Working with others
What can run itself and what cannot
Where automation ends and a person becomes necessary.
The question that always comes is how much of this can be left running on its own. The honest answer: considerably more than people think on the repetitive side, and none of what decides.
The boundary
| Runs itself | Needs a person |
|---|---|
| Requesting the usual documents from the right people | Deciding whether a supplier is still worth keeping |
| Chasing at days 3, 7 and 12 | The day-15 phone call, when chasing has stopped working |
| Warning about expiries with margin | Negotiating the renewal |
| Reading a document and extracting its dates | Deciding whether that document is acceptable |
| Marking approved what meets every criterion | Approving what meets almost all of them |
Notice the pattern: what can be automated is whatever has a clear rule. The moment a "it depends" appears, someone is needed.
Important
Do not automate approval of anything with consequences. Having the system mark as approved whoever meets every criterion is fine; having it approve whoever nearly meets them is delegating a decision that remains yours if something goes wrong.
The reasonable target
Not 100%. It is that 85% closes itself and people spend their time on the 15% that needs judgement — which is where a person actually adds something.
Watch out
Be careful automating a process that is still changing. If the process is not stable, the automation breaks fortnightly and creates more work than it removes.
Worth knowing
Before automating something, do it by hand three times. That is what shows you where the exceptions are, and exceptions are what break automation.
›Can I review before something automatic goes out?
Yes, and it is wise at first: review, confirm it gets it right, then let it run.
›Can everything be stopped if something goes wrong?
Yes, and it is worth knowing how before you need it.
›Is what the system did recorded?
Yes, the same as what a person does.
A real case
The situation
A company wants to automate supplier approval end to end.
What you do
- Automates requesting, chasing and clearing whoever meets everything
- Leaves the near-misses to a person
What you get
85% closes itself and the exceptions are decided by someone who answers for them.
The situation
The reminder is automated and the team expects it to also decide whether a document is valid.
What you do
- Automates what needs no judgement: requesting, chasing, warning
- Leaves approval with whoever has the judgement
- Checks what is happening automatically before relying on it
What you get
The repetitive stops occupying anyone and what needs judgement still has an owner.
The situation
Approval is automated and expired documents get through.
What you do
- Automates the date check and leaves the rest for review
What you get
What is checkable is checked automatically and what is doubtful reaches a person.
The situation
Nobody knows what the system is doing on its own.
What you do
- Checks which rules are active
What you get
The automatic behaviour is known.
The situation
A rule has been active a year and no longer makes sense.
What you do
- Reviews the rules when the process changes
What you get
The system does what the company needs today.
The situation
Something that happens twice a year is automated.
What you do
- Automates what repeats every week
What you get
Effort goes where there is repetition.
The situation
A rule is switched off and nobody knows what stopped happening.
What you do
- Notes what it did before switching it off
What you get
The gap is visible rather than discovered.
The situation
Two rules do the same thing and the supplier gets two notices.
What you do
- Checks for overlap before adding a new one
What you get
The recipient receives a coherent message.
This article answers
- automate document management
- what can be automated
- what automated agents do
- let the system work by itself