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THE BEAUTY OF STANDARDIZATION

  • Writer: amalabdreamz
    amalabdreamz
  • Nov 20, 2018
  • 3 min read

INTRODUCTION

The principle that technology performs technological work and that humans perform human work is simple. Virtual and human workers have their own strengths that must be employed and valued. The difficulty lies in determining the best fit for each function and responsibility, especially when it comes to a lack of standardization.


Automation of robotic processes (RPA) is a large part of the technology of the future of work. To use RPA optimally, standardization is required. The fewer steps an automated solution performs, the faster it will run. Also, if there is only one set of instructions, a single solution can be built. If there are highly variable instances with many different requirements, multiple solutions must be designed and constructed.



What is a standardized file?

Most customers understand that having structured data (for example, a file based on fields) that uses a good type of data (text and numbers) is vital for RPA. But there is a common misconception that having the same data on a page, regardless of position or format, is equivalent to standardization. To be completely standardized, the data must appear exactly in the same cell, field or position in each instance.


The same goes for the processes. It is not enough that certain actions take place. Each instance of each action must be performed in exactly the same way, in the same order, using the same rules.


What are the benefits of standardization?

The following are some benefits of process standardization.

Standard operating procedures (SOP) simple and well defined. When you use highly standardized processes, you can write simple and well-defined SOPs that exclude useless work and bad practices. Employees are less likely to develop individual solutions. Having clear SOPs is also useful for compliance.



Ease of training new employees. The clear and simple rules allow a fast and structured training for new employees. They also mean that when partners have learned how to interact and process a customer, they can work with all customers. This benefit is especially useful when work must be transferred from one employee to another for reasons such as annual leave or desertion.


Ease of adding new customers. You can accept new clients easily, since all new customers go through the same process. By closing the sale, customers will know exactly what information they must deliver and the business can be transparent with them from the start.


Greater scope for the configuration of RPA. Any process simplification and reengineering that occurs prior to the development of RPA will make the implementation faster (which means that the benefits will accrue sooner). The RPA solution will not need reconfiguration for new clients, and is more adaptable for future process developments.


How can standardized processes help meet the individual needs of clients?

It is important to make sure that clients feel well cared for and unique, and that some variable requirements are unavoidable. However, almost all processes provide opportunities for standardization. For example, the legislative parts of the processes tend to be common to all clients. If they are standardized and then considered appropriate for RPA, associates will have more time to dedicate to meet the personalized requirements of their clients.



For example, in one of the future evaluations of Symphony's work, one process consisted of receiving updated customer information each month. The employees would create Excel templates for each client, but only about 30 percent of the clients sent their details using the template. Other data arrived at a modified version of the template; an Excel file created by the client; a Word, PDF or alternative application file; or a free email that attaches a mix of the above.


Not only was the effort of the associates wasted in creating the template, but dealing with the input of mixed data was a difficult and slow task. When analyzing the business case, they discovered that if customers imposed the use of templates and increased their standardization levels from 0.3 to 0.6 (in all processes) before implementing the RPA, their return on investment to three years went up from 300 percent to more than 450 percent.


In conclusion, the standardized processes must be the same in all cases. The benefits of having standard processes apply to workflow, employees, customers, RPA development and finance.


 
 
 

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