“It’s a creeping nightmare for many organizations,” an expert said. “And the most dangerous part is most companies do not know it’s hurting them until it’s too late.”
Workflow repetition is unavoidable. And sometimes, organizations take refuge in the belief that doing the same thing every day would make a member of that company efficient.
Well, why not? It takes 10,000 hours to be an expert at something right?
No. Not really. Unless you want your staff to experience burnout, you must try to avoid repetition in your organization.
Repetition may create chronic workplace stress and may result in feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion.
It may also result in boredom, among other things. And boredom may have harmful effects on company staff.
According to a study, boredom can affect a person’s judgment, risk assessment, focus, and control over emotions.
It messes up with employee productivity and produces inefficiencies, which may cause companies to lose up to 20 to 30% in revenue every year.
Photo by Luis Villasmil on Unsplash
Why is it important to discuss this now?
Because the harmful effects of repetition, like loss of productivity, can be amplified during the pandemic.
Loneliness, isolation, and the surge in depression and anxiety are among the challenges that people are facing now, including company staff.
And a repetitive workflow may just add up to the lack of meaning that people find in most of their work nowadays.
This article in Psychology Today sums it up perfectly:
It turns out that boredom and burnout are correlated . We see burnout as the result of doing too much and boredom as the result of doing too little. In fact, neither state is related to quantity of activities so much as what we’re doing. Boredom stems from uniform, repetitive tasks. No matter how many emails we have to answer, we’ll be bored if all of our tasks feel similar.
So how do we solve this?
The logical answer might be to do away with repetition — and totally eliminate it.
But it’s not as easy as it may sound.
Repetitive tasks, such as poring over hundreds of emails every day, aren’t something that companies can easily disregard. Emailing clients, too, sounds too important to completely forget, as well as keeping track of campaign performances. All of these can be very repetitive, but they are essential in company survival.
So how do we address the issue of repetition if we can’t totally eliminate these tasks?
That’s where automation comes in.
Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash
What’s with automation?
IBM defines automation as:
“a term for technology applications where human input is minimized. Basic automation takes simple, rudimentary tasks and automates them.”
To put it in context, here is an example of how automation works:
Websites can be configured to prompt visitors to fill out a form so that sales teams will have a guaranteed “supply” of leads. This lead generation tactic is completely automated — without any human intervention.
The way this works is, any data typed in by the visitor in the form will be automatically migrated into a CRM database. The data can then be used by companies to further engage the lead — by sending them targeted email campaigns, or other types of personalized content that fits the needs and preferences of the recipient.
So will company staff no longer experience burnout after implementing automation?
Well, that’s the goal.
But keep in mind that burnout is caused by many factors, such as a monotonous job or when there’s a work-life imbalance.
So the better question is:
How can automation improve the well-being of company staff?
Well, it does a very good job of making things less boring. And it also makes employees focus more on important tasks such as making decisions, analyzing data and analytics, and assessing performances, all of which are critical in making jobs challenging, motivating, and more meaningful.
At least with automation, you can eliminate those dreary, perfunctory, and demotivating tasks, so you can perfectly manage your workplace stress levels.
How can I implement automation?
There are many ways to do this — but the simplest way is to get a local software provider that specializes in automation.
Just make sure that the company you’re working with understands your business requirements well and can effectively communicate to you how their software addresses your needs.
Also, booking a free demo is one of the fastest ways for you to understand how their software works. Don’t forget to check their after-sales service, that’s the best indicator of a good software company.
