How to identify (business) processes for automation?

Question

I recently started at a new company and I am doing basically statistical data analysis as well as data handling (market research). A lot of my tasks were previously done entirely by hand, so I went ahead and created a few tools to automate much of my work.

My boss asked if I could go ahead and look for other automation-possibilities. I certainly have the time and probably the skills (VB.net, VBA, and a few market research specific languages), but I am at a loss as to how to find processes which would be good candidates to be automated.

I could ask the future users (10 employees at all), but most of them don't understand what is easy to automate and what isn't.

I believe that there are processes for this sort of thing - but I don't know enough to start Googling. What comes before requirements discovery and analysis? How do I identify business processes that will work well as an automated task?

Answer 1

In my experience, you really have to walk a mile in their shoes. Ask if you can help them do their job for a morning. Walk through everything they do. Ask questions about what they do in certain circumstances (it's usually the rarely-but-once-a-month stuff that makes it hard to automate). Then go back and put together a functional specification. Then walk them through the idea verbally and get their feedback. Having the discussion will bring up other ideas they didn't think about before. You might need one or two revisions.

That's the best way I've found. People rarely come to you with ideas because, as you said, they don't know what's easy and what's hard. However, once you do this a couple of times, they'll start to get a feel for it and they'll start to suggest small improvements, etc.

Answer 2

It sounds like you're trying to elicit requirements.

There are many techniques for eliciting requirements, but I would suggest observation as a good method. Simply watch people perform their daily jobs and identify manual activities that are repetitive or frequently performed - these may make good candidates for automation. It will also help you better understand the business and the roles of various people.

If there are people who are willing and able to take the time, you may also couple interviewing with observation. Ask questions about what they are doing, why they are doing it, and if they have any complaints or problems with the current process. This may not always be possible if people are extremely busy or have tight deadlines, but you may be able to find some people willing to take a short break or have a working lunch.

Answer 3

You should ask your colleagues about the processes they use on a daily basis, where they spend most of their time, or what they do that they wish they didn't have to do.

Don't ask them what they want automated because you'll be less likely to get good feedback.

Answer 4

Maybe write usecases for the most common tasks in your organisation and invite your boss (or someone else in the organisation) for an "interpretive review", were he/she reads the cases out loud and explains how he/she understands it (and whether he/she agrees). In my experience, when concrete descriptions of workflows is interpreted by an involved part, patterns and anomalies are recognized, and automatable processes can be identified.