Both public administration and business are facing the challenge of adapting to the rapidly advancing digital transformation. New technologies and innovative approaches have fundamentally changed the way work is done. The introduction of technology brings many benefits, but also poses challenges, particularly in terms of change management and clever automation. Processes need to be fundamentally questioned and the focus needs to be placed on effectiveness rather than just on increasing efficiency.
“If you digitize a shitty process, then you have a shitty digital process.” – said Thorsten Dirks, then CEO of Telefónica Deutschland, in 2015 about poorly executed digitalization projects.
Implementing change is often difficult, especially in administrative areas, as there are often many different interests and legal requirements. It is therefore important to ensure that the changes take into account the needs of the organization and its stakeholders and that the employees support the changes.
Digitization and automation
The digitalization of business processes has led to an increased focus on automation. Automation refers to the use of technology to automate repetitive and manual tasks and reduce the workload for humans. This enables organizations to work more efficiently, reduce costs and improve the quality of their processes and services. Through automation, companies and administrations can optimize various types of business processes. These include administrative tasks such as data entry, reporting and invoicing, as well as operational tasks such as inventory management and customer service. By automating manual and time-consuming tasks, organizations can free up their resources and focus on value-adding activities.
There are various approaches to automating business processes:
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses software robots to mimic human interactions with digital systems and perform repetitive tasks. These robots can extract data, transfer information between different systems and even make simple decisions. RPA is particularly useful for integrating and automating existing systems and processes without having to make major changes to the underlying infrastructure.
- Workflow automation: Workflow automation automates business processes in which tasks are performed sequentially and information and documents flow between different users or departments. With the help of appropriate tools, companies can define the individual steps of a process, set rules and conditions and set up automated notifications and escalations. Details on the automation of workflows in the Atlassian platform follow in the next paragraph.
- Intelligent automation: Intelligent automation combines automation technologies such as RPA with artificial intelligence and machine learning. This enables systems to perform complex tasks that require human decisions and interpretations. Intelligent automation can be used, for example, in the automated processing of unstructured data, the analysis of large amounts of data or decision-making based on algorithms.
A holistic approach is important when introducing automation. Organizations should analyze their processes to determine which tasks can be automated and then select suitable technologies and tools. It is also important to consider the impact of automation on employees and ensure that they are adequately trained and supported.
Automation in the Atlassian platform
Jira Automation is a powerful tool of the Atlassian platform. It supports organizations in making their business processes more efficient and automating recurring tasks. It allows users to create rules and triggers based on events in Jira to initiate automatic actions. This eliminates time-consuming manual tasks and optimizes the workflow in Jira. The tool offers an intuitive user interface that allows users without programming knowledge to create and customize automation rules. The advantages of Jira Automation lie in its versatility and flexibility. It enables the creation of complex automation logic based on individual requirements and business processes.
Application example 1: Risk management
Identified opportunities and risks, for example as part of a project to introduce new software, can be escalated automatically if no action has been taken after a certain period of time.
Application example 2: Service management
Automated notification of stakeholders along the process and derivation of documentation for solutions.
In summary, this means: With Jira Automation, organizations can increase their productivity, reduce errors and improve their response times. In addition, Jira Automation enables seamless integration with other tools on the Atlassian platform. For example, users can create automations between Jira and Confluence to synchronize information and optimize collaboration. These integrations expand the possibilities of automation and enable holistic control of business processes.
Five general recommendations for automating workflows
Since every organization and workflow is unique, it is important to consider your specific requirements and goals to achieve the best possible results. Nevertheless, the following general recommendations can help you to make the process of workflow automation successful:
- Analyze the existing workflows: Before you start automating, a thorough analysis of existing workflows is important. Identify recurring tasks, manual steps and bottlenecks. This will allow you to determine the areas that can best be automated and bring the greatest efficiency gains.
- Set clear goals and priorities: Define clear goals for automation and prioritize the corresponding workflows. Focus on those that offer the greatest added value or take up the most time and resources. This will ensure that your automation efforts are targeted and effective.
- Step-by-step automation: Start by automating smaller, less complex workflows and then work your way up to more complex workflows. This will allow you to better control the effects, minimize errors and gain experience that will help you automate larger workflows.
- Involve the employees concerned: Involve the employees who work directly with the automated workflows in the automation process. Provide training and workshops to ensure they understand the changes and can work effectively with the automated environment. Their participation and collaboration are critical to the success of the automation.
- Continuous monitoring and optimization: The automation of workflows is an ongoing process. You should therefore regularly monitor the automated workflows to ensure that they are working as expected and delivering the desired added value. Analyze key performance indicators, identify bottlenecks or areas for improvement and make appropriate adjustments. Continuous monitoring and optimization is crucial to increasing the efficiency and quality of automated workflows in the long term.
In short, workflow automation offers organizations the opportunity to increase efficiency, reduce costs and improve the quality of their work. With a careful analysis of existing workflows, clear goals, step-by-step automation, employee involvement and continuous monitoring and optimization, successful automation results can be achieved. It is important to be aware that workflow automation is an ongoing process. Needs and requirements change over time, as do the technological possibilities. Therefore, it is critical to regularly review, adjust and optimize automation efforts to ensure they continue to deliver the desired benefits.
And what does this look like in practice?
The digital transformation and automation of processes requires a structured project approach. First of all, a comprehensive requirements analysis should be carried out to examine the existing administrative processes and identify weaknesses and potential for improvement. It is important to involve the affected employees and stakeholders in order to gain a complete understanding of the current situation. Clear goals and expectations for the project should then be defined. Priorities should be set and measurable KPIs established in order to evaluate the success of the project. Another important step is the selection of the right technologies and tools to automate the administrative processes. The requirements, scalability, integration with existing systems and user-friendliness must be taken into account.
In addition, a detailed project plan should be drawn up that includes the various phases, milestones, resources and schedules. Potential risks should also be taken into account and appropriate measures developed to minimize risks. To facilitate implementation and control, the project can be divided into smaller sub-projects or work packages. It is advisable to start with a pilot phase in which the automation is tested and validated in selected administrative processes. During this phase, potential challenges can be identified and solutions optimized. Feedback from the employees involved is extremely important and should be actively incorporated into the process.
After a successful pilot phase, the automation solution can be implemented in the selected administrative processes. It is important to train and support all affected employees so that they can successfully use the new automated processes. The performance of the automated processes must be continuously monitored. The results achieved should be regularly compared with the defined targets in order to identify further potential for improvement.
The importance of change management must not be forgotten. Comprehensive communication and involvement of employees is crucial to ensure that they understand and accept the benefits of digitalization and automation. This is the only way to ensure the successful implementation of the project in the administrative organization.
Further information can be obtained directly from us at info@generativ.ch or at: http://www.generativ.ch.
generativ GmbH was founded in 2018 as a specialized consulting company and software house in Zurich. Our focus is on digital business processes as well as solutions and methods relating to the Atlassian product range. In addition, we support you in digitization with open source solutions such as BlueSpice and Easy Redmine. We offer process and methodological expertise as well as solution architecture from a single source and support organizations in classic project and process management, the introduction of agile principles and digital transformation. We are attentive listeners, rational analysts, forward-looking consultants and experienced coaches. Together with our clients, we envision the working environments of tomorrow and thus enable lived processes as well as effective and efficient collaboration in and around organizations. More at: www.generativ.ch.
