For a long time, business experts have cited automation as something of a cure-all for businesses. It would, they insist, end the problem of labor shortages, drive ever-higher levels of efficiency, and improve profit margins. But the results so far don't necessarily bear that out.

Instead, analysts estimate that as many as 50% of business automation projects fail. That's an awfully high failure rate for technology that was supposed to be instantly transformative. But it begs the question: is the technology to blame? And in most cases, the answer is an emphatic no. Instead, most failed automation initiatives stem from poor preparation and execution.

It turns out that business automation works a whole lot better for organizations that prepare for it in the right way. And there's no mystery to what successful automation preparation looks like. Here are the four major preparatory steps that successful automation initiatives all have in common.

Start Simple, Scale Up

The most important thing a business can do to improve its odds of automation success is to start with automating something small. This is one of the core basics of business automation that every company should know. The idea is to pick out a relatively simple process whose automation represents the clearest possible value proposition. To do that, businesses should look for processes that:

• Are routine and clearly-defined
• Are rules-based and requires no objectivity or judgment
• Involve structured data inputs and outputs

The idea is to select a low-risk, high-reward automation opportunity to use as a test case. Succeeding in a limited way is always preferable to any kind of failure. It's something to build on that can create the perfect conditions for further automation deployment. The trouble is that many businesses bite off more than they can chew with their first automation initiative and end up paying a huge organizational price when it fails. Often, failure means internal skepticism toward future initiatives and resistance to further automation efforts.

Work Toward Employee Buy-in

The next thing that makes for a successful automation initiative is to secure employee buy-in as early as possible. It's important because automation has turned into a loaded concept for workers, who fear it represents a threat to their jobs. But current business automation is less a threat to workers than it is a potentially powerful ally. Making that clear to employees early is essential.

A good place to start is to provide workers with ample training that gives them detailed knowledge of the incoming technology's features and benefits. And it's also a good idea to share the deployment roadmap with affected employees so they can see where they stand. Once they find out that the proposed automation will make their jobs easier and that there are no plans to remove humans from the loop, resistance will fade.

Hire an Automation Manager

One key misstep that plenty of businesses make when beginning an automation initiative is to leave the project exclusively in the hands of their IT department. That assumes that the IT staff has the relevant skills and knowledge to handle the work and that they'll know to collaborate closely with the right stakeholders. Unfortunately, that's rarely how things work out.

To create a successful automation initiative, it's necessary to hire an automation manager to run the show. Such managers can come from a variety of technology management careers and backgrounds. The only real prerequisite is for them to have technology project management experience and ideally, a preexisting understanding of the automation technology under consideration.

It'll be that person's job to work with relevant stakeholders to assess their needs and determine the scope of each automation project. Then, they can enlist the help of members of the IT staff as necessary. In other words, they serve as a vital bridge between those relying on the automation and those deploying it — thus improving the odds of project success.

Prioritize Technology Flexibility

The final critical element that successful automation initiatives always have is that they're based on flexible technology. Many automation projects that fail make the mistake of choosing niche automation software that they quickly outgrow. Or worse, find out that the software they've chosen doesn't support the functionality they ultimately need it to. There's no faster way to doom an automation initiative than to have it turn out to be a dead end.

That's why it's essential to base efforts toward business automation on the most flexible technology possible. Doing so allows the business to build on its early automation successes without having to start from square one for each successive project. And it also helps build up the institutional knowledge of what works and what doesn't which will inform each successive introduction of automation into new workflows.

Final Thoughts

The bottom line here is that it's quite clear that business automation is worth pursuing for most organizations. But there are many ways to approach its adoption that can lead to failure. And early failures have ramifications that extend well beyond the initial automation efforts. They can complicate further attempts to introduce automation or sour decision-makers on the whole concept. Therefore, getting automation efforts off to a good start is essential.

The preceding four preparatory steps go a long way toward ensuring early automation success. From there, it's possible to build the momentum necessary to create a sustained automation initiative. And that's the real key to unlocking the transformative power that automation can have on any business.