For some businesses, Excel is still exactly the right tool for preparing a schedule. The problem is not always the spreadsheet itself.
The difficulty can begin when someone has to manually take the information from that file and enter it into several calendars. When the same operation comes around again and again, it takes time, ties up one person and creates room for mistakes.
In the case described here, a company used an Excel file to prepare a schedule, then had to create, update and distribute nearly 200 events across five employees and five shared Google Calendars.
The work was done manually. On average, it took 12 hours every month.
The goal was not to replace Excel or introduce a new scheduling platform. It was simply to remove the repetitive step that came after the spreadsheet had been prepared.
The problem: a finished file, followed by hours of work
The schedule already existed as an Excel file.
All the required information was therefore in one place. But the job was not finished. Someone still had to take the relevant details from the file and create the corresponding events in Google Calendar.
Each event had to be assigned to the right employee and the right shared calendar. With nearly 200 events to process and five different calendars to update, the operation became long and repetitive.
The work involved several steps:
- opening the Excel file;
- reviewing the relevant information;
- creating or updating events in Google Calendar;
- assigning them to the right calendar;
- deleting events that no longer matched the schedule;
- checking that everything had been distributed correctly.
Each individual event was simple enough to handle. The problem was the volume.
The task did not require much judgement. It mainly consisted of transferring information that was already available from one tool into several calendars.
The solution: drop the file and let the automation do the work
The solution is deliberately simple.
The Excel file is placed in a specific location. That upload automatically triggers the process. The information is then compared with the existing content of the shared Google Calendars.
The automation can add new events, update events that have changed and remove events that are no longer present in the schedule.
There is no need to go through the data one event at a time or create each calendar entry manually.
The process can be summarised as follows:
- the Excel file is prepared as usual;
- it is placed in the designated location;
- the upload triggers the automated process;
- events are added, updated or removed from the relevant calendars;
- an email summarises what was done.
The important point is that no new work tool was imposed on the company.
The business stayed in its existing environment, using Excel and the Google suite. Employees did not have to learn a new application or check another system to find their events.
From their perspective, the result looks as though someone had entered everything by hand. The difference happens before the schedule appears in the calendar: the repetitive manual operation has been removed.
An automation that fits into the existing workflow
It is easy to assume that automating a task means changing software or redesigning the whole organisation.
That is not always necessary.
In this case, the tools already used every day were doing their jobs. Excel was used to prepare the information, and Google Calendar was used to view the schedules. The problem was not the choice of tools.
It was the manual transfer between the spreadsheet and the calendars.
The automation made it possible to keep the existing habits:
- the file is still prepared in Excel;
- the shared Google Calendars remain the reference calendars;
- employees check their schedules in the same place;
- the team does not have to adopt a major change.
This approach reduces disruption and makes adoption easier. Users do not need to understand the technical side of the automation to benefit from it.
They place the file in the right location, then find the updated events in their calendars.
Nearly 200 events processed in under two minutes
The result is measurable.
Starting from the Excel file, nearly 200 events are processed in under two minutes. They are distributed across five employees and five shared Google Calendars.
The task that previously took an average of 12 hours per month is now almost instantaneous.
The benefits include:
- an average of 12 hours recovered every month;
- nearly 200 events processed automatically;
- five calendars updated;
- fewer repetitive manual actions;
- fewer risks of omissions or incorrect assignments;
- no new tool to deploy across the team.
The final check is still possible. After each run, an email summarises the events that were added, updated and removed. The person responsible can therefore review what happened without having to carry out the entire data-entry process themselves.
The gain does not come from a spectacular feature. It comes from removing a recurring task that could be handled automatically.
What this case shows about automation
This experience highlights several useful lessons.
You do not always need to change your tools
A company may already have the right tools and still lose time because those tools are not properly connected.
Before looking for new software, it can be useful to observe the manual steps carried out between the tools already in use.
In this case, Excel and Google Calendar each served a clear purpose. The part that needed to change was the manual transfer of information.
A simple task can become a significant workload
Creating or updating a calendar event is not a particularly complex operation.
But when it has to be repeated nearly 200 times and the events must be distributed across five calendars, the task becomes a real workload.
Repetition turns a simple action into a recurring cost. It also increases the risk of mistakes and makes the organisation dependent on the person who knows the procedure.
Automation can remain invisible to users
A useful automation does not need to add a new interface or change every established habit.
In this case, employees continue to check their calendars as they did before. The result remains familiar and easy to read.
The automation is almost invisible, but its effect on working time is very real.
Time savings should be measured on a specific task
Here, the figure applies to this particular case: an average of 12 hours saved every month by automating this task.
It does not mean that every business would automatically save the same amount of time. The result depends on the amount of data, the frequency of the task, the number of people involved and the tools already in place.
The right approach is to start with a real task and measure what it currently requires.
How can you spot a task worth automating?
A task is probably worth investigating when several of these points apply:
- it happens every week or every month;
- it involves copying information from one place to another;
- it uses several tools;
- it requires a large number of items to be processed;
- it is carried out in the same way every time;
- it takes one person several hours;
- a mistake or omission could affect the organisation.
There is no need to start with a complex IT project.
A first automation can simply remove one manual step between two tools the business already uses.
That is exactly the kind of situation Automatyz helps businesses analyse and improve. The process starts by looking at how the work is actually done: what happens, how often it happens, which tools are involved and what result is expected.
Automatyz supports businesses in and around La Rochelle by identifying time-consuming tasks, connecting existing tools and training teams when that is the most relevant next step.
The takeaway
In this business, the schedule was not replaced. Excel was not abandoned. The Google Calendars were not changed.
Only one thing evolved: the manual task of turning the Excel file into events distributed across five calendars.
In under two minutes, the schedule is processed. Employees find their events in the same place as before, while an average of 12 hours of recurring manual work is saved every month.
Useful automation does not always mean adding another tool. Sometimes, it simply allows the tools a business already uses to work together.
Do you have a recurring task that takes several hours each month? Answer a few questions to see what could be automated in your business.