A study was done by the Delphi Group (copyright 2011), “The High Cost of Knowledge” has some important details that I think you will be interested in. In a survey of over 1000 office workers in mid to large size companies, they asked: “compare the amount of work you are doing today compared to 10 years ago.”
The answer to this question may surprise you. Only 11% reported they were doing the same amount of work as 10 years ago. Thirty-five percent said they are doing the work of two people. And 46% reported that they are doing the work of three or more people.
It was found that to cope with this workload and complex situations, over 48% of the worker survives by having over 10 windows open at any one time on their PC.
What these statistics tell me is that most organizations are understaffed and also have very ineffective systems that allow their user to easily access the information they need to get their jobs done. Users that are multi-tasking between 10 or more applications are probably more likely to be stressed, prone to making errors, and not likely to handle the work-load in the long term.
What is the solution? I think that automating business processes with workflow and integrating applications will help users and increasing productivity.
Automate Business Processes
We have automated many business processes for organizations over the years. Some examples of this would be Accounts Payable Automation – see: Accounts Payable Automation
Other examples of business processes that can be automated are:
- Travel and Expense approvals
- HR onboarding
- PTO approvals
- Energy Assistance approvals
- Application for employment
- Accounts Payable – Purchase Requisition
- Accounts Payable – Purchase Order Process
- Board Agenda Approval Process
- Blood Drive Donor Registration
- Bring Your Own Device Registration
- Budget Approval Process
- Building Inspection Approval Process
- Building Maintenance Request
- Building Permit Approval Process
- Request For Office Supplies
- Business License Application Approval Process
- Renewal of Business License Process
- Purchasing Change Order Process
- Company Party Invitation Form
- Company Vehicle Inspection
- Reservation of Company Vehicle
- Committee Minutes Approval Process
- Contract Approval Process
- Contract Management System
- Temp Worker Onboarding
- Class Add/Drop Request
- Court Case File Compilation
- Caseworker Weekly Report
- Diploma Request Form
- Employee Review Process
- Employee Offboarding
- Employee Referral
- Employee Promotion Approval Process
- Employee Termination Notification
- Event Registration
- Employee Exit Interview
- Expense and Travel Reimbursement
- Employee Position Requisition
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Leave Tracking
- FERPA Authorization
- Fire Inspection
- Flu Shot Registration
- Front Desk Visitor Sign-In Process
- Graffiti Removal Request
- Grant Approval and Management
- Hardware Device Checkout
- Insurance Benefits Enrollment
- IT Helpdesk Request
- Job Application
- Job Requisition
- Document Approval
- Liquor License Application and Renewal Process
- Purchase Requisitions
- Materials Request and Tracking
- Network Access Request
- AP Account Opening
- New Contract Request
- New Hire Onboarding Process
- HR Offer Letter Process
- Overtime Request Process
- Personal Information Change Request
- Dog License Application
- Teacher Evaluation Process
- Press Release Process
- Public Information Request
- Records Destruction Request
- Repair Issue
- RFQ Request for Quote
- Accident – Safety Incident Report
- Bullying Report
- Aptitude Test
- Service Request Process
- Accident Report
- Student Health Information
- Student History and Information
- Student Registration
- Student Housing Questionnaire
- Change Request
- SNAP Application approval
- Time tracking Process
- Student Transcript Process
- Shipping Request
- Trip/Travel Request Process
- Tuition Payment Process
- PTO Vacation / Sick Leave Request
- New Vendor Onboarding
- Workers’ Comp Claim Process
I liked the conclusion that the Delphi Group ended their article with: “Ultimately our ability to provide knowledge workers with better tools with which to do their jobs will determine how quickly we can accelerate the growth and economic prosperity needed to create new innovations and new jobs – making this jobless recover and every future one as short as possible!”
The tools are available to make workers more efficient. In this past year, I have helped organizations implement Laserfiche Document Management and Workflow software. I have seen amazing increases in user productivity using this tool, Laserfiche.
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