People can’t help but do the things they like. But at work, this often comes at the expense of things that need doing!

We’re simple creatures – and if we’re presented with a choice between an easy, fulfilling task alongside something dull and difficult, well 9 times out of 10 we’ll put off the mundane.

But more often than not, the thing that makes a job boring is how we have to go about completing it. That’s why it’s important to get the balance right: between an effective process and an individual’s needs. Let’s dive a little deeper.

Path Of Least Resistance

Our poor choices compound at work where we tend to push all the work we don’t like to the back of the queue – and then rush it, making it more challenging with a higher chance of mistakes. What’s interesting though, is that many of us don’t learn from our mistakes and continue to repeat these patterns throughout our lives.

It’s often not even a conscious choice – we’re hardwired to cut corners. Let’s say you have to update a CMS after a call with a customer. Ensuring the information is complete, correct, and input quickly is all part of establishing an effective process. Humans however, will find the path of least resistance (and be honest – have you ever filled out a ‘Required Field’ with a full stop rather than the proper information)

What Is the Nature of Your Call?

In our quest to make our lives easier, we’re also too quick to throw technology at a problem without giving it too much thought. And in such instances – particularly where customer service is concerned – we often end up making things worse.

Consider a company using IVRs (Interactive Voice Response) tech. While it’s designed to streamline call queues and reduce pressure on call handlers, those on the receiving end of each serenely calm, robotic, pre-recorded apology end up frustrated. Yes it might have saved an operator a few moments passing you through, but at what cost in terms of your customer experience?

Of course, if you took it far further and invested heavily in automation and machine learning to create a bot which could deal with 80% of a customer call, you would save massively on human operators. However, you’d give your teams far less opportunity to provide the customer service only a human can offer.

Automation and process optimisation is a real balance between what works for everyone and what works for the individual. It’s about improving actions which are vital and yet don’t generate revenue. Sometimes there is a magic bullet that hits the target every time, but more often than not you have to make something as good as it can be, rather than perfect.

Want to know more about balancing automation and personalisation? Contact PAteam today.