Introduction
We usually have some routine tasks at work that we repeat every day. You might consider them as part of your job, but it can save a lot of time if these tasks get automated. Task Automation means letting repetitive tasks run in the background through automation so that a person can concentrate on other meaningful tasks. Task Automation benefits by increasing the efficiency and overall productivity of an organization. In this article, you will read about the mundane tasks you can automate and the steps to achieve that.
Types of Tasks to Automate
You might have a number of routine tasks, but automating all of them might not prove valuable to your work. Below are some tasks you can easily cross off your list by automating them.
Scheduling an appointment
Instead of talking to your client to find the best time for a meeting, share the free slots you have in your calendar. There are various automation tools that can help you with this.
Boring
Some tasks need high-order thinking. These include responding to the emails, invoicing & billing, updating contact information, backing up the data, and more. Instead of manually performing these regular tasks, you can automate them.
Tasks that take essential time
There are certain tasks that seem important but consume much of your time, such as social media posting. You cannot skip such tasks, as these promote your brand by engaging the audience. You can consider automating them.
Steps to Automate Routine Tasks
Task Automation has many benefits at the individual as well as organization level. Before diving directly into automation, you need to figure out the tasks to automate and consider certain factors, such as budget, time, tools to use, and more. Let us proceed step-wise with the automation process of the routine work. Refer to the below steps to see how you can automate everyday tasks and manage your time more efficiently.
Step 1: Make a list of daily tasks
Start writing a list of tasks that you have to perform regularly. Also, note down the time spent on each task. You can add the frequency at which each task you perform daily. It can be hourly, daily, or weekly. You can ease this by using a spreadsheet or an Excel and adding the columns, viz., tasks, time spent, frequency, tools, and optimal solutions. Now, analyze these tasks, find out how regularly these tasks are getting performed, and find the ones you can automate.
Step 2: Explore
Once you are clear with the tasks you need to automate, spend some time exploring the perfect automating tools for them. You can research according to your needs and budgets. For example, you can go for a tool created for enterprises if you are working as part of an organization.
Step 3: Map it out
This step involves the making of visual representation and how you will perform your automation. In this step, you will be finding out the workflow to follow while automating the tasks. You can use a whiteboard, a slide deck, a mind mapping application, or a Word document to note down the workflow.
Step 4: Implement the plan
Now is the time to implement your plan. Based on the tasks you are automating, the complexity of automation may vary. You may need an IT team to help you create and execute the plan you have created. If you are using the No Code Tool for automation, your work will be a little easier.
Step 5: Test
Once you have built your workflow, it is time to test and analyze its effectiveness. You can get aid from your team members to check if you are able to save time using this automation workflow. Testing will also assure that your tasks are getting completed accurately and successfully. In addition to that, you can find out how comfortable people are using this workflow and figure out the profits your organization makes by saving this time.
Step 6: Maintenance
Once you have completed the automation and are using this automation workflow, you should update it regularly. Your routine tasks list might expand with time, and you might want to automate them as well. You should be able to automate those tasks and integrate with the current automation workflow, making your automation workflow easy to maintain.
Conclusion
To conclude, Task Automation is beneficial and essential that ensures you are making use of your valuable time at work wisely. You need to find some time to automate your monotonous tasks and stop wasting hours on them. The article has explained the steps you need to follow while automating your routine tasks and various tasks that you can automate. So, use this information and get more productive and innovative at your work.