Automation explained

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What is automation

Automation happens everywhere. For example, when you’ve paid for something your bank might send you a notification about your account being debited. When you apply for a job, you get an email confirming your CV has been sent out. This all happens automatically, without you needing to push a button.

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What should I automate with Next Matter

With Next Matter you connect a string of tasks that will automatically flow from one person to the next:

You can also automate complex tasks that together create a workflow connecting multiple tools and teams. For example, you can automate:

1. End-to-end product return workflow (this is when a customer wants to return a purchased product and get a refund)
2. Car rental and return workflow (with all side actions such as getting a crew to clean up the car after rental)
3. Onboarding workflow (when you take on a new supplier or employee)

and hundreds more…

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What are workflows

In a nutshell, workflow is a set of steps that gets you from A to B. Come to think of that, even preparing lunch is a workflow starting with getting the bread out and finishing with placing the plate in a dishwasher. Workflows can:

• have multiple steps and step types (forms to fill in, steps when a decision is needed, steps that need completing in parallel)
• branch out or take a different route based on conditions
• involve internal and external participants
• connect to 3rd party tools to exchange data
• have deadlines

You will be able to create and participate in all kinds of workflows in Next Matter.

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Time saved

Next Matter calculates how much time automation saves you every week.

We assume that each completed step saves you, on average, three minutes.

Not only does the time saved on the activity itself count but also the hidden cost of lost focus and employee overwhelm. Research indicates, that one context switch alone costs 23 minutes and decreases overall employee satisfaction and health.

Indeed, your very own Next Matter use cases might lead to a different minute average per step. Still, looking at the research and having analyzed and discussed this with our customers over and over again we are confident that this figure is conservative.

That’s why the calculation we use is the following: (Steps completed this week x 3 minutes) / 60 = Hours saved this week

Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that each Next Matter step automates many aspects of operations at once:

• Writing a task
• Assigning it to the right person or team
• Explaining to them how to do it right
• Follow-ups
• Escalations
• Keeping the team in the loop
• Updating the spreadsheet tracker
• Remembering to make the quarterly budget adjustment
• Validating customer input
• Writing the auditor report