How to Build a Generis Workflow

Workflow process design is one of the most important parts of creating and running a streamlined and efficient business. There is evidence that having a solid workflow design can improve the efficiency of your organization by more than 80%.

This shows just how important this process is, but sadly it is often overlooked by business administrators. This is a huge mistake. Workflow design allows you to lay out a process, step-by-step and locate points where decisions or changes may need to be made. This helps create a template for how to go about a given process.

When broken down like this, it is easy to see how important this is. Current and new employees benefit greatly from a solid workflow design. There needs to be attention paid to detail and different decision points marked along the way.

This doesn’t mean this has to be done by hand though. Doing this manually leaves a lot of room for error and it takes a lot longer than it needs to take. Software like Comindware’s workflow design and management software gives you the tools you need to create streamlined processes that give you the flexibility and details of each process.

Designing Good Workflows

All workflows have a starting point. Just think of a process. What is the starting point? This is the initiation. It may happen in a variety of ways. Someone might make a web query, filling out a form, or the importation of information like a spreadsheet.

With workflow management software all information and data move along with the process. Automation software allows you to easily capture and use this data. These tools provide a powerful set of tools that allow you to enhance and improve the efficiency of any process. It also allows for transparency, which can help with strategic goals and planning.

One thing this software allows you to do is to create a visual representation of a workflow process. This gives you the ability to see how each step flows to the next and how the process flows from start to finish.

Best Practices

Just like with anything, there are best practices when designing a workflow. These are steps that you can use to help ensure that you have a solid, well-considered workflow that will benefit the process. One of the best ways to handle workflow design is to start simple. Not all processes are simple but this is a good way to begin with the design process. Try a process that has just a few steps that are easy to understand.

From here, you can begin to develop more complicated processes that have more steps and parties involved. You should also focus on newer tasks and those that need approval from multiple parties. By doing this, you can reduce the amount of time it takes to get all the different approvals and verifications.

At any point in a process where a decision needs to be made, you should create a node. This will give a prompt that something needs to be more closely addressed and managed. There may be processes that have multiple nodes that need different parties to approve or make decisions.

Any task that has been completed should be marked as done. This will reduce confusion and show where in the process you are.

Basics

If you know how to create a flowchart, you have the basic tools you need to create a simple workflow. Prompt approvals are incredibly important. For example, if you are trying to manage client or vendor payments, you need to have multiple prompts that require approval or contact with the client or vendor.

This will help ensure that all payments are paid or collected in a timely manner. This is not only better for the bottom line; it can improve relationships with clients and vendors by ensuring timely payment and receipt as well as regular communication.

Being able to look at your workflow in a flowchart style is incredibly helpful. It gives you a visual representation that shows you the business process in a way you might not otherwise be able to see it. Prompts and automatic notifications to stakeholders and relevant employees help reduce inefficiency in the process or decision train.

Workflow software dramatically simplifies that process of creating streamlined, efficient, and easy-to-understand processes. This helps keep the business flowing smoothly, it improves transparency, and the ability to create prompts helps you keep your obligations in a more timely manner, improving your relationships with customers and vendors alike. This software also enhances transparency and the data stored in this software is vital in strategic planning and to see how you are doing to reach any business goals.

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