Why Unlocking the Power of Automation is Key to Streamlining Information Management

Deeper Dive 3/9: David Seel Explains Why Unlocking the Power of Automation is Key to Streamlining Information Management

The role of automation in information management has become increasingly pivotal as organisations endeavour to keep up with every day demands. By leveraging automation, organisations can drive efficient analysis, classification, and management. This not only enhances risk identification and compliance but also streamlines workflows and reduces administrative burdens.

The Power of Automation

Automation makes completing repetitive tasks less time consuming and enables organisations to process information swiftly and accurately, ensuring that critical records are always at hand. This efficiency is crucial for maintaining compliance with regulatory requirements and mitigating risks associated with data mismanagement. While offering immediate benefits to the user, it also offers a transformative approach to handling the vast amounts of data information managers must deal with on a regular basis - especially when dealing with event triggered disposal.

Opportunities for Improvement

What we see today are massive opportunities to do more with less. Automation allows organisations to start small and target immediate pain points, such as contract management, legal casefiles, controlled documents, and personnel files. By addressing these areas with solutions such as iWorkplace, organisations can achieve quick wins that demonstrate the value of automation and pave the way for broader implementation.

Key Tips

1. Identify repetitive tasks: Begin by identifying tasks that are repetitive and time-consuming or where manual errors could cause major impact. These are prime candidates for automation, mitigating risk and allowing your team to focus on more strategic activities.

2. Choose the right tools: Invest in automation tools that align with your business needs. Research and select tools with proven results and strong support systems.

3. Employee training and engagement: Ideally the automation should be almost invisible to the users. However, when transitioning from manual approaches ensure your people are well-trained and comfortable with the new automation tools. Championing employee usage is crucial for successful implementation.

4. Measure ROI: Continuously measure the ROI of your automation initiatives. This helps in understanding the impact and making necessary adjustments.

5. Start small and scale: Begin with small, manageable projects that address immediate pain points. Once you see success, gradually scale up to more complex processes.

6. Integrate with existing systems: Ensure that your automation tools integrate seamlessly with your existing systems. This helps in maintaining a smooth workflow and avoiding disruptions.

7. Monitor and optimise: Regularly monitor the performance of your automated processes and optimise them as needed. They’ll remain efficient and effective over time this way.

Traps for Young Players

• Without specific goals, automation can introduce confusion rather than clarity, leading to inefficiencies and missed opportunities.

• Avoid the bespoke trap, thinking your requirements are unique and there are no off-the-shelf solutions that could possibly work. Remember perfect is the enemy of good!

• Ensuring that your team is well-prepared and engaged is crucial for successful implementation.

• Automating too many processes at once can overwhelm the system and employees. It's important to strike a balance and ensure that automation enhances rather than hinders productivity.

• If a process is flawed, automating it can magnify the issues. It's essential to optimise processes before automating them to avoid worsening underlying problems.

• Automation can introduce new security vulnerabilities and compliance challenges. Ensuring that automated processes adhere to security protocols and regulatory requirements is vital.

• Poor integration can lead to information silos and workflow disruptions.

• While automation can handle many tasks, human oversight is still necessary to manage exceptions and ensure quality control. Completely removing humans from the loop can lead to errors and missed opportunities for improvement.

Making work better

The integration of automation into information management practices is not just a trend, it’s how we make work better. It empowers organisations to enhance their information handling capabilities, improve compliance, and reduce operational costs. Harnessing the power of automation is one of the most effective ways to stay ahead and make a substantial impact.

For more insights on how to best leverage automation, connect with David on LinkedIn or get in touch.