Work tasks tend to quickly become repetitive. In fact, 90% of workers report that they are burdened by tasks that can be automated. Office automation tools exist to streamline processes in every department, from finance to sales, marketing to HR, and back office and client-facing responsibility.
In this article, we will take a look at the various types of office automation systems, as well as the advantages of office automation.
Office automation is technology and software that is used to make work processes more efficient and less time-consuming, lessening the need for manual labor.
By leveraging office automation software, businesses and employees are able to expedite routine office tasks with utmost accuracy and standardization. These tools can be used to collect, store, and manage data, as well as run processes from start to finish.
The advantages of office automation are extensive. There are many key benefits that come along with automating these processes, including:
By automating processes, you can rest assured that your workflows will run with improved accuracy as you’ll decrease or even totally prevent human errors.
Most automation software is cloud-based and runs as software-as-a-service (SaaS), meaning that you can access the information you need remotely.
Automation software like SolveXia not only executes processes but also analyzes data in real time so that you can provide powerful insights in a fraction of the time.
Manual labor is time-consuming, especially when it is data-heavy and repetitive. By implementing office automation tools, you’ll be able to complete the same tasks in a fraction of the time. Your team members will have more time to focus on high-value duties instead.
Automated systems can grow with your business’ needs, enabling increased workloads without disruption.
While office automation tools have an upfront or potentially continuous cost associated with them, they end up tending to save companies on operating costs because it’s less expensive than relying on humans to do the mundane and routine tasks.
Every business has a lot to deal with on a day-to-day basis. With different departments running at full speed, it can often seem like there isn’t enough time in the day to get everything done.
The variety of office automation tools assist greatly to streamline any need. Let’s take a look at the assorted office automation examples so you can decide what type of software will be most advantageous to leverage:
Perhaps the department that has to deal with the most sensitive, time-consuming, data-heavy, and repetitive tasks is finance teams. Finance teams work with strict deadlines and regulations, calling for compliance needs and internal control.
Office automation tools made for finance can completely transform your company’s finance function. By leveraging technology (like SolveXia) that can automate crucial processes like reconciliation, expense management, and regulatory reporting, and rebate management to name a few, businesses save time, reduce errors, enable collaboration, and improve their decision-making with access to detailed analytics.
For small businesses looking to automate bookkeeping and accounting, QuickBooks can be useful. For companies looking to achieve digital transformation, streamline entire processes, connect data, and glean insights, a low-code software like SolveXia delivers all the upsides with minimal deployment time required.
Sometimes, keeping up with and delegating a to-do list feels like a cumbersome to-do in itself. Project management automation tools enable project managers to manage more with less effort. These solutions can be utilized to assign tasks, track progress, and create schedules, etc.
As a result, every team member is held more accountable for their own responsibilities, and there is clear transparency in tracking deadlines and managing risks. Certain tools that can help in this realm include Notion for task management,Float for resource management, and Smartsheet for Gantt solutions.
Marketing teams have to stay abreast of trends and customer desires on a constantly changing basis. With office automation tools, they can streamline tasks that become redundant, such as email marketing, data analysis, and social media posting, for example. In turn, they can instead spend time on strategizing and reviewing outcomes to optimize campaigns.
For email marketing, many companies like Mailchimp for its ease-of-use. To schedule and automate social media posting, check out Hootsuite. And, don’t forget about popular content management systems (CMS) like Wordpress.
Another department that deals with repetitive work that is time-sensitive is human resources. Onboarding new employees takes a lot of time and back-and-forth.
Processes like interview scheduling and sorting resumes can be automated with HR tools, such as employee onboarding with BambooHR and performance management tools like Lattice.
To enable a constant flow of communication across departments in your organization, office automation tools for communication can be a great aid.
Digital workplaces are becoming commonplace, especially with more remote workers, but that necessitates collaboration and communication tools. For example, you can turn to Slack for instant messaging, allowing users to create channels for specific projects or people.
Keeping track of customer relationships, sales funnels, customer service, and data overall necessitates use of a customer relationship management system.
With CRM automation, users can track engagement, boost productivity, and eliminate manual tasks. Solutions like HubSpot and Salesforce are stellar options.
All businesses want to do right by their customers and provide value to them. This is especially important when it comes to offering customer support and managing complaints or service requests.
Automation solutions can deliver chatbots, canned responses, ticket routing, and integrate with other systems. Some technologies to consider include Desk365 and Zendesk.
As a part of back-office management, facility management can streamline facilities management concerns and workspace management.
Many businesses are turning to hybrid setups, allowing employees to come in part-time or on their own schedule. Solutions like Deskbird make it easy to keep track of desk booking, room booking, and analysis.
Office automation tools prove to be incredibly game changing for data analysts. The nature of their work is data-heavy, error-prone, and time-consuming– which represent three descriptors of the type of work that’s best suited for automation in the first place.
Data analytics automation assists with data collection, sorting, and visualization to make analysis a breeze. For finance departments, SolveXia can be used to connect all systems, centralize data, cleanse data, and provide analytics with customized reporting.
Scheduling can be a pain in the you know what. Trying to coordinate calendars across people in different companies, time zones, and more, takes up useful time out of one’s day.
With calendar automation, you can coordinate appointments, easily spot common availability, send reminders, and reschedule simply. Some helpful calendar automation solutions are Calendly, Doodle and SavvyCal.
With all the options out there, where is the right place to begin? It’s an all too common question, but the answer comes down to what you’re looking to accomplish and how you’re currently operating.
The best way to determine what types of office automation tools that will be most useful is to consider:
Talk to your employees about what parts of their job take the most time. Are there specific aspects of their daily routine that are the most frustrating to manually handle? The best office automation tools will meet their needs.
Along with employee feedback, it’s beneficial to check out your business’ data. Workflow data can pinpoint what takes up the most time, as well as where bottlenecks reside. Automation solutions can alleviate these challenges.
We’ve heard it before, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.” You can start automating in certain departments and then expand your use cases. For many businesses, automating the most critical functions (such as finance) first can deliver the most bang for your buck because the ROI is immediate and said processes affect other aspects of the business.
Office automation tools are shifting how work gets done. Rather than requiring human resources to spend obscene amounts of time on redundant and tedious tasks, office automation tools and software take care of these aspects of business that can’t be ignored.
As a result, employees feel more satisfied with their job and the value they bring to the table, businesses get to boost productivity while cutting costs, and customers experience smooth communication and quality outcomes.
If you’re looking to get started with finance software that combines process automation and data analysis, request a demo from SolveXia today!
Book a 30-minute call to see how our intelligent software can give you more insights and control over your data and reporting.
Download our data sheet to learn how to automate your reconciliations for increased accuracy, speed and control.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can prepare, validate and submit regulatory returns 10x faster with automation.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can run your processes up to 100x faster and with 98% fewer errors.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can run your processes up to 100x faster and with 98% fewer errors.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can run your processes up to 100x faster and with 98% fewer errors.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can run your processes up to 100x faster and with 98% fewer errors.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can run your processes up to 100x faster and with 98% fewer errors.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can run your processes up to 100x faster and with 98% fewer errors.
Download our data sheet to learn how you can manage complex vendor and customer rebates and commission reporting at scale.
Learn how you can avoid and overcome the biggest challenges facing CFOs who want to automate.