What is workflow management?
A (business) workflow is a set of tasks that must be completed to finish a process. Every process or project your team carries out has a workflow, whether you document it or not. Think of a workflow as a set of directions: the goal is to reach a specific location, but you decide for yourself whether to get there via the fastest or most cost-effective route. The same applies to workflows. By taking control of the workflows for processes or projects, you and your colleagues can determine how to achieve this goal in the most effective way.
1. Map out all business processes
Within the organization, each department has its own routines, tasks, and structures that ultimately contribute to a single shared goal: the successful completion of a process or project. Business processes must be developed in collaboration with the various departments. For each process or project, you determine:
- What Needs to Be Done (The Process/Project)
- When it needs to be completed (the deadline or target date)
- How it should be carried out (the work and documentation)
- Who is responsible for performing each step (the employees)
Examples of business processes that involve a workflow include onboarding a new employee, paying an invoice, and a sales funnel from lead to order.
2. Take dependencies into account
Before you set up your business processes, it’s crucial to take into account the dependencies between the tasks to be performed and the employees who carry them out. A workflow consists of a series of tasks that must be performed in a specific order. But what do you do if the employee responsible is on vacation? Or if the quote isn’t ready in time to be reviewed by the sales representative? These are dependencies where one step in the workflow cannot begin until the previous step has been completed. When you have such dependencies within processes, it’s crucial to take them into account when setting up the workflow.
3. Automate processes whenever possible
By setting up workflows within your business software, you can automate tasks. It’s best to automate relatively simple and repetitive (manual) tasks so that employees can focus on work that requires more qualitative attention. You can automate these tasks using Robotic/Business Process Management tools (also known as RPA or BPA), such as Orbis. Think, for example, of automatically linking pay stubs to employees after running payroll or automatically sending a reminder after the invoice due date has passed. These tools also make it possible to synchronize information between different software packages, making the manual retyping of information between systems a thing of the past.
4. Alerts within workflows
Linking notifications to workflows gives employees more control over their work. Set up notifications when a task within the workflow is completed, so that an employee or department stays informed of the progress. These alerts can serve as a reminder to create a task, but they can also be generated at a specific point in time, such as one day before a deadline expires.
5. Evaluate and optimize
The way your team works is changing. Whether you’re hiring new employees, taking on different projects, or using a new system, workflows are never set in stone. You don’t need to implement drastic changes, but tasks, schedules, or team members may change, requiring minor adjustments to workflows. It’s a good idea to review the workflows with your team every quarter and optimize them based on the evaluation.
Capturing business processes in software provides structure, efficiency, and focus. Successful workflow management allows employees to focus on the tasks that matter, while giving you insight into the progress of all processes. Visit the page at Exact Synergy For more inspiration on workflow management.
Need advice?
Do you have questions about the content of this blog? Or would you like to know how you can make workflows work to your advantage? Arie would be happy to tell you more about the possibilities.
Arie van Leeuwe
