We live in a world where doing more with less is the new norm - especially in the public sector. Our resources have been drastically reduced yet we are expected to deliver more than ever before. Even worse, we don't have the luxury of acquiring more time to fulfill our obligations.
How can we best maximize our time? How can we be more efficient in this agile, ever-changing, and fast-paced work environment?
An effective way to improve efficiency is to automate common business processes. Think about what you do day in, day out in your organization. From initiating a simple expense reimbursement process to fulfilling a more complex procurement process, often times these business activities are cumbersome and manually executed. What if you can automate these? Not only will it save you time and be more efficient, it can provide consistency and set predictable expectations. Here are four steps to help you best automate common business processes:
1. Identify low hanging fruits: Don't go off and look for complex business processes to automate. Start with something relatively simple but cumbersome that you do on a regular basis, such as creating a monthly expense report for your team where your team members send you tons of spreadsheets via email and you have to manually collect and summarize the information.
2. Visualize business process: Once you identify a business process that you want to automate, map out what the process flow looks like and identify tools that you need to fulfill this process. If necessary, engage a colleague to help you in this exercise. A great way to do this is to draw a swim lane diagram. The beauty of visually illustrating a business process is that it clearly shows how the process works and, more importantly, define roles and responsibilities of the individuals involved.
3. Maximize your technology investment: Let me be clear, I am not talking about email - there are better tools that you can utilize to automate your business processes. Most organizations today have invested in SharePoint and, unfortunately, it has turned out to be nothing more than a glorified network share. Did you know that you can automate the process defined in your swim lane diagram with SharePoint workflows? In fact, if you have a well-established SharePoint environment and want to get a better handle on lifecycle management which may include site creation, user management and policy automation, check out how DocAve Governance Automation can help.
4. Measure success: How will you know if automating your business process was effective? A good way to do this is to demonstrate what you've gained in terms of time, cost savings, and even business opportunities now that the process is automated compared to the manual and cumbersome method before.
Realize that automating business processes is an iterative process. You don't stop at one. Carry on and look for the next business process you can automate so you'll be on your way to mastering efficiency.
With over 20 years of business and technology experience, Dux has driven organizational transformations worldwide with his ability to simplify complex ideas and deliver relevant solutions. He serves as the Chief Brand Officer of AvePoint who has authored the LinkedIn Learning course How to Build Your Personal Brand, the book SharePoint for Project Management, as well as numerous whitepapers and articles.
As a public speaker, Dux has delivered engaging, interactive presentations to more than 25,000 people at leading industry events around the world. He also hosts the modern workplace podcast #shifthappens that focuses on how leading organizations navigated their business transformation journey. Dux advocates tirelessly for inclusion, using technology for good, and philanthropic initiatives.
Connect with him: http://dux.sy
