Workflow automation is the process of identifying, standardizing, and automating routine tasks with the help of software that is designed to maximize productivity.
There are many tasks in Facilities Management that you may currently be handling manually, from assigning tasks to the correct technician to requesting for expenditure approvals and gathering data for reports. These tasks are routine and time consuming, but could be important.
With a smart facility management system, you can automate these tasks. By letting software handle these routine tasks, maintenance technicians can focus on other high value-adding tasks.
Benefits of Automating Workflow Processes
Improved Quality Control
Workflow automation enables organizational leaders to improve output consistency. Once a workflow rule has been set by management, the facilities management system will carry out the rule precisely as it has been set. New workers who join the team will naturally adapt to existing workflows and there is little need for additional briefing and concerns of multiple disparate workflows occurring. Standardization like this ensures that team members always know what is expected from them.
Minimize Human Error
The possibility of human error, for example in data download and manipulation, is clearly present in any manual process. Managers typically underestimate the cost of such errors, ignoring time that it takes to check the work of others; or the possibility that such errors may give rise to larger downstream issues. From a risk management perspective, automation is clearly superior to manual processes.
Enhanced Accountability
With automated workflow, maintenance managers can easily set rules to automatically assign tasks to specific technicians and monitor their performance in real-time. When everyone on the team knows who is responsible for what job and that each action is digitally recorded with timestamps, everyone feels an increased incentive to properly complete their work.
Increased Work Satisfaction
When you automate low-value and mundane administrative tasks, your employees can then channel their energies towards more impactful work. This, in turn, increases job satisfaction which can prevent your employees from feeling underutilized or unchallenged.
Scalable Operations
Facilities management companies looking to handle larger contracts and manage larger compounds need to consider how scalable their operations are. Reliance on manual processes clearly makes things harder and more expensive to scale as more resources are needed to achieve the same outcome; and there will be more reliance on individual experience to write and ensure compliance with SOPs.
Streamline Maintenance Processes with FacilityBot
Facilities management is a prime candidate for workflow automation. Compared with other industries, there is a high percentage of administrative and manual tasks inherent in any facilities management operation. Ensuring good facilities management relies heavily on appropriate processes being put in place and adhered to.
FacilityBot is a cloud-based SaaS facility management software that enables you to automate workflows from fault reporting, preventive maintenance, asset management and so much more. Find out more at facilitybot.co.
