We set goals at CTaccess for the company and for every team member, every quarter. We started this years ago when we read “The Rockefeller Habits,” and it was reinforced by the book “Traction.” Implementing goal setting was a rough start, but gradually we got a rhythm down where we just do it each quarter.

Our original process used Word documents and email. Each employee filled these out quarterly, emailed them to their manager, sometimes there was rework, and the finished documents were mostly stored on the network drive. Then, team members would self-evaluate against these goals at the end of the quarter. The process wasn’t broken, but it did require lots of emails and manual double-checking. It also often had loose ends, misfiled documents, and a lack of follow-through.

A couple of years ago, we decided to “practice what we preach” and apply our automation tools to this process. Now, everyone receives an email at goal time with a link to an online form to complete their goal sheet. Once completed, it flows to their manager for approval. The manager can accept or send back for adjustments. Once approved, it is automatically filed away. It will send reminders to team members about milestones based on the timeframes they committed to. And then at the end of the quarter, another email goes out for the team member to complete their quarterly self-review, which follows a similar approval process and is filed away. Each manager has access to a dashboard showing where their team members are in the process.

The result is that the process now runs on its own. No one must remember the next step, file the documents, remember if they discussed the goals, or remind and prompt people. The automation handles it all. While the process was never broken, the relief is noticeable. People no longer have to expend time, energy, and mental space just to keep goal-setting moving and organized.

This process is typical of how many business processes run without automation. Follow-up emails, just-checking-in messages, and meetings to keep things moving along are just part of the daily workflow. Email is the manual reminder system, prompted by people remembering, reminding, and reconstructing context. Our next actions might be in our email inbox, on our calendar, or on paper, but we prompt the process to keep it moving. All of this creates a mental burden that compounds quickly and quietly.

The platform used to automate falls under Business Process Automation (BPA). BPA is an AI-enabled application that allows your systems and processes to run consistently without human vigilance. People are great at decision-making and using intelligence to make judgment calls. We are not always so great at being a long-term reminder system, and when we are, it often takes a mental toll. BPA moves work forward the same way every time. It reminds and prompts human involvement when it is needed. It takes the mundane out of the process and allows people to do what they do best.  How does it do this?

Here are 8 Ways BPA Helps Reduce Mental Workload:

#1 Approvals move without chasing. Systematized routing replaces emails about “who has it.” People review and decide, and the system moves things from one step to the next. AI can augment BPA to aid summarization and information extraction before the review step.

#2 Email stops being the system of record. Email threads no longer tell the story of what happened and what stage we are in; the system does, and it provides easy access to the details.

#3 Work does not stall quietly. The BPA system will surface exceptions, rather than having someone hunt for “where we are in the process.” In addition, AI can be used to surface instances where information is missing or something unusual is happening, preventing a stall before it happens.

#4 Leaders gain visibility without meetings. Meetings to “keep things on track” are significantly reduced because the system reports the process status in an easily visible way.

#5  Consistency becomes normal. We spend more time than we realize double-checking, making sure, and verifying that we are still moving forward. Consistency becomes the norm with automated workflows.

#6  Onboarding is streamlined. When bringing a new person onto a work team in an automated system, they do not have to memorize how things move or become part of the tracking mechanism. The automated process teaches them and keeps things tracking forward.

#7 Compliance just happens quietly The system provides an audit trail and enforces consistent processes, storage, and reporting. People no longer need to remember to ensure we stay compliant.

#8  Time wasted on manually tracking returns to meaningful work. BPA minimizes the need for mental bookkeeping. Less energy is spent on constant context switching. There is more focus on decision-making and people.

BPA working in tandem with new AI capabilities has an enormous impact. BPA encompasses the structure and process, and AI accelerates reading, extraction, and summarization. BPA creates consistency and tames the AI engine into something that is productive and consistent.

Effective BPA does not require replacing your core systems. It integrates with the platforms you already use. Automation becomes the connector between these systems, moving data, tracking it, and preventing duplication. In fact, it often increases the value you get from them by making it all work together.

Business Process Automation is about creating clarity, consistency, and momentum. It is about freeing your teams from being the reminder system that pushes work along and letting them do rewarding, productive work. When work flows automatically, progress becomes something you can count on!