What Happens When You Automate Your Business Processes

Creating and organizing a firm’s processes is not easy; it requires a lot of work and persistence, but it’s worth it. Once all business processes within an organization have been mapped out and designed to work together, everybody on the team will interact like a beautiful symphony. Less time will be spent wondering about missing pieces, and more time will be spent foreseeing future problems and thinking about strategy and innovating.

Streamlined business processes are highly beneficial to any firm. It makes all the difference in the world when everybody is working together.

1. Better Organization

When the team is working within designed and scheduled processes, it is much less likely for things to fall through the cracks. The idea is that everything that is recurrent is laid out and recorded so that the processes will practically run themselves (see my blog posts on processes to get you started: The Benefits of Implementing Processes in Your Business and How to Improve and Grow Your Business with Effective Processes).

They are designed to include all the main operational tasks and should fit carefully together like a puzzle. Everybody stays on the same page with clear and delegated tasks on what to do and when to do it; it is all defined by the procedures. When they are choreographed, processes help teams organize and work together.

2. Clarity and Ownership

With clearly defined processes in the company, no one needs to spend time worrying about each person’s individual responsibilities. This clear delineation is especially helpful when a new person joins the team, as the expectations are laid out. The training period will be shorter, and the new person will be able to take possession of the new responsibilities sooner.

When you are not spending valuable time wondering if everything is getting done or worrying about putting out preventable fires, it frees up time to think and take ownership of the entire job. Work can get done quicker and easier with less time spent thinking about the potential what- ifs.

3. Effective Time Management

Automation allows a company to eliminate steps and execute processes in less time. The first time you execute the steps within a new procedure, everything has to be manual and thought out individually. This is, of course, very time-consuming. Once processes are laid out and executed at predictable intervals, they become routine and are done faster.

Because these processes are designed, the procedures cut duplicate tasks and redundancies that naturally occur when growth is organic. When I was first implementing processes at our firm, I found different time-wasters, like two people executing the same task or tasks that would take longer than necessary because they included unnecessary steps. All of these can be streamlined for efficiency.

4. Better Results

Clear and consistent procedures produce reliable results. These processes are the machines on which the team depends on to run the company successfully. If the apparatus is attentively designed, well- oiled, and functioning correctly, it will yield the expected product. With a sound foundation, this machine can be easily tweaked and improved to produce even better results.

Suppose your business is a bakery, and you have a wonderful cookie recipe. Your procedure for making the process of baking a cookie follows these steps:

• Person A: Bake 100 cookies following “Famous Cookie Recipe.”

• Person B: Place cookies in trays and then on shelves to sell.

Now, it turns out that you want to add chocolate chip cookies to the recipe and pack them in boxes because some people prefer them as a take-out order. The process would now look like this:

• Person A: Bake 100 cookies following “Famous Cookie Recipe with Chocolate Chips.”

• Person B: Place 50 cookies in trays and then on shelves to sell.

• Person B: Place 50 cookies in 10 to-go boxes (5 cookies per box) and then on shelves to sell.

The product is now improved, and it was much easier to do so with clear and documented steps.

5. Data and Tracking

To manage your processes, I recommend a project management software, such as Trello, or a business process management platform, such as Kissflow. Trello, for example, is free to start, so the initial cost only includes the time spent setting up your account. Once the business procedures are up on these types of platforms, they will provide data and track the procedures and how often they are performed. This information will be useful in improving the practices themselves and in working better as a team.

6. Cultural Shift

When everybody is on the same page, the tasks are more visible. Execution is easier and individual responsibilities are clearer than without them. Soon, people can collaborate more smoothly so that everything gets done when it needs to be accomplished. Also, as people see the value of having reminders for tasks that would otherwise be easily lost, they start making sure that they are constantly updated and improved. The processes, therefore, become more and more robust and detailed, eliminating room for error or misstep.

Get the Benefits of Automating Your Business’ Processes Today

With the help of designed business processes, a firm can become more like a well-oiled machine. The team will all be working for the same goal, on the same page, and getting the same results. Happy organizing!