“Oh, so you make people lose their job”

When I tell people I’ve just met that I automate for a living, they often jokingly say “Oh, so you make people lose their job.”

The joke has roots in common concerns.

People fear change. They are especially worried about automation and AI taking away their jobs. You can’t blame them. It’s what they hear in the news and on social media all the time.

That’s why if you plan to leverage automation or AI, you need to reassure your team first.

Let them know that no one’s losing their job.

Get everyone involved. When they see automation as a help rather than a threat, they’ll be more on board. As a nice side-effect, you’ll get feedback that will make the project more successful.

Don’t just do it once. Keep reassuring your team that it’s for them, not to replace them.

If you don’t do that, resistance and fear may undermine the whole project before it even starts.