Embracing automation in the workplace might seem like a huge endeavour. You might have visions of robots preparing the coffee and answering customer emails, your cozy desk suddenly being transformed into a science fiction movie. While this might be the future workplace one day, and that day is still quite a ways away, there are currently thousands of companies around the world that are already automating the workplace with just a few simple changes.
While you might not be prepared to hire your own robot staff, there are plenty of ways that automation can be implemented in any workplace, regardless of industry. Here are 6 ways that you can easily take advantage of the various automation tools available on the market today.
1. Automated updates
Social media and email marketing both play a huge role in connecting with consumers, therefore most businesses are going to want to have a good handle on these tactics if they are going to actually attract, and keep, consumers.
The benefits to be gained from automated email marketing are vast, including improved accountability, and creating more space for more creative marketing campaigns. Automated email marketing can help you remain consistent, showing your customers that you are dedicated to keeping them up to date, which in turn will make them more loyal in the long run.
2. Chatbots
While it may seem counterintuitive, chatbots can make a business more personal. One of the best ways to learn about both your customers and potential customers, chatbots take their messages based on the information given in all interactions. Simple to implement, chatbots can provide 24-hour customer service while helping you save on time and overhead costs.
With less manpower going into customer maintenance, you can invest what you’ve saved into growing your business.
3. Data entry
Every business knows that collecting and understanding consumer data is essential to the creation of a successful business. They also know how incredibly time consuming it can be.
By automating data entry and other mundane tasks, you can enhance processing time, thus saving you time and money. Yet, not only does it help you improve overall efficiency in the workplace, but the quick results granted by automatic updates can give you a competitive advantage, by allowing you to stay one step ahead of competitors in your industry.
4. Enhance collaboration
Collaboration is a hot topic in today’s workplace. With an increasing amount of industries tuning to the benefits of working together, rather than simply focusing on competition, there has been a rapid upswing in tools that enhance collaboration. Much like automated marketing strategies, there are now various tools that take care of daily repetitive tasks, like interactive calendars and shared software that are helping teams connect more deeply while on the job.
5. Learning to be more efficient
Automation can teach us a thing or two about being more efficient. Not that it means we should be expected to act like robots, in fact far from it.
By helping businesses learn how to manage tasks by making use of the latest AI technology, workers can then relearn how to focus on the bigger picture. This could be a variety of things, from addressing interpersonal relationships in the office, to redefining expectations and goals so you can focus on tasks more deeply. In short, when we don’t have to worry about ticking boxes and manually tracking data, we can become much more productive
As you can see, automation isn’t really a robot controlled future at all. In fact, it’s helping workers learn how to be better coworkers and more efficient, in addition to making it easier for businesses to budget smarter, and connect with customers in a myriad of ways.
