Business tasks can really creep up on you, especially when you start to grow and scale. One day, it’s just ten of you in the office, and you’re a little behind on sorting out the filing cabinet. A few years later, you need new employees to keep track of the employees who are hiring employees. Business is great: your phones are ringing off the hook and email inboxes are overflowing. But how do you stay on top of it all? 

The good news is, modern automation can handle almost any work task you can think of. From scheduling meetings and managing workflows to making sure data is all backed up. You probably have systems in place to automate basic tasks like vacation responder emails. But did you know there are even more things you can take care of with technology? Here’s a list of some ways to take advantage of automating tasks in the workplace.

1. Hiring, Background Checks, and Income Verification

Old background checking software used to require an employee to run every loan or job candidate through the system one-by-one. An administrative assistant would sit next to the computer with a stack of forms and type each person’s information in. After that, it could take days to get the results. While criminal background checks can still take up to 2-4 days to process, other types of screenings are much faster now. Automation can help screen job candidates and potential borrowers in a matter of minutes or hours.

Processes like income verification can be conducted in seconds or minutes, with programs sifting through millions of records instantly. Automation can also design, deliver, and rank the results of pre-screening questions for hiring and lending. Software can optimize risk analysis and onboarding procedures. Applicant tracking and loan management systems can help you keep tabs on candidates and stay on top of workflows. You can even integrate any of these processes with notification systems so candidates get emails if they’re rejected or approved. 

2. Social Media and Blogging

Gone are the days of plying the intern with free Starbucks so they’ll post the occasional witicism on the company Twitter account. Nowadays, a plethora of social media management tools are available to help you write and schedule your social media posts. Programs like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social can help you bulk schedule all your posts. Most social media management programs provide analytics to help you optimize your content. Some programs even have AI that can help you generate content and captions.

A number of options can help you schedule and manage blog or website content. AI can analyze trending stories and help you come up with ideas for new content. It can also help you plan around SEO keywords to drive up your search results. AI has the ability to help you determine what type of content to offer depending on what your audience prefers (eg. videos vs. text). It can even help generate outlines and first drafts to help you get started on the writing process.

3. Customer Service

Automating customer service processes can help your customers get faster responses. It can also save your company time and money on handling repetitive questions or tasks. Chatbot applications are a great starting point. They can function as part of your website or be integrated with your social media platforms. Chatbots can answer questions, direct readers to helpful articles, or create support tickets for your team to address. They can handle boring bits (like walking customers through system reboots) so employees can get right into the real work.

The downside to automating customer service is that it can frustrate your customers. Inefficient, low-tech chatbots can leave customers unable to get the answers they need. Automated customer service can also be a time-consuming barrier for customers who really need to speak to a human. They also may not be able to handle things like complex language use or misspellings. And while chatbots are a great tool for hard-of-hearing or deaf customers, they can pose other accessibility issues.

4. Emails and Auto-Responses

Emails and auto-responses can be automated in a multitude of ways. You can use scheduled emails to do everything from simple out-of-office responses to sending out hundreds of candidate rejections. Programs like MailChimp and Constant Contact can help you design and send out marketing emails to massive mailing lists. Automated emails can be sent out with promotional offerings when a customer abandons their webstore cart. They can also be used to handle all sorts of basic customer service queries.

While it’s possible to automate some emails through your regular email provider, you’ll likely want to use more advanced tools. These programs can integrate with other software solutions you use, like Shopify or other e-commerce platforms. They also have analytics that can help you figure out metrics like clickthrough, bounce, and conversion rates. Whichever tools you use, it’s still a good idea to keep a pair of human eyes on your outbox. A pre-scheduled email can create a massive PR issue if you don’t check the news before it goes out.

5. Payroll, Invoicing, and Bill Payments

Finances are one of the most important business processes to automate. You can automate everything from keeping the office lights on to paying freelancers on the other side of the globe.

Payroll software can help track employee hours, deduct tax withholding, and manage direct deposit. It can also calculate other benefits like health insurance and vacation pay. Most importantly, payroll software keeps your employees happy by making sure they get paid on time. If you work with freelancers, you can use a program that can help them automate invoices with a consistent template. This saves tons of time and money and helps you avoid getting all kinds of invoices from dozens or hundreds of freelancers.

Humans vs. Robots

Automating business tasks can save you loads of time, money, and stress. But however you use automation, you still need smart human beings at the helm. Simple computer errors can still infuriate customers or clients and drive your business down. And even AI can’t infuse your content with the personality or wisdom it takes to really make an impression. Software solutions can make everything easier, but they’re really just a tool to help top talent succeed.