ho loves manual data entry? Anyone? I didn’t think so. In the modern digital workplace, this is simply bad business practice. Imagine (you probably don’t have to) having to copy and paste, double click the same area on a screen, or tick a database box over and over again. Not only is this boring, repetitive task unnecessary, but it’s also prone to mistakes, especially with all the distractions remote workers might have to deal with. Manual data entry in productivity tools feels ironic.
More importantly, people don’t want to do it. According to the COVID-19 Technology Survey by ABBYY, a quarter of employees say they want to quit their jobs due to bad business processes. Fortunately, it seems that employers are catching on because two-thirds of them adopted artificial intelligence (AI) during the lockdown. Those that do utilize robotic process automation (RPA) save around 26 hours per week in productivity.
Why’s that, you ask? Let’s dive in.
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People Make Mistakes
Everyone knows this, so why do we still do it? Whether someone is feeling stressed, bored, or they’re in a rush, it doesn’t really matter. Everyone falls victim to human error—some more than others, but it’s still unavoidable. That can be an extra digit added/subtracted, typos, punctuation mistakes, wrong place, or any other mistake.
However, automation software doesn’t accidentally reply to the wrong email, record the notes from a customer meeting on the wrong account record, or mix up and forget about handling a key support ticket. That’s because automation doesn’t get stressed, bored, or feel rushed. It’s programmed to migrate data mistake-free. That means employees don’t have to go back and make corrections, and the organization doesn’t have to apologize to clients for a “mix up.”
Manual Data Entry is Slow
Manual Data entry is slow and eats up employees’ valuable time. Automating tasks decreases the amount of time it takes to complete an entry. Employees would rather spend time working on projects than inputting the same data continuously. This can negatively impact a business because manual data input can result in boredom and fatigue, which further reduces the speed of manual data entry.
These kinds of emotions are a slippery slope that leads to a higher susceptibility to distractions or even issues with employee retention, further decreasing productivity. Plus, there are times when data entry isn’t taking place because employees need to take breaks. AI-driven productivity software automates these steps and is always working for you. It doesn’t take breaks unless you tell it to. And it’s always working at a consistently high rate.
It Costs Money & Resources
Manual data entry requires people, and people cost money. People also take time off, fall ill, and you may need more of them if you want your business to grow. That means hiring more employees, which means going through the stressful hiring process, and you might hire the wrong people. These mild inconveniences can add up. Or you can be understaffed and have to put added pressure on those entering the data.
This isn’t to say automation software doesn’t cost anything. But it’s a whole lot cheaper and more convenient than using an employee’s time or making new hires. It can also handle much larger workloads than people can. This can have huge advantages to understaffed organizations.
The Health Aspect of Repetitive Tasks
Not just mental, but physical health as well. Doing the same task hour after hour isn’t in our nature. If you’ve ever had to copy and paste, switch back and forth between tabs or programs, or click one button over and over, you probably know the discomfort. That discomfort can lead to tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, or vision problems.
We often think of stress contributing to mental health issues, but boredom can be just as detrimental to our well-being. Endless repetition of menial tasks can make someone extremely demoralized, dissatisfied, or desperate to leave an organization. People need meaning in their lives, and not surprisingly, manual data entry doesn’t fill that void.
While there are ways to combat these health issues with job rotation and other steps, automation is the only way to mitigate the issues altogether. Why risk an employee’s health and productivity when there are easier solutions out there that can save money, resources, time, and prevent mistakes.
Solutions That Fall Short
Companies often turn to project management software to help improve productivity. But project management software tends to be cumbersome for the everyday user and requires a lot of data entry. On top of that, the software can be very complex and require a steep learning curve, which takes away from its intended purpose—to streamline and organize. Project managers need to learn how to use key features, and team members will have to learn how to enter data into a new system. Obviously, this program will take some time to get up to speed.
However, there is an opportunity for something better for your employees. A solution that can automatically identify all their key tasks and bring them into one place. Instead of adopting an entirely new system, MetaSpark allows managers, teams, and individuals to bring tasks from every program or application into one dashboard. It doesn’t matter if you’re using Trello, Slack, Salesforce, Workday, Jira, HubSpot, or nearly any other enterprise software.
MetaSpark’s AI removes the need for data entry and gives your team more time to do their work. That means you can eliminate costly errors, repetitive tasks, save time, money, and resources all with one solution. It's an AI-Driven Workforce Productivity Hub that offers accurate, data-driven insights into productivity across individuals, departments, and the entire organization.
According to global research by Automation Anywhere, data entry is up there with one of the most hated tasks in the office. So, why not ensure your employees don’t have to endure so much of it. Bring everyone's tasks, from every system, into a single dashboard — automatically, without any data entry. See how MetaSpark works by scheduling a demo today!
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