Intelligent Automation has grown from a buzzword to a transformative force for organizations looking to streamline their operations. In one study 71% of respondents agreed that automation is an increased priority with strong C-suite sponsorship.
While statistics show a surge in adoption, businesses must acknowledge the holistic need for buy-in at every level — from top executives to boots-on-the-ground employees. The fear that automation equates to replacement has bred job security concerns. To harness the true potential of these technologies, organizations need to start with an intelligent automation strategy mapped to their goals and embraced across the business.
This post outlines six concrete steps your organization can take when developing your strategy to integrate intelligent automation successfully.
Set Great Goals for Your Intelligent Automation
The importance of effective goal setting can’t be undersold when you’re planning to adopt any new technology. Businesses must be explicit about why they are adopting intelligent automation, and what specifically they hope to achieve.
Goals provide direction and definition, aligning new tools with business objectives and even more importantly, aligning all your individual team members involved in the adoption. Often, intelligent automation is geared towards enhancing customer satisfaction, delivering cost take out, improving operational efficiency, and refining data analysis for better decision-making.
Understanding what you hope to achieve can help you select the right intelligent automation tools and partners to help you make it happen. When your team understands “the why” behind the automation, buy-in is natural, leading to a cohesive effort for its incorporation.
Figure out your Intelligent Automation Strategy from Implementation to Iteration
Once you have your goals clearly defined, socialized, and documented, the next thing to consider is the development of your intelligent automation strategy. The foundation of any successful adoption program is a plan that outlines the trajectory from conception to continuous improvement. Whatever team is leading the Intelligent Automation program should take the time to carefully document and understand the current workflows that are in place, to ensure their new solutions fit well within the context of operations.
Having a complete picture of the current processes allows the team to determine what will be automated in this strategy. From there, picking the right tools becomes vital as a misalignment at this stage could lead to setbacks later on. Beyond picking the right tech stack, attention must be given to onboarding processes for the teams who will be using it and providing robust support, and a willingness to tweak the system iteratively for enhanced performance. The key to this phase is recognizing ROI potentials and estimated time frames for ramping up.
Planning for change management and communications is also an essential part of the strategy because it supports the overall success of the initiative. Who owns onboarding, training, and ongoing support? How will optimization be tackled? There’s a lot that goes into this critical phase, and an experienced partner versed in Intelligent Automation consulting often helps teams maximize their time to value.
Invest in Talent and Training
Investing in talent and training is just as crucial for the success of intelligent automation as selecting the right technology and tools. To ensure your team can harness the full potential of the new systems, focus on cultivating their capabilities through upskilling and education. You may even consider the integration of new staff who already have the expertise in managing automation to support your team’s goals.
Additionally, collaboration with consultants who provide onboarding and training can significantly empower your team and is often the standard approach for value-conscious organizations. Such strategic partnerships not only accelerate the learning curve but also pave the way for a more rapid journey from initial adoption to full-fledged optimization of intelligent automation within your business.
Start Small and Work Up
The temptation to automate at scale can be overwhelming but starting small bears fruit in the long run. Pilot projects provide a low-stakes environment for testing, garnering feedback, and illustrating the tangible benefits of automation to the broader team.
Starting with smaller-scale projects and beta tests offers a practical approach for your team to grasp how the technology functions in real-world scenarios, beyond theoretical knowledge. The most successful teams think big, but start small to move fast and keep time to value at a minimum.
Early successes at smaller scales are also a precursor and confidence booster for organization-wide implementation. This hands-on experience is invaluable in showing the tangible value and impact that automation can bring to the organization’s operations. By focusing on limited-scope initiatives, teams can explore and test the capabilities of the technology in a controlled environment, which significantly reduces risk.
This stage also provides an opportunity to gather critical feedback from early users. Armed with this input, improvements and adjustments can be made to ensure that when the time comes for a broader rollout, the technology is fine-tuned and optimized to meet the wider team’s needs and expectations effectively.
Set KPIs and Metrics for Success
What gets measured gets managed. Defining clear KPIs and metrics is the first step to tracking the success of intelligent automation initiatives. These metrics should be built forward from the preliminary goals you’ve set, whether they be cost savings, productivity boosts, error reduction, or customer-oriented metrics like satisfaction scores and NPS improvements.
One of the secrets to great KPIs is great benchmarking, so make sure to establish a baseline for comparison before you start implementing your Intelligent Automation tools so that you can effectively measure your own success. Your KPIs can also drive decision-making when it comes to iteration and optimization by arming your team with data on what’s working well and what has room to improve.
Iterate Over Time
Automation is not a project with a beginning and an end, but rather it is a cyclical process that creates compounding value over time. To realize this exponential growth in value, organizations have to commit to reassessing and refining their automation strategies. Find a cadence that works for your team, and do your best to stick to it.
Consistency is key, especially when rolling out new systems disruptively can do more harm than good. Organizations should evolve their practices progressively, listening to both the data and their internal user teams, and build on the successes they achieve rather than chasing technology trends.
Conclusion
Adopting intelligent automation is a game-changer for businesses looking to thrive and grow, but successful adoption is not without its challenges. Having subject matter experts and a strong partnership with experienced IA consultants can significantly ease this transition, cultivating an environment that fosters short time to value and long-term ROI through ongoing optimization.
