Why to & when not to

When you first experience automation, you feel as if everything in the world should be automated! Then the immediate next thought is how boring would things be!

This is a universal feeling we all get. Yes, there are huge advantages to eliminating manual work. For all routine tasks, machines definitely do it better than humans — there is no doubt about that. All the boring, monotonous work should be out of our hands. Many believe (me included) that everything a computer can do, the computer should do.

However, there are few things that should not be automated. If you want people to pay attention to certain things, then it’s best to let them do some part of it manually. This gives them a memory, and it becomes available for them to use in their work.

For example, I’ve observed, if certain key reports were automated, middle managers tend to take those for granted and check only when required. However a better result was achieved by not automating certain parts and letting them copy paste certain numbers manually everyday. This kept them aware of what exactly was happening everyday and led to better decisions and guidance.

Namaskar!