What would your workday look like if you had a robot colleague? How life would be easier in the Finance Department, HR and management team
Automation is no longer just a thing for large production facilities and lines. With software robotics and assistive automation, the everyday life of office workers can also be made easier – with the help of a robot colleague. What would your workday look like if a robot took care of all the small chores?
Assistive automation refers to automating single, short-term tasks usually performed by a person. Automation can help you fill out forms, report, and manage your time, for example. In this article, we look at how a robot colleague could make life easier in different departments and roles.
No more difficulties starting work in the morning
Do you have to wait in the morning for your e-mail and other programs to launch? If you had a robot to assist you, it could help you launch the apps you need when you arrive at work in the morning, and automatically sign you in. Everything would be ready by the time you got a cup of coffee.
Did you know the majority of internal work in organisations is repetitive and ineffective? It doesn’t have to be that way. Read how technology can help!
The robot helps you gather information and shift through it
Let’s imagine you work in HR, and the job ad you posted last week has received a lot of applications. You can focus on more important aspects of the recruitment process when the robot handles the routines: it can copy text from a PDF job application to the job seeker’s data in the recruitment system. Then, the robot checks the background information of the job seeker in the job application.
The everyday life of customer support also looks different with a robot colleague. There, the robot can add ready-made instructions for customers to different channels, like emails, the ticketing system, and comments on Facebook conversations on a business account.
But wait, what is happening over in Finance? Just before lunch, Teppo the CFO, needs to make a Powerpoint-presentation about last season’s results. The robot collects data from financial systems and takes it to Powerpoint for Teppo’s inspection. Teppo and his coworkers made it to lunch in time.
Let the robot solve your calendar puzzle
Now, imagine you are a Product Owner. A big new product release requires you to agree on joint meetings with two different partners. Finding time together on full calendars has caused grey hairs to you in the past, but no more! The robot will now find free time on your calendars and form an email proposal at times suitable for partners.
A new trademark is also required for the upcoming product release. The robot will check the different trademark registers on your behalf for alternative product names. Marketing has also prepared materials for the release which you need to check before delivery to customers. Here, too, the robot extends its helping hand and performs a pre-examination of GDPR data.
The workday ends on time when the robot logs your work hours
Before you are done for the day, there’s still last season’s billing to be done. Before your robot colleague joined the team, this would have meant overtime. Now, the robot automatically makes billing requests to the billing system. It also makes processing purchase invoices easier and helps break down the invoice file into separate pages. When the working day is done, the robot helps you record your working hours in the system. Time to head on home!
The robot helps in the background when you’re working
Sadly, the robot described here is not yet something from a science fiction movie. It is a program, which works in the background on your computer while you work. It will not hijack your laptop or pc, and you can work like you normally would while the robot helps with routine tasks.
It’s not just employees who benefit from RPA, by the way. Management and HR will likely be happy to see the uptick in employee satisfaction poll results. With a robot helping them, employees will see a decreased workload, when there is less work and more time to focus on essential tasks. Soon enough, the results will reflect on customer experience, too.
Would you like to make your employee’s days easier while building a competitive advantage? We would be happy to help. See our offering here, and let’s get started!
Jussi Vuokko is the Chief Technology Officer of Sofigate’s Business Automation business. He has helped organisations of different sizes manage services and automate service production using modern technologies for more than two decades. If you want to talk to Jussi about the topic, you can reach him by email jussi.vuokko@sofigate.com, twitter @jussivuokko or LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/jussivuokko.
Director, do you have your data in order?
Do you invest in savings or employee experience – or both?
