How to boost productivity with process mapping and automation

Why process automation?

Process automation software helps you set up your workflows so that routine tasks get executed automatically, saving time and resources while avoiding errors. For example, when a new customer creates an account with you, automation software can immediately send a welcome email and enter the customer’s information into a database. This way, no one has to remember to do the small things that can make a big difference in the long run.   

The benefits of process automation include:

• Avoiding human error, as automation software won’t forget tasks or execute them ineffectively 

• Ensuring consistency, so that each time one task is completed, the same one follows

• Speeding things up, as employees will no longer have to spend valuable hours doing repetitive, tedious jobs

• Freeing up staff time for more creative and fulfilling work, which can help improve morale and big-picture thinking

• Improve collaboration, as automation software can send alerts when someone’s left feedback on a document or completed a specific task

Use cases for process automation include: 

• Invoice processing, as automation software can pull the relevant data and route it to the appropriate staff member for approval

• Capturing and organizing customer information, such as contact information and purchase history, will avoid time spent doing manual data entry 

• Customer support, such as sending automatic responses to frequently asked questions or quickly categorizing a request and routing it to the correct staffer

Many businesses benefit from process mapping and automation; in fact, one helps the other succeed. Process mapping enables you to understand where the bottlenecks are in a process, for instance, while automation can help resolve them. Therefore, they work hand in hand to optimize and streamline everything you do.

Some software tools work well together, too, allowing you to design a workflow in one and select which aspects of that workflow should trigger an automatic process in the other. This way, planning each process and executing some elements of the process can happen almost simultaneously, making the whole effort even more efficient.

Examples of how process mapping and automation can work together include:

• Employee onboarding. Design a comprehensive process for bringing new employees up to speed, from the day they’re hired until they complete the necessary training. Automate some aspects of that process, such as automatically scheduling a welcome lunch or entering new employee data into the payroll system. 

• Regulatory compliance. Certain companies, such as healthcare organizations or businesses that accept credit card payments, have regulatory standards to meet. Designing a process flow chart that takes those standards into account, and then automating some tasks associated with that flow chart, means that nothing will get lost or forgotten. You can also set up automatic alerts for if and when those regulations change. 

• Digital marketing. Create an optimized process map that includes all the tasks involved from ad placements to a successful sale. Automate some aspects of the process, such as categorizing customer information or sending a follow-up note to keep customers returning. 

Many businesses want to do more with less—to “work smarter, not harder.” Mapping processes and automating routine tasks both go a long way toward that goal. Using diagramming and automation tools together can truly save you time, money and effort.