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How to improve ROI on automation: 4 tips
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Automation technologies have generated plenty of buzz during the past few years. COOs and operations teams (and indeed, other business functions) are thrilled at the prospect of being able to redefine how costs have historically increased as work volume rose.
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Robotic process automation (RPA) seems to promise the Holy Grail to operations: "Our platform provides out-of-box features to meet most of your daily process needs - checking email, saving attachments, getting data, updating forms, generating reports, file and folder operations. Building bots can be as easy as configuring these features and chaining them together, rather than asking IT to build them." It's a seductive conversation.
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Lower cost, fewer errors, better compliance with procedures - the benefits seem real and achievable to COOs and operations leaders. The fact that RPA tools promise to pay for themselves from the operational savings (with short payback periods) makes the business case even more attractive.
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Automation conversations tend to follow a similar script: COOs and their teams want to know how automating operations can benefit them. They want to know about RPA platform features and capabilities, and they want to see real-world examples of automation in action. The journey from this point to a proof-of-concept implementation is often short.
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**[ For advice on implementing AI technology, see our related article, [Crafting your AI strategy: 3 tips][1]. ]**
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But the reality of automation benefits can sometimes lag behind expectations. Companies that adopt RPA may find themselves questioning its ROI after implementation. Some express disappointment about not seeing the expected savings, and confusion as to why.
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## Are you automating the wrong things?
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What could explain the gap between the promise and reality of operational automation in these cases? To analyze this, let's explore what typically happens after the decision to proceed with an automation proof-of-concept project (or a full-blown implementation, even) has been made.
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After deciding that automation is the path to take, the COO typically asks operational leaders and their teams to decide which processes or tasks should be automated. While participation should be encouraged, this type of decision-making sometimes leads to sub-optimal choices in automation candidates. There are a few reasons for this:
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First, team leaders often have a "narrow field of deep vision:" They know their processes and tasks well, but might not be deeply familiar with those that they do not participate in (especially if they have not had wide operations exposure). This means that they are able to identify good automation candidates within their own scope of work, but not necessarily across the entire operations landscape. Softer factors like "I want my process to be picked as the first automation candidate" can also come into play.
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Second, candidate process selection can sometimes be driven by matching automation features and capabilities rather than by the value of automation. A common misunderstanding is that any task that includes activities like email or folder monitoring, downloads, calculations, etc. is automatically a good candidate for automation. If automating such tasks doesn't provide value to the organization, they are not the right candidates.
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So what can leaders do to ensure that their automation implementation delivers the ROI they are seeking? Take these four steps, up front:
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## 1. Educate your teams
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It's very likely that people in your operations team, from the COO downward, have heard of RPA and operational automation. It's equally likely that they have many questions and concerns. It is critical to address these issues before you start your implementation.
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Proactively educating the operations team can go a long way in drumming up enthusiasm and buy-in for automation. Training can focus on what automation and bots are, what role they play in a typical process, which processes and tasks are best positioned for automation, and what the expected benefits of automation are.
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**Recommendation** : Ask your automation partner to conduct these team education sessions, with your moderation: They will likely be eager to assist. The leadership should shape the message before it is delivered to the broader team.
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"The first step in automation is to get to know your processes better."
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## 2. Examine your internal processes
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The first step in automation is to get to know your processes better. Every RPA implementation should be preceded by a process inventory, activity analysis, and cost/value mapping exercise.
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It's critical to understand where the value add (or cost, if value is unavailable) happens in the process. And this needs to be done at a granular level for each process or every task.
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This will help you identify and prioritize the right candidates for automation. Because of the sheer number of tasks that can or may need to be automated, processes typically get automated in phases, so prioritization is key.
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**Recommendation** : Set up a small working team, with participation from each group within Operations. Nominate a coordinator from each group - typically a group leader or team manager. Conduct a workshop at the group level to build the process inventory, identify candidate processes, and drive buy-in. Your automation partners are likely to have accelerators - questionnaires, scorecards etc. - that can help you speed up this activity.
