It’s tough to let go of the idea that the ‘human touch’ is best. Human interaction is literally what drives us, but this doesn’t mean that human involvement improves every situation. Sometimes you have a gut feel that a person can perform a task ‘better’ than an automated tool. You may be right, but here are the key considerations:

Can you afford to wait?

Manual steps inevitably take longer to accomplish, because like money a web tool never sleeps. Is the task time sensitive? Are you keeping a client or prospect waiting? The trade-off between instant cold logic and slow human warmth merits consideration any time you’re considering a deliberate manual step. When in doubt repeat this mantra: Speed Wins. Speed Wins. Speed Wins.

Does the manual step have a clear purpose?

When you’re automating a process and deliberately include a manual step, it’s possible you’re creating a new problem. If the task is tedious and doesn’t have a clear relationship to a larger goal, it’s unlikely to be embraced by your staff. Are you able as a manager to clearly communicate the value and/or necessity of the step? If not perhaps the task should be eliminated or redesigned. Include your staff in brainstorming options. They’ll find a better way or become invested in the existing process.

How do you know it’s working?

This is related to time sensitivity, but is subtly different. What happens if the task is ignored? When manual tasks have a physical component such as stocking shelves or printing business cards it’s readily apparent when your staff falls behind. Tasks driven by a an electronic list are less obvious. Keeping on track requires dedication from your staff and a mechanism in place to alert you to any backlog. If the task isn’t important enough to monitor — at the risk of  repeating myself — perhaps it should be eliminated or redesigned. Unlike the cobblers workshop, magic dwarfs will NOT appear during the night to fix the problem.

Does the human touch build or destroy?

Every touch is part of a conversation. Every touch has several possible outcomes. If the least path of resistance leads to a bad outcome — say it with me — perhaps the task should be eliminated or redesigned.

Consider an example of Bad Touch: I know a company that runs a high volume email list. The content can be tailored to a recipient’s needs IF the recipient calls, but the only option given in the email is a global unsubscribe. Their reasoning is to get an extra chance to speak with the recipient, BUT… Some folks will live with a high volume list and just hit delete, but many don’t read the contents first. Some will be annoyed and unsubscribe. The ones who call are angry; they haven’t been invited to call for customization and have no way to know it’s an option.

Automated touches should be carefully evaluated, and good outcomes need to be easy and natural. Conversations that required switching communication media in order to reach the desired result are neither easy nor natural. So if you start a conversation electronically, there’s often value in keeping it there.

Finally

Often automation is seen as a magic wand. Not so. Usually the new possibilities created by web tools are accompanied by new roles and tasks for your staff. Decisions on which tasks should remain in human hands and which should be fully automated have consequences. Ignore these consequences at your peril.

Every day we interact with friends, business partners, clients, prospects… You get the idea. Many of those folks politely hear whatever we have to say. If we’re lucky they’re not just hearing but listening. If we have a real relationship we may reach one rung higher. Criticism.

Adviser, sounding board, or devil’s advocate. Call them what you will, but you need at least a few people around you who don’t hesitate to give their honest opinion of both your current strategy and your execution. These are the folks who point out the downside, the flaws, or in extreme cases the cranial rectal inversion. They’re the mirrors you check before you leave the house. In other words, “Excuse me, you have spinach in your teeth.”

Some of your advisers won’t offer their opinions unasked. That’s fine, but be sure to ask. Others will communicate in embarrassingly public ways! Get over yourself, and learn to love them for it.

The nature of the flaws they see depends on their point of view. If you’ve sought my advice there’s probably a technology angle. If you seek out Lorraine Ball, you probably have marketing on the mind. Chris Reed runs a home repair business, but is almost more visible as a networking coach! And Tim Dugger knows more about helping job seekers that I ever care to.

I could go on, but you get the idea. I exchange opinions, help, and advice with all three of these folks on a regular basis. And we each speak and contribute based on our experiences in business and in life.

Now go out and find a mirror!

P.S. Lorraine, that thing I emailed you about? Looks much better now!

I know it’s not just me. I know there are plenty of folks out there who are easily distracted. One moment you’re focused on a task, then all of the sudden, “SQUIRREL!” If you’ve seen the Disney film, Up, you know exactly what I’m referring to.  There are many great lessons in this movie, however seeing squirrel is one aspect of the film that rings true with me on a daily basis.  The dog in the film is able to talk due to a device on his collar that a mad genius invented and placed on him. No matter what the dog is doing, no matter how important the task, anytime a he sees a squirrel, he hollers “SQUIRREL!” and his focus shifts completely.  Now, this is funny, but the point here, is that he is easily distracted. 

How many of us have daily ‘squirrels’ or daily distractions that keep us from any given task at hand? I mean, a squirrel could be an email, a text, an employee, a woman, ANYTHING that we see out of the corner of our eye that easily gets to us…good or bad.  I’m not saying that all squirrels are bad.  Some squirrels give us inspiration. We need the squirrels in our life, but we have to keep them in check. Ultimately, we don’t want the squirrels to cause dis-coordination, because dis-coordination can wreak havoc on the goals we set out to accomplish.

So, what if squirrels are not the issue? What if you deal with folks who thrive on tunnel vision, the extreme opposite? The place where they are so entirely closed off, almost too focused on the task at hand to really hear any outside input. People who are prone to this end of the spectrum can easily miss out on an opportunity to learn and grow that could actually help IMPROVE the task. I know I have dealt with people like this. They can be very frustrating to talk to. Perhaps they even ignore you altogether. Are there people like this in your life?

What I have found over the years, even in dealing with all my distractions, is there is a fine line to draw between chasing squirrels and developing tunnel vision. Seeing squirrels can create value. Recognition of the right squirrel at the right time is the key.