How to Improve Team Efficiency Through Process Automation and Analysis
Leverage process automation and analysis to elevate team efficiency. Here’s how.
As economic uncertainty grows and organizations continue to struggle to attract new talent, teams must become more efficient so they can do more with the staff they have. Increasingly, organizations are turning to digital tools to help with this—however, this means employees must learn to work with new platforms, which can be difficult if they are already stretched thin. Khadim Batti, CEO and co-founder of Whatfix, discusses how automating and analyzing processes can help speed user adoption, further enabling team efficiency.
The United States economy once again finds itself on the precipice of trouble. Financial experts believe the economy is poised to enter a recession in the next six to nine months as the COVID-19 pandemic, continuing supply chain problems, the fallout from a war in Europe, and continued high inflation linger. While these macroeconomic trends will continue to impact businesses globally, this will also empower enterprises to focus on only investing in technology that will drive increased value for them.
At the same time, the unemployment rate remains low, with many industries struggling to attract talent despite numerous job openings. For example, healthcare, cybersecurity, software development, and engineering-focused roles currently face low unemployment and high employee turnover. This structure leaves companies in a bind as they face an uncertain economic future with an already depleted staff.
Employers have already started asking employees to do more with less. However, employers also know they cannot push too hard without potentially alienating those that remain or losing additional staff. Instead, businesses must focus on what they can do to improve employee efficiency. To help their employees be most productive, employers need to empower them with modern digital tools and the training required to maximize their results. In turn, this will provide improved outcomes for the organization, and further advance employee skill sets.
Accelerate Your Digital Transformation
Most large enterprises find themselves in an ongoing digital transformation program, with important projects either underway or about to begin and other initiatives planned for a future date. While there is a natural desire to slow technology investments and digital transformation during uncertain economic times, innovative organizations will strategically use this as a time to invest in high-return opportunities.
Businesses should accelerate digital transformation programs and leverage new data sources to identify user issues that hinder success. However, this is no easy undertaking: 70% of all digital transformation programs fail due to employee resistance and lack of management support.
Some organizations might balk at these high failure rates. However, while digital transformations can be complex, it’s important to remember that failure often stems from poor planning, training, and employee understanding. Digital transformation is not just about adopting a new technology tool but also creating processes and practices that leverage analytics and automation to bring about a fundamental change that will improve employees’ work.
Additionally, organizations must consider each aspect of the transformation, especially how their team will react. Employees need to understand the change and be able to provide feedback as the plan developers. They also need proper resources to acclimate to new technologies and tools, which leaders often overlook.
See More: How Automated Processes Enable Timely Market Research
Overcome Transformation Challenges
Organizations prioritizing digital transformation during this time want to ensure proper outcomes in employee efficiency and streamlined business processes. To achieve this, these leaders must understand that digital transformation initiatives with a clear structure and rollout plan have the best opportunity for success. Let’s consider some best practices that teams can employ when planning for a digital transformation.
- Leverage automation: Automation helps team members improve productivity, removing many mundane or routine tasks. As a result, team members can focus on larger initiatives requiring a human touch and ultimately advance their skill sets. This provides organizations with a more skilled team, which in turn allows the company to set more advanced goals.
- Utilize training tools: Training new hires to learn the digital platforms they need to succeed is paramount to the success of digital transformation. Digital adoption platforms can help properly onboard, train, and support employees to empower them to use systems to their maximum capabilities. These platforms can offer interactive walkthroughs, product tours, more personalized support, and an embedded knowledge base to speed up employee adoption. With proper real-time training on the tools they use every day, employees will feel more capable and better prepared to succeed in their roles. The adoption of the tool will also be better as employees will not shy away from using the tool when needed – thanks to the real-time guidance of digital adoption platforms.
- Secure leadership buy-in: Having employee buy-in is critical for a digital transformation initiative’s success. However, that can be difficult to achieve if the executives aren’t aligned. Ensure the leadership team understands the significance and benefits of the digital transformation efforts and empower them to lead by example. If the executive team leads the charge to use the new digital tools and encourages their reports to do the same, the transition will be smooth and have a greater chance of success.
- Maintain focus on the business goals: During an economic downturn, getting value from every area is critical. Think about the reasons behind the digital transformation and ensure they remain aligned with customer needs, eliminate pain points and friction areas in your offerings, and make work easier for employees. It can be tempting to adopt a wide variety of new tools that promise the latest and greatest technological advancements. However, these tools all require an investment, and with multiple new tools, these can compound to become a larger strain on organizations’ budgets.
- Remember to stay agile: Digital transformation is a complex journey, so it’s important to be agile. Don’t be afraid of new processes and tools or to re-examine more established policies to see if they can be improved. Pivot from the larger transformation plan if needed and continue to check in with the organization’s goals to ensure they still align with the organization’s needs.
See More: How to Use Automated, Agile Processes for Application Modernization
The Path Forward
The next few years present a unique challenge. Financial recessions bring uncertainty, worry, and concern that can travel through an organization. The companies prioritizing digital transformation and growth efforts will set themselves up for a long and prosperous future.
Technology has an incredible way of leveling the playing field, providing businesses with cutting-edge tools to help them operate efficiently. Digital transformation presents a tremendous opportunity, even during difficult times, especially if your organization comes prepared. Use this time to be bold. Do not be afraid of the unknown; look at your organization and what processes and operations can be improved. In return, you will be rewarded with increased employee productivity, overall improvements in efficiency and better positioning for organizational success.
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