In every endeavor success entails analyzing problems, finding options to solve them, making decisions, prioritizing actions and execution.
Problems come in all shapes and sizes. Complex challenges must be broken down into executable pieces. More serious challenges bring with them additional pressures to find options and make decisions.
These days, the broad challenges included in most management performance goals often center on increasing the value of those outcomes for which the manager is responsible. It’s nice, when identifying opportunities and prioritizing steps to reach them, to find some things that can be done quickly to realize benefits or clearly demonstrate movements in the right direction. The worn but descriptive phrase for those things is “low-hanging fruit.”
That phrase can carry a negative tinge. Especially if it refers to things that bring immediate gratification, but do little for long-term gain. If it’s an avoidance of harder work to be done, it might be merely a distraction disguised by momentary gratification, like a grab at the candy bowl. On the other hand, picking the “fruit” in reach may be the most sensible thing to do.
Targeted process automation is a case in point. Replacing specific manual processes with highly targeted, automated digital ones can provide significant benefits in the near and long term that include savings and increased staff value.
What kind of activities would qualify as targeted process automation, fruit that’s easy to reach? Projects that are specific, easily deployable, do not consume much time or IT resources, are not difficult to implement, and provide ongoing savings of time and money. They’re out there.
(Excuse me, vendors are calling to ask about their invoices and I must stop what I’m doing and go answer them….)
To learn if vendor self-service could be your low-hanging fruit, download the special report, “How Vendor Self-Service Reduces Cost and Enhances AP Customer Service.”
