Automating the Mundane

In my last article, I talked about why we should take a human-first approach to AI in the workplace. Now, let’s look at how we can put this into practice, starting with automating boring, repetitive tasks while keeping our focus on the bigger picture of changing our business for the better.

Two Ways to Bring AI into Your Business

Automating routine tasks can give us quick wins and make things more efficient. But it’s important to remember that this is just one part of a full AI strategy.

Let’s look at how we can use task automation as a first step towards bigger AI projects that could really change how we do business:

1. Matching with Your Business Goals: Before you automate any task, think about how it fits with your overall business plan. How does this automation help you reach your long-term goals?
2. Creating Unique Data Sets: As you automate tasks, think about how the data you collect could be valuable. This data could give you a big advantage over your competitors in the future.
3. Freeing Up People for New Ideas: By automating boring tasks, you’re not just making things more efficient – you’re giving your team more time to focus on creative work that can really change your business.
4. Learning About AI: Get your leadership team involved. This can be a practical way to help everyone understand AI better, getting them ready for bigger AI projects in the future.

What Can We Automate?

Every industry has repetitive tasks. These tasks are often necessary but can drain your team’s energy and creativity. By automating these tasks, we can help our team focus on more meaningful and innovative work. Here are a few examples:

• Data Entry: There are overworked, highly paid and qualified medical professionals spending hours inputting patient information. Crucial? Yes. The best use of their expertise? Probably not!
• Invoice Processing: Our accounting team are creating and sending invoices for the umpteenth time. Important, but hardly inspiring.
• Email Sorting: Customer service teams wading through 15 different inboxes daily. We can make that easier or even go away altogether.
• Inventory Management: Retail businesses constantly track and update inventory, a task that AI can streamline massively.
• Report Generation: Sales teams frequently create and format reports, which AI can handle with ease.

Further down, I’ve included a longer list of 30 repetitive tasks from across various industries, and included details of the specific tools you can use to automate them. [Link]

How to Choose Tasks for Automation

When deciding which tasks to automate with AI, it’s important to balance quick efficiency gains with long-term strategic value. Here are some things to think about, keeping in mind both how happy your employees are and the potential for creating valuable data:

• Repetitiveness: Tasks that are performed frequently and in a similar manner each time are prime candidates.
• Rule-based: If a task follows a clear set of rules or procedures, it’s likely automatable.
• Data-intensive: Tasks involving large amounts of data processing are well-suited for AI.
• Low complexity: While AI can handle complex tasks, starting with simpler ones often yields quicker wins.
• High volume: Tasks that consume a significant amount of time across the organisation offer the most impactful automation opportunities.
• Employee Satisfaction: Tasks that employees dislike or find tedious are prime candidates for automation to improve job satisfaction and morale.
• Error-prone: Tasks with a high likelihood of human error are excellent candidates for automation, as AI can perform them more consistently and accurately.

To systematically evaluate and prioritise these tasks, we use the COMPLETE™ Framework, which balances key factors to ensure optimal automation outcomes. COMPLETE™ stands for:

• Complexity: How hard it is to automate the task.
• Occurrence (Frequency): How often the task needs to be done.
• Monetary Investment (Allocation): How much time and money the task costs.
• Priority (Client Importance): How important it is to the client that a real human does the task.
• Likability (Affect): How much the employee likes or dislikes the task.
• Error Reduction: How much AI can reduce mistakes compared to humans doing the task.
• Time Savings (Resource Savings Potential): How much time AI can save by doing the task.
• Efficiency: How much overall efficiency is gained from automating the task.

By carefully using these criteria and the COMPLETE™ Framework, we can figure out which tasks to automate first. This ensures that we get the most out of both immediate efficiency and long-term strategic value. Remember, the goal isn’t just to automate tasks. We want to use automation as a starting point for bigger AI projects that can give your business a lasting edge over competitors.

The Psychological Benefits of Automation

Automating mundane tasks isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about improving employee well-being and job satisfaction. Here’s how:

• Reduced burnout: Freeing employees from repetitive tasks can significantly reduce mental fatigue and burnout.
• Increased engagement: When freed from mundane work, employees can engage in more meaningful, creative tasks that leverage their unique human skills.
• Sense of progress: Automation can give employees a sense that their work is evolving and becoming more sophisticated.
• Improved self-esteem: Focusing on higher-level tasks can boost employees’ sense of value and importance to the organisation.
• Consistency and Accuracy: Reducing the likelihood of human error.

Reducing Human Error

While humans excel at creative and strategic thinking, we’re prone to errors when performing repetitive tasks. AI automation can significantly reduce these errors:

• Consistency: AI performs tasks the same way every time, eliminating variations that can lead to errors.
• Tirelessness: Unlike humans, AI doesn’t get tired or distracted, maintaining accuracy even over long periods.
• Data handling: AI can process and cross-reference large amounts of data without mistakes.
• Compliance: In regulated industries, AI can ensure that all required steps are followed consistently.

Uncovering New Insights

Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of automating mundane tasks is the potential to uncover new insights:

• Pattern recognition: AI can identify patterns in data that humans might miss, leading to new business insights.
• Predictive analytics: By processing historical data, AI can make predictions about future trends or outcomes.
• Resource optimization: AI can analyze how time and resources are spent, identifying areas for improvement.
• Customer insights: Automated processing of customer interactions can reveal trends in preferences or pain points.

Conclusion

Automating mundane tasks frees up time for what we do best: creative thinking, strategic planning, and building relationships. By identifying suitable tasks for automation, organisations can boost efficiency, reduce errors, improve employee satisfaction, and potentially uncover valuable new insights.

As we move forward in an AI-augmented world, the question how to automate in a way that enhances human potential and drives innovation. The future of work is humans using AI to create something greater than they could achieve alone.