Start where your people are spending their ability on work that no longer deserves so much of their lives.
Before you buy a tool, ask your team where a normal day becomes unnecessarily difficult. Where do they enter the same information twice? Which promises depend on someone remembering to follow up? What keeps a capable person busy without making good use of their ability?
I want that conversation to happen before the demonstration. A polished demonstration can make almost any technology feel necessary. Your own people can tell you where the business needs help.
Find the burden behind the complaint.
“We spend too much time scheduling” is a starting point. It is not yet a decision. Are people struggling to find a mutually available time, explain an unfamiliar service, or determine whether the appointment is appropriate? Those are different problems.
A scheduling tool might handle the calendar beautifully while leaving the real obstacle untouched. If customers do not understand what they are booking, making it easier to book will not resolve their confusion.
Ask someone to walk you through the work, including the exceptions. Watch where they pause, interpret, reassure, or ask another person for help. Those moments reveal what the job requires beyond its written steps.
Choose a first move you can understand and evaluate.
Look for recurring work that consumes attention and has a clear result. Give your team a first success they can see, understand, and build upon. Let the change show them what becomes possible when a familiar burden begins to lift.
For example, a service business might begin by automating appointment reminders. It can check whether the right customer receives the right information at the right time. A person can still handle a worried reply, a complicated reschedule, or a situation the system does not understand.
The value is in what opens up. The person who once spent the morning chasing confirmations can now help a customer prepare, resolve a complication, or develop a better experience. The first change begins to give the larger ambition a visible shape.
Ask what must remain human.
Before removing a task from someone’s day, ask what they notice while doing it.
A person confirming an appointment may hear hesitation that signals a larger concern. An employee reviewing an account may recognize a longtime customer who needs flexibility. Some routine work contains moments of judgment and care that the business has never formally acknowledged.
Preserve a clear route to those human capabilities. Decide when the system should involve a person, who that person will be, and what authority they need to help. Customers should not have to become more frustrated before they qualify for someone’s attention.
Plan where the recovered capacity will go.
Suppose reminders and scheduling become easier. What should the employee do with the time that opens up?
Perhaps they can call customers after a difficult experience, learn why people leave, or help a colleague develop a new service. Choose a contribution the business values and give it a place in the role. Otherwise the time may disappear into another layer of administration.
This is where an automation decision becomes a leadership decision. You are shaping what people will spend their working lives doing and what customers will experience when they need you.
Choose a first move that creates momentum.
Write down five things before you begin:
- The specific burden you want to reduce.
- The person responsible for checking the result.
- The situations that require human judgment.
- The human contribution you want the change to make possible.
- The date when you will review the experience with the team.
Compare the result with the starting point. Did effort decrease? Did errors or confusion change? Did customers find it easier to get help? Did people actually gain room to contribute in the way you intended?
A useful first success teaches you how to make the next decision. That is the spirit of the six-decision methodology I bring to this work.
Choose the work that is ready to change. Then give your people a reason to be excited about what comes next.