When building a business case for Robotic Process Automation (RPA), speed and ease of implementation are often at the top of the list of anticipated benefits. So when engagements get bogged down from the outset and fail to deliver results according to schedule, clients are understandably frustrated. Trouble is, it’s lack of preparation from the buyer side that typically drives the delay.
Let’s look at three key areas of an RPA implementation that the client side needs to address:
Subject Matter Expertise: A successful RPA initiative requires hands-on involvement from a SME from the client organization to direct the implementation team on the business rules and logic that a human agent or administrator applies when executing a given process. In many cases, however, clients fail to tap adequate or appropriate resources for the job. One frequent mistake is to assign a staffer who has the most experience in the organization. The problem is, those individuals are typically several steps removed from day-to-day hands-on involvement in the process being automated, and therefore lack the insight into the nuanced details of how the process works. That insight, meanwhile, is critical to training the bots properly and avoiding re-works.
Project Management: It’s not uncommon for an implementation team to arrive at a client site and find itself tasked with navigating an unknown organization to find the people with answers to critical questions. A dedicated, go-to resource on site is essential for an implementation to be efficiently managed. When the implementation team has to take on the task of project management in addition to building the robots, loss of focus and delays are inevitable.
Training: In terms of training staff impacted by RPA tools, perhaps the biggest pitfall businesses experience is to make training a part-time undertaking, something done in addition to “regular jobs.” The problem with this is that other tasks and priorities invariably intrude, distracting people from truly absorbing what they need to learn about interacting with their new digital colleagues. As a result, when the training is completed, staffers revert to the old way of doing things at the first opportunity, thereby diluting the value of the RPA tools. Most anyone who has ever had to adopt a new tool or technology in the workplace can agree that you need to be 100 percent engaged in order to embrace the technology change being implemented.
Takeaway: While customers certainly need to do a better job in preparing their internal organizations for an RPA initiative, we as consultants need to be more effective in communicating to our customers what is required on their part in terms of time and resource commitments.