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## 3. Provide strong direction on business priorities
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Implementations often involve driving consensus (and sometimes tie-breaking) between operations teams on process selection and automation priorities, based on business value. Though team participation remains a critical part of the analysis and implementation exercises, leaders should own final decision-making.
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**Recommendation** : Schedule regular sessions to get updates from the working teams. In addition to factors like driving consensus and buy-in, teams will also look to leaders for directional decisions on ROI, platform selection, and automation prioritization at the group level.
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## 4. CIO and COO should drive close cooperation
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Automation rollouts are much smoother when there is close cooperation between the operations and technology teams. The COO needs to help drive this coordination with the CIO's team.
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Involvement and oversight of the COO and other operations leaders are critical for successful automation implementations.
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**Recommendation** : The COO and CIO team should set up a joint working group (a "war room") with the third-party automation partners. Responsibilities for each participant should be clearly demarcated and tracked on an ongoing basis. Ideally, the COO and CIO should dedicate at least one resource to the group, at least during the initial rollouts.
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Automation can create significant value for an organization. However, to achieve optimal returns on the investment in their automation journey, CIOs must map before they leap.
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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via: https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2017/11/how-improve-roi-automation-4-tips
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作者：[Rajesh Kamath][a]
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译者：[译者ID](https://github.com/译者ID)
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校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)
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本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出
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[a]:https://enterprisersproject.com/user/rajesh-kamath
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[1]:https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2017/11/crafting-your-ai-strategy-3-tips?sc_cid=70160000000h0aXAAQ
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如何提升自动化的 ROI：4 个小提示
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======
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在过去的几年间，有关自动化技术的讨论已经很多了。COO 们和运营团队（事实上还有其它的业务部门）对成本随着工作量的增加而增加的这一事实可以重新定义而感到震惊。
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机器人流程自动化（RPA）似乎预示着运营的圣杯（Holy Grail）：“我们提供了开箱即用的功能来满足你的日常操作所需 —— 检查电子邮件、保存附件、取数据、更新表格、生成报告、文件以及目录操作。构建一个机器人就像配置这些功能一样简单，然后用机器人将这些操作链接到一起，而不用去请求 IT 部门来构建它们。”这是一个多么诱人的话题。
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低成本、几乎不出错、非常遵守流程 —— 对 COO 们和运营领导来说，这些好处即实用可行度又高。RPA 工具承诺，它从运营中节省下来的费用就足够支付它的成本（有一个短的回报期），这一事实使得业务的观点更具有吸引力。
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自动化的谈论都趋向于类似的话题：COO 们和他们的团队想知道，自动化操作能够给他们带来什么好处。他们想知道 RPA 平台特性和功能，以及自动化在现实中的真实案例。从这一点到概念验证的实现过程通常很短暂。
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**[ 在实现人工智能技术方面的建议，可以查看我们相关的文章，[制定你的人工智能策略：3 个小提示][1]]**。
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但是自动化带来的现实好处有时候可能比你所预期的时间要晚。采用 RPA 的公司在其实施后可能会对它们自身的 ROI 提出一些质疑。一些人没有看到预期之中的成本节省，并对其中的原因感到疑惑。
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## 你是不是自动化了错误的东西？
