What slows down employee productivity? If you say there’s nothing wrong and everything’s going like clockwork, that’s great! But, if your employees are still doing most of their day-to-day work manually, you may have overlooked the root of what slows them down the most. Instead of sitting down and doing as much work as they can from nine to five, employees are often derailed by admin tasks like filing paperwork or setting up appointments. Even you can be distracted by signing requests or delegating Workplace Tasks as a manager or owner.
Enter automation; a concept that complements the human element in modern workplaces so employees can focus on doing their actual tasks. Automation comes in many forms, but it commonly appears as software or programs that reduce most manual processes to save time and boost productivity in a company.
You can apply automation in different ways. And to help you out, this guide will provide examples of some workplace tasks and processes you can automate.
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1. HR Workplace Tasks
The human resources department experiences more admin tasks than any other team in the workplace. They need to keep track of attendance, evaluate performance, and acquire new talent. While those tasks are all in HR’s field, automation can assume responsibility for some steps to complete tasks. For instance, HR won’t have a hard time tracking leave requests because the system automatically updates the employee’s leave records, minus all the stacks of paperwork.
Other HR tasks that you can automate include standardizing forms, hiring and onboarding, timekeeping, and performance tracking.
2. Accounting
Accounting is a crucial field that many companies still prefer doing traditionally. However, manual accounting takes too much time and is prone to human error, leading to severe bookkeeping headaches. Automated accounting helps complete all manual tasks involved in the area. So, instead of processing invoices, payments, and approvals, your accountants can focus on keeping the books in check and compliant.
3. Posting On Social Media
Today, social media continues to be one of the best marketing tools used by companies of different sizes worldwide. It has become such a booming industry that there are now professionals whose sole purpose is to create excellent campaigns online. Unfortunately, posting can be tedious, especially if one has to post manually at a specific time and day. There are cases where others forget and bump the post far from the targeted period, possibly affecting the wow factor of the campaign.
Your team can schedule your brand’s social media posts weeks in advance with modern social media tools. There’s no need to set reminders every time they need to post something because they can do it all in one sitting. Plus, some tools can help brands manage multiple accounts on one platform. So, when your team needs to start a campaign, they won’t have to transfer tab after tab just to put up an update.
4. Backing Up Data
With every business going more digital, the threat of cyberattacks continues to evolve. Different forms of malware threaten to corrupt or delete vital data, and most of them are getting harder and harder to detect. This is why data backup is essential. But, the problem is that manually backing up data takes time, especially if you’re doing it in bulk.
Automatic backup software helps prevent data loss by keeping the data secure without the hassle of copying and pasting everything yourself.
5. Scheduling Meetings
Imagine your employee going around, making too many calls, and sending emails to notify people of an upcoming meeting. Exhausting, right? Plus, what if that employee forgets to invite someone important?
When remote work and video conferencing boomed during the pandemic, companies realized that setting up meetings and sending invites was easier with automated scheduling platforms. These programs allow people to set or approve appointments, so there are no more back-and-forths in the office or via email.
6. Assigning a Task
You don’t always have to be face-to-face with your team members to delegate tasks. You can notify them online through task management programs. These will help you assign tasks, set deadlines, and inform employees even while you’re still on the road. You can also track what’s on everyone’s plate and assess turnaround time, which helps if you’re looking to assign more work.
If you’re offering repair or maintenance services, for example, you can use a work order software to streamline task assignments. This will make field work more efficient, as it allows your team to be always on the go, without lugging around tons of paperwork and making side trips to the office. Other notable features of this software include workflow automation, team communication, and asset management.
7. Customer Service
Customer inquiries are important. But, sometimes, they seem more like a detour for agents who want to focus on urgent client problems. Thanks to automated customer service tools, like AI or keyword chatbots, simple questions or requests can be attended to without the need for human involvement to reduce the workload of your specialists.
Do More With Automation
Automation is a welcomed concept in modern workplaces today. It saves time by stepping in for employees on repetitive tasks that slow down their productivity, allowing them to do more work. You may think that one little task only takes a few minutes, and there’s no need for such tools. But you want your employees to maximize their time doing their actual work, making automation a fantastic, beneficial addition.
