“Manual processes are killing your staff,” I told a new client after completing staff interviews for a current state review of their technology.
“I know, but we don’t know how to fix it,” he replied, clearly frustrated.
Their staff loved the mission and their colleagues, but some were at risk of leaving due to these administrative headaches.
This is a common problem I find in all Not for Profits. And the bigger the org, usually, the bigger the issue.
What are common manual processes killing your staff?
You probably already know if your team is struggling with manual processes. However, it may not be as apparent to your Board, and you may need their support to fix these issues.
Here are some common manual processes that are killing your staff:
- Typing the same information into two (or more) different systems.
- Having to verify that the information in a report is correct… line by line.
- Manipulating multiple data sources in a spreadsheet for reporting.
- Physically looking for information in large data fields or attachments.
- Physically counting any type of information in a system or spreadsheet, i.e. # of x type of clients for the month, # of service hours provided for a client.
- Reconciling data between two systems such as between a CRM and a finance system or a CRM and an email system.
- Documenting anything in a spreadsheet because there’s no place for it in a system.
These are frustrating tasks that can suck the life out of your otherwise motivated staff. So, what can you do about these?
What are the fixes to manual processes?
Here are some common solutions if manual processes are killing your staff.
- Integrate systems that need to share common information.
- Review the data models in your system to understand if you are actually capturing the information you need.
- If the data field doesn’t exist, see if you can add it.
- If the data fields exist, but people aren’t using them, make it mandatory.
- If the data fields exist, but people aren’t using them correctly, consider ways to make it easier for them to know what it means, i.e. change the field name or add a tip. Training can definitely help, too.
- If multiple data fields are being used for the same information, see if you can reduce it to just one. Training will help again here.
- If reporting is killing your staff, you likely need a better analytical tool and a way to bring data together from disparate sources, such as via a data warehouse or data lake.
This is by no means a complete list of solutions, but my attempt here is to show you that there are many ways to reduce the manual processes in your organisation. Furthermore, some of these don’t require a significant investment either.
I regularly help Not for Profits find solutions to reduce their manual processes. Let me know if you need some help.
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Tammy Ven Dange is a former charity CEO, Association President, Not for Profit Board Member and IT Executive. Today, she helps NFPs with strategic IT decisions, especially around investments.