You’re tasked with solving problems in process automation. What technology do you choose?

2 Assess your processes

Next, you need to assess your current processes and identify the gaps, bottlenecks, inefficiencies, or errors that are hindering your performance. You can use tools like flowcharts, diagrams, or checklists to map out your processes and visualize the steps, inputs, outputs, and dependencies involved. You can also collect data and feedback from your stakeholders, customers, and employees to understand their pain points and expectations. This will help you prioritize your process automation needs and opportunities.

3 Choose your technology

Now that you have a clear picture of your goals and processes, you can choose the technology that best suits your situation. There are different types of process automation technologies, such as robotic process automation (RPA), business process management (BPM), or artificial intelligence (AI), that offer different capabilities, benefits, and challenges. For example, RPA can automate simple and repetitive tasks that follow predefined rules, such as data entry, invoicing, or email processing. BPM can automate and orchestrate complex and dynamic workflows that involve multiple systems, people, and decisions, such as order fulfillment, customer service, or compliance. AI can automate and augment tasks that require cognitive skills, such as data analysis, pattern recognition, or natural language processing. You should consider factors like the complexity, variability, frequency, and volume of your processes, as well as the availability, compatibility, and scalability of your technology, when making your decision.

4 Implement your solution

Once you have chosen your technology, you need to implement your solution and integrate it with your existing systems, processes, and people. You should follow a structured and iterative approach that involves planning, designing, testing, deploying, and monitoring your solution. You should also communicate and collaborate with your stakeholders, customers, and employees throughout the process to ensure their buy-in, feedback, and support. You should also document and standardize your solution to ensure its consistency and reliability.

5 Evaluate your results

Finally, you need to evaluate your results and measure the impact of your process automation solution. You should compare your performance before and after the implementation, using the metrics and goals you defined earlier. You should also collect and analyze data and feedback from your stakeholders, customers, and employees to assess their satisfaction and experience. You should identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your solution, and make adjustments or improvements as needed.

Process automation is not a one-size-fits-all solution. It requires careful analysis, selection, implementation, and evaluation of the technology that matches your problems, goals, and processes. By following these steps, you can choose the right technology for your process automation problems and reap the benefits of efficiency, accuracy, productivity, and customer satisfaction.