Automation vs Collaboration
posted by Anna Mar, May 27, 2011Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations we can perform without thinking.
~ Alfred Whitehead
Both the Industrial Revolution and IT Revolution are largely based on the premise that automation is king. However, with the relatively recent interest in social media and collaboration a new question is emerging:
Should business processes be automated or facilitated with collaboration tools?
Pointless Automation
Automation is fast and measurable. However, there are several dangers of automation:- interference with the human potential for innovation
- excessive costs (e.g. automated exception handling for obscure exceptions)
- automation of tasks that are better performed by humans (e.g. customer service)
- lack of continual improvement (collaborative processes tend to continually improve)
- automation of a process that is not well understood
- lack of flexibility (collaborative processes can adapt to almost anything)
- automation of a inefficient or destructive process
Automation vs Collaboration
Automation is fast, predicable and measurable. Collaboration has more potential for innovation, adaptation and flexibility.
Hybrid Approach
As with most architectural trade-offs the optimal solution to the automation vs. collaboration dilemma is usually somewhere in the middle. Well understood, repetitive tasks can be automated. Tasks that require innovation and adaptability can benefit from collaboration tools.Common Pitfalls
There are several common automation vs collaboration pitfalls:- automating everything including the obscure and the unusual.
- automating inefficiencies (thereby making them more inefficient)
- automation for the sake of automation (no business payback)
- collaboration tools that are deployed as standalone apps on a intranet site (no integration with processes).
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