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Exeter Finance
Can I Automate Everything - A Field Guide to Optimize How we Work
Why How We Work Is Important
For a minute, stop and think about how often you wash dishes or clothes (or perhaps how often they are done for you). What about how often you drink a cup of coffee? In all these things, automation is there to expedite the process for us. Reoccurring things that happen often and do not change much that would otherwise consume significant time from our days. Now follow me to the workplace where many similar things exist, some automated and some not. There are certain of the latter we do either out of habit or because we are unable to realize the tools exist to free up more of our time for more important things. We need more time to focus on the important things that make a business successful.
What Automation Can Do For Us
Machines are good at static, repetitive tasks. The same things over and over; the mundane. In software delivery, we have DevOps for this. In the back office, automation often comes in the form of spreadsheets that calculate and store the same information over months or years. It is everywhere and all around us, if we slow down and take the time to observe it.
People are good at pattern matching and making customized decisions, problem-solving and strategic thinking. We see differences and similarities and can translate data into information that can be used to create something new or position a business into a competitive advantage.
While machines can be made to simulate this type of thinking, it is a lot of work to make that possible and yet they still do not reason like we do; they are unable to perform across an array of situations like the human brain can.
Where Automation Can Help Us
So where does automation fit into my organization? Start with the routine and mundane tasks that have the most value; either that value will be in some added benefit, or simply a cost reduction by giving time back to the personnel doing it. I usually look at things like monthly reporting and accounting. Less frequent things like audit and regulatory filings often follow. Onboarding and offboarding employees and contractors are another good one that not only expedites that process but indeed improves the employee experience. Automate as many of those things as you can which will allow your people to focus on making smart business decisions and now, they will have time to focus on those things. If you get through all of that, then you can certainly focus on more complex scenarios or change your focus to more bespoke areas of the business.
What Kind of Automation Tools Do I Need
Once you have identified the tasks to automate, it is time to decide how to do it. Generally, one buys something think Microsoft Excel for spreadsheets or one will build it in-house. I recommend buying the tool for basic things, especially wellknown activities like back office and accounting. There are plenty of people who know that space better than we do which keeps us focused on our business specifics. DevOps and Cyber Security are other good tools to buy.
But sometimes you run into tasks that are unique to how your people work, whether it is in creating audit artifacts from source systems or offboarding employees from various system access based on job title. Often, those are prime candidates to create something specific to your situation. These things require automation specialists who know how to integrate systems. What technology is used in the integration largely depends on business platforms and also the skills of the people doing the work. PowerShell works very well for many things in a Windows enviroment. Bash works similarly well for others. Some people prefer to use formal coding languages like python or .Net. There are many ways to be successful with it, so do not get stuck on anything specific. You will find more success finding the right people who have an automation mindset and let them help you decide the technology stack.
How Much Automation Do I Need?
At the extreme end, the Pareto principle tells us that automating 80% of our tasks are doing very well. However, for most especially those of us who are knowledge workers it is likely to be less than that. The important thing is to focus on the routine things that take time away from the important decisions and strategic thinking that make our businesses successful. If you eliminate those, the number no longer matters, because you are now optimized to add the most business value.
The success is not in the automation, but rather when the people are freed up to have mental capacity for discovering patterns and picking winners and then finalizing those smart decisions. When that happens, the automation is truly rewarding.
