How Work Automation Amplifies Project Management

Have you thought about implementing work automation or project management software into your business? If you have, then you’re not alone. There are several popular project management software tools out there such as Monday, Trello, Asana and many more. You can even invest in customised tools to suit your unique business needs.

Work automation can improve productivity and make it so much easier for project managers to stay on top of things while working on big-picture tasks instead of mundane, time-consuming admin. Here’s everything you need to know about work automation in project management.

What is work automation?

Work automation is the use of any system that streamlines the work you’re doing. In a factory, it might be the use of machinery to perform repetitive, mundane tasks such as sorting. In an office, it might be a customer relationship management (CRM) program to assist with sales and marketing. For project management, it is likely to be a project management tool that’s used for automation, communication and much more.

Basically, the whole idea is to increase productivity by taking a lot of mundane, repetitive or time-consuming tasks away from humans. That way, they can focus on improving the quality of work or simply performing more impactful duties.

Benefits of work automation in project management

There are plenty of benefits to using work automation in project management. While many people think work automation is just letting computers do the boring tasks for you, it’s a lot more than that. You can improve communication, achieve greater productivity and increase the quality of work. Here are some of the many benefits of work automation in project management.

Increased productivity

For a project to run smoothly, people need to be productive. That’s a given, especially working with strict deadlines and budget requirements. So, anything that increases productivity would be a great idea. Automation isn’t just about reducing admin tasks though. You can use templates and all sorts of automation methods to make all tasks a little bit easier and more streamlined.

The great benefit is that automation also makes things more predictable, especially if you work on a lot of similar projects. Once you’ve put the time into establishing your processes, every subsequent project can run a little smoother. With every task a bit easier, productivity increases drastically.

Cut down the admin tasks

The administrative tasks in most projects can seem overwhelming at times. Whether it’s following up with team members, monitoring task due dates, generating and sending out progress reports or providing other updates, it can almost be a full-time job in itself. Where do you find time to actually manage the project, mentor staff and deal with key stakeholders?

Work automation can take care of all of those routine tasks, which significantly cuts down the admin involved. It also reduces the admin requirements for all your team members, meaning they can be more productive because they’re not worrying about endless admin.

More time for high-level project management

When you cut down all those irritating admin tasks such as sending out reminders and following up on incomplete tasks, guess what happens? You’ve got more time to do high-level strategic tasks that most people would consider more important. For example, you may find you’ve got more time to keep on top of the budget or deal with external stakeholders.

Every project is different, of course, but most people who have obtained program management certification would agree that there are better things to do with their time than sending notifications and generating reports. Your job is to oversee the whole project, juggle a number of different tasks and keep everything running smoothly, so let project management software take care of the mundane tasks.

Improved communication

Work automation tools also have a valuable role to play in project communication. As an example, many project management software programs have the ability to share information on chats or message boards. Everything has a designated place, such as specific chat channels for each task or work area. This improves everyone’s ability to access the information they need and to receive answers to questions quickly.

In addition, communication is more streamlined between team members and project managers. Tasks can simply be checked as ‘complete’ in a software program, which automatically sends a notification to the relevant people. No more wasting time with individual emails, because much of the communication is automated.

Better consistency

You’ll also find that consistency improves with work automation because everything becomes more predictable. When staff have set templates, guidelines and processes to follow, the work is naturally more consistent and less open to interpretation. Basically, when people need to spend less time thinking about the exact processes they need to follow, they can spend more time ensuring the quality of work is high.

In addition, many types of work automation also remove the risk of human error. This is especially true when it comes to data analysis if you’re using some kind of artificial intelligence program. Machines don’t make the mistakes that we as humans do, meaning you can achieve better quality for certain work tasks through automation.

Tips for using work automation in project management

So, you can see how beneficial work automation can be in a project management environment. But that doesn’t mean any old project management software will do the trick. Nor does it mean that every type of work automation is right for your business. Here are some tips to ensure that work automation actually benefits your teams.

Provide proper training to staff

One of the most important things you need to consider regarding work automation is staff training. You’d know yourself that it’s no fun picking up software programs and having to figure them out for yourself. If you did your project management certification online, you would have first been given instructions on how to use the online portals. So, that’s exactly what you need to provide for your project officers.

If you’re implementing new systems for work automation, every person using them needs to be trained in great detail to ensure that work is completed properly. Work automation is great, but it often requires the correct human inputs to make everything flow smoothly. In addition, if you already have work automation in place and you’re onboarding a new staff member, make sure they’re given thorough training.

Limit the number of software programs

The world of technology moves extremely quickly, so there are new tools and software programs available all the time. So, when deciding on how you’re going to achieve work automation, look carefully at the tools you already use. Do they have the capability to perform automated tasks?

If not, and you need to implement a whole new system, try to make everything as streamlined as possible. If you need to use multiple software programs, make sure that they don’t actually make your work harder. Often, too many apps and programs can lead to re-work and duplication. If you can. Try to find software that integrates well with your other systems, and this will increase productivity rather than hinder it.

Ask for feedback from the project team

Finally, like anything you do, ask for feedback! At the end of each project, you should always take time to analyse what worked well and what could have been done better. Your team members can be part of this process and give their thoughts. If there are issues with any of the work automation that was used in the project, you can find ways to improve things in the future.

If you’ve considered work automation for project management, hopefully this article has given you some insight into why it’s a good idea, and also some of the pitfalls to avoid.