Technology has slowly integrated itself into almost every facet of our lives. We are beginning to recognize automation as the norm. Self-driving cars are taking up the road. Groceries can be ordered and delivered from the comfort of your home. You can control smart appliances from your phone.

Automation technology simplifies your personal life and should extend to your professional life too.

What is Automation?

To establish the role that automation technology can have in your work life, it’s essential to understand what exactly automation is.

Simply put, automation is the implementation of a system that completes easily replicated tasks. Once you’ve found a task that you’re regularly repeating that doesn’t require extensive thought or creativity, there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to teach a computer how to automate it.

Automation Works in Every Department

Almost every department in every company has at least one process that could be improved with automation. There are countless systems on the market that are built for specific departments, while others offer solutions to tedious processes for organizations as a whole. They can be as broad or as specific as your needs are.

Here are some examples of how tasks can be automated in various departments:

-HR—Automate FMLA requests to be routed directly to the HR manager, employee, or medical professional

-Customer Service—Automate customer inquiries with an AI chatbot

-Marketing—Automate emails based on an action that a lead has taken

-Sales—Automate research on leads to make future contact with them seamless

Benefits of Automation

With a little imagination, you’d be surprised at what you can automate within your organization. Beyond simplifying tedious processes, automation technology offers many advantages to your company.

Productive Employees

Automating processes will greatly impact your employees because they won’t be stuck on the slow and tedious work any longer. They will get to focus solely on their role’s key responsibilities, which is what they had in mind when they took the job. And when they are doing the job that meets their expectations, they’ll likely stay more engaged and hard-working.

As your employees turn away from tasks that can be done just as easily by a computer, they can refine their skills like creativity and leadership for the work that really matters to the business. By giving employees these opportunities, they will stay happy and more productive.

Engaged and happy employees will set your company up for growth and success.

Save Money

Cost is one of the biggest factors that stops companies from utilizing automation technology. There are countless available options, but the most robust systems often come with a high price tag. What many companies have yet to realize is that effectively using automation technology comes with a high return on investment, which will completely cover the system cost.

We’ve already determined that automation technology can boost employee productivity, so think about what that means for your company’s revenue. If employees are able to turn all of their attention to the revenue-generating tasks that their job entails, they will be able to master it quickly and find an efficient work process.

Standardize All Processes

Everyone does things a little differently, so by using automation technology for your repetitive tasks, you can standardize your processes. This will be very beneficial to your company as you bring on new hires and roles change.

Automation systems also record the standardized processes so you can pinpoint exactly where its weak spots are. You can also make a minimal change and easily see how it affects the outcome. This means that you can play around to find the most efficient workflow.

Automation really is today’s technology. The transition from manual to automated processes may seem difficult, but all you need is to find a small problem to get started. Once you’ve identified your repetitive and time-consuming tasks, it’s time to see how automation technology can work for you.

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Katie Casaday is a marketing content writer at eFileCabinet where she specializes in computer software and document management topics. She graduated from Utah State University with a BA in Global Communication. She has experience writing about B2B technology companies and besides enjoying writing, she loves nature and taking hikes with her companion, a Border Collie named Margo.