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在这些情况下，自动化的愿景和现实之间的差距是什么呢？我们来分析一下它，在决定去继续进行一个自动化验证项目（甚至是一个成熟的实践）之后，我们来看一下通常会发生什么。
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在确定实施自动化所采用的路径之后，COO 一般会问运营领导和他的团队们，应该在哪个流程或者任务上实施自动化。虽然从原则上说应该鼓励他们参与进来，但是有时候这种方式产生的决策往往会产生一个次优选择。原因如下：
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首先，团队领导经常会是“视野较窄”：他们对自己的流程和任务非常熟悉，但是对他们不参与的流程和任务并不是那么熟悉（特别是在他们没有太多运营经验的情况下）。这意味着他们在自己的工作领域内可能会找出比较适合自动化的候选者，但是在跨整个运营的其它领域中可能并不一定会找出最适合的。另外其它的像“我希望我的流程成为第一个实施自动化的候选者”这样的“软性”因素也会影响决定。
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其次，候选流程的选择有时候会被自动化特性和能力的匹配度所支配，而不是根据自动化所带来的价值所决定的。一个常见的误解是，任何包括像电子邮件或目录监视、下载、计算等活动的任务都是自动化的最佳候选者。如果对这些任务实施自动化不能为组织产生价值，那么它们就不是正确的候选者。
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那么，对于领导们来说，怎么才能确保实施自动化能够带来他们想要的 ROI 呢？实现这个目标有四步：
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## 1. 教育团队
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在你的团队中，从 COO 职位以下的人中，很有可能都听说过 RPA 和运营自动化。同样很有可能他们都有许多的问题和担心。在你开始启动实施之前解决这些问题和担心是非常重要的。
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对运营团队进行积极的教育可以大大地提升他们对自动化的热情和信心。培训主要关注于自动化和机器人是什么，它们在流程中一般扮演什么样的角色，哪个流程和任务最适合自动化，以及自动化的预期好处是什么。
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**建议**：邀请你的自动化合作伙伴去进行这些团队教育工作，你要有所控制：他们可能会非常乐意帮助你。在领导层将这些传播到更大范围的团队之前，你应该对他们的教育内容进行把关。
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“实施自动化的第一步是更好地理解你的流程。”
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## 2. 审查内部流程
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实施自动化的第一步是更好地理解你的流程。每个 RPA 实施之前都应该进行流程清单、动作分析、以及成本/价值的绘制练习。
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这些练习对于理解流程中何处价值产生（或成本，如果没有价值的情况下）是至关重要的。并且这些练习需要在每个流程或者每个任务这样的粒度级别上来做。
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这将有助你去识别和优先考虑最合适的自动化候选者。由于能够或者可能需要自动化的任务数量较多，流程一般需要分段实施自动化，因此优先级很重要。
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**建议**：设置一个小的工作团队，每个运营团队都参与其中。从每个运营团队中提名一个协调人 —— 一般是运营团队的领导或者团队管理者。在团队级别上组织一次研讨会，去构建流程清单、识别候选流程、以及推动购买。你的自动化合作伙伴很可能有“加速器” —— 调查问卷、计分卡等等 —— 这些将帮助你加速完成这项活动。
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## 3. 为优先业务提供强有力的指导
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实施自动化经常会涉及到在运营团队之间，基于业务价值对流程选择和自动化优先级上要达成共识（有时候是打破平衡）虽然团队的参与仍然是分析和实施的关键部分，但是领导仍然应该是最终的决策者。
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**建议**：安排定期会议从工作团队中获取最新信息。除了像推动达成共识和购买之外，工作团队还应该在团队层面上去查看领导们关于 ROI、平台选择、以及自动化优先级上的指导性决定。
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## 4. 应该推动 CIO 和 COO 的紧密合作
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当运营团队和技术团队紧密合作时，自动化的实施将异常顺利。COO 需要去帮助推动与 CIO 团队的合作。
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COO 和其他运营领导人的参与和监督对成功实施自动化是至关重要的。
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**建议**：COO 和 CIO 团队应该与第三方的自动化合作伙伴共同设立一个联合工作组（一个“战场”）。对每个参与者的责任进行明确的界定并持续跟踪。理想情况下，COO 和 CIO 应该至少有一个投入到联合工作组中，至少在初始发布中应该是这样。
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自动化可以为组织创造重要的价值。然而为了在自动化中获得最优的投资回报，CIO 们必须在“入坑”之前做好规划。
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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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via: https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2017/11/how-improve-roi-automation-4-tips
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作者：[Rajesh Kamath][a]
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译者：[qhwdw](https://github.com/qhwdw)
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校对：[校对者ID](https://github.com/校对者ID)
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本文由 [LCTT](https://github.com/LCTT/TranslateProject) 原创编译，[Linux中国](https://linux.cn/) 荣誉推出
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[a]:https://enterprisersproject.com/user/rajesh-kamath
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[1]:https://enterprisersproject.com/article/2017/11/crafting-your-ai-strategy-3-tips?sc_cid=70160000000h0aXAAQ
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