps we always did. It will help our teams to cooperate and communicate better, but it is when we are willing to embrace change that it will produce the best outcomes.
Creating Synergy Between Human and Machine Intelligence
Human and machine intelligence are two very different things. Even the most intuitive software works with repetitive patterns and within pre-set parameters. The human mind, on the other hand, can use intuition, creativity, and innovation to solve problems machines can’t resolve. People are also happiest when they are given opportunities for creative thinking.
By using digital process technology, the mechanical steps within processes are managed by the automated process flow. The human element contributes its unique abilities in the way that is most likely to further the process and its outcome. Together, the two have a synergistic relationship in which the combined effort is more effective than the sum of its parts.
When this synergy isn’t present, artificial intelligence can pinpoint the problem area, allowing management to evaluate the information and make the necessary adjustments to the automated process flow.
From Individual Processes to Holistic Business Management
There are many apps and software packages with specialized process automation features. Some focus on accounting, others on HR, others on operational task allocation, and so on. Whether or not you already use specialized software for these areas, having a form of digital oversight that covers the business as a whole, allowing for a “zoom in; zoom out” view of processes and how they contribute to business goals is extremely valuable.
It may even make some of the more specialized software redundant, since the simplification of information and the platforms used to convey it makes overall management much easier.
Digital Process Automation Increases Employee Satisfaction
As an employee, there’s nothing worse than not knowing your priorities and what comes next. But with digital process automation, the points where you’re expected to intervene are clearly indicated.
So, although we might view the word “automation” as a situation in which machines or software, manage processes as impersonal agents, they actually help to keep employees motivated. When they work, they know that they are working on the correct priority without first having to hunt down a manager to check.
They also know exactly what is expected of them since a good process automation system like Tallyfy will allow parameters and standards to be specified. Reporting problems and asking questions is also more efficient since communication forms part of the workflow automation platform.
Time to Try Tallyfy?
Getting complex processes organized takes cutting-edge technological help – or a genius IQ and constant vigilance. Even in the rare cases when we’re blessed with the latter, it would best be applied in areas software can’t cope with. The ability to use the right tool for the right task is one of the reasons why humankind has been able to achieve dominance on the planet.
On a smaller scale, tool using makes us successful in business. Digital process automation is the tool we need to boost our efforts, making us effective and competitive players in today’s tough and ever-changing business environment. Tallyfy can help you to take your business to the next level. Are you ready to try it?
