Are you tired of manual processes slowing your team down? Discover how automation can revolutionize your business efficiency and productivity.
Automation is transforming the way we work. According to McKinsey, for 60% of jobs in the US, 30% or more of daily tasks could be automated using current or soon-to-be-available technologies. That’s equivalent to saving a day and a half’s worth of work every week.
By taking advantage of automation, you can not only become more efficient, productive, and consistent, but also scale your business while remaining agile.
In this guide, we’ll explore what processes you should automate, and how to do it in six simple steps. But first, let’s discuss why you should automate business processes in the first place.
Why should I automate manual processes?
Digital transformation is going to continue at pace—and businesses need to adapt to keep up. Some of the ways that business process automation benefits teams of all sizes and industries include:
- Improved efficiency and productivity—significantly reduce the time and effort required to complete manual tasks
- Competitive advantage—outperform your competitors by delivering products or services faster and at a lower cost
- Decreased human error—ensure better consistency and accuracy, and reduce the likelihood of errors in previously manual tasks like data entry, calculations, and reporting
- Simplified workflows—reduce bottlenecks by eliminating unnecessary steps, consolidating processes, and facilitating better communication and collaboration
- Better compliance—standardize compliance procedures to ensure your company adheres to the relevant regulations and guidelines of your industry
Overall, automating business processes can enable a better customer experience, improved decision-making, and reduced inefficiencies.
What processes should I automate?
Some of the processes users should consider automating include:
- Sending files and documents
- Gathering eSignatures
- Backing up files
- Syncing between devices
- Time-sensitive file sharing—set expiration dates for your shared links so you don’t have to manually revoke access to files and folders
Furthermore, look to tasks that are time-sensitive, necessary for compliance and audit trails, or significant to the success of other processes or systems as possible candidates for automation.
How to automate processes: a step-by-step
1. Define your desired outcomes and objectives
Sometimes your goal for automation may not be efficiency—it could be better accuracy, improved employee morale, a smoother onboarding experience, or adding value to your business’s product or service.
The first step to automating processes is simply understanding what you want to achieve by making this change. Doing so will enable you to set priorities that feed into a sensible strategy for how you want to approach and execute your automation.
Document these goals and store them somewhere that’s accessible for everyone on your team. Try the Dropbox Paper brainstorming template to develop ideas or create a comprehensive automation project plan with your team. These Paper docs—and any other shared files and folders—will be stored securely in Dropbox, where they can be easily shared and accessed from any connected device.
This can save time and effort as files can be accessed and edited simultaneously by multiple users, eliminating the need for manual file sharing and version control.
2. Identify manual or repetitive tasks slowing you down
Review and evaluate your current processes to find what tasks or activities are requiring more hands-on attention from your team than they should.
It’s important to remember that not all tasks or processes should be automated—humans still have an advantage over technology in certain areas, such as quality checks and providing feedback.
Where you’ll find automation most effective is with time-consuming repetitive tasks. This is because there is less variation in these activities and fewer scenarios for the automation tool to adapt to and learn from.
3. Map your process
Visualizing how your new automated process is going to work will serve as a handy training document for new and existing colleagues. You should get input from others while creating this, especially those who’ll be using this process regularly.
Similarly to how you’d assess a workflow that needs streamlining, consider:
- The people, systems, or tools involved
- The tasks, steps, or activities needed to achieve the automated process’ desired outcome
- The information needed to keep the automated process moving
- The trigger, action, time, or condition that sets the automated process in motion
- The intended outcome or result of the automated process
4. Implement your automation tool(s)
Once you’ve established your needs, it’s time to introduce your automation software.
With Dropbox, your files are automatically synced across devices, ensuring that the most up-to-date version of a file is always accessible. This eliminates the need for manual file transfers and updates, saving time and reducing the risk of errors.
And that’s not all—Dropbox provides a whole suite of automation tools and features to help you stay on top of your work:
- Stay organized with dynamic filters and automated folder categorization, sorting, naming, and tagging
- Automate tracking and reporting of sensitive information with data classification
- Streamline team workflows and reduce context switching with integrations that automatically sync data between tools
- Automatically organize content from across your files, apps, and tabs with Dropbox Dash, powered by artificial intelligence
- Easily customize and send common PDF forms
5. Gather feedback
Before you roll out your automated process to the wider team, ask a teammate, supervisor, or someone in a similar position to you in a different team for their opinion. They’ll be able to review the process with fresh eyes and may be able to point out things you’ve missed.
Dropbox makes it easy to gather feedback by providing a collaborative platform where team members can effortlessly access shared documents and files. Users can leave comments directly on files, facilitating real-time discussions and suggestions. This feature allows for streamlined communication, ensuring that feedback is well-organized and readily available.
Alternatively, if your team learns better with visuals rather than text, you can share a screen capture or video of your new process for review. With Dropbox Replay, your colleagues can then use the live review feature to make notes and provide real-time feedback as a team.
Or, your team members can provide frame-accurate annotations in their own time using the browser-based review function—no need for additional software, Dropbox accounts, or special access for stakeholders.
6. Train your colleagues
Once your new process is ready to go, you should provide training for your teammates and colleagues, as this shift may mean changing procedures, responsibilities, or accountabilities.
You don’t want to give training too early, should the process change following feedback. Nor do you want to start training after the old process has been phased out completely and your colleagues are trying to learn the new automation process on the fly.
Instead of relying on lengthy emails that can be overlooked or challenging to update, consider creating clear, easily accessible guides or walkthroughs. This ensures your team can consistently refer back to the material and new starters can get up to speed with minimal effort.
Optimize and automate business processes with Dropbox
Dropbox provides a centralized location for storing and organizing files—a space where you can automate and streamline processes to simplify work and free up precious time.
Send secure digital contracts, collect information effortlessly, and generate documents in minutes. Supercharge operational efficiency and optimize your workflow by automating actions on files and sync data between tools.
