What is workflow automation?

To understand workflows—and by extension, workflow automation—one should first understand the hierarchy of business activities. The most fundamental unit of work is a task. A task is a single assignment or even a single action taken towards achieving a business goal to be completed within a set time. But tasks don’t exist within a vacuum; multiple tasks operating together create processes. And when processes are grouped together to achieve specific business outcomes and include multiple employees, they are called workflows. Example workflows include:

• New-employee onboarding
• Authorisation requests
• Document approvals
• Help-desk tickets
• Purchase orders
• Customer-feedback processing
• Objectives planning

Workflows unite interdependent elements—tasks, processes, tools, people, etc.—and can be extremely complex. Manual workflows often represent a major drain on valuable employee time and effort. After all, crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ (and then double checking them just to be sure) means less time for more strategic activities. To help streamline workflows while also ensuring accuracy, successful businesses turn to process automation.

Efficiency and productivity go hand in hand. Freed from the drudgery of repetitive, time-consuming manual tasks, employees can focus more of their attention on non-automatable activities. Often, these include strategic and innovative initiatives capable of bringing in greater business value. At other times, workflow automation may empower employees to accomplish a larger number of basic tasks. In either case, the employee gains the ability to do more, moving the needle in ways that would not be possible with manual tasks monopolising most of their time.

Management can likewise benefit from the improved efficiency offered by workflow automation. Many of the tasks and processes that depend on manager intervention can be automated as well — assigning roles, scheduling tasks, granting approvals, and more. Once again, this allows managers to accomplish more with their valuable time.

Automated workflows not only help move projects forward to where they need to go — they also create a detailed record of where the project currently is and where it has been. With increased visibility of processes and workflows, no one involved should ever be left wondering whether vital tasks are complete, what stage of the process they are on, or which proverbial ball is in which court.

Workflow automation helps promote and enforce accountability across all levels. When everyone knows who is responsible for specific tasks and can see the status of the workflow at every stage, excuses and finger pointing become a non-issue.

Most people accept the fact that no one is perfect. Where this becomes a problem is when that imperfection manifests itself as errors. And whether the error is a misplaced decimal, a forgotten step or a neglected security precaution, the results can be devastating. Human error in the US results in combined business losses amounting to multiple trillions of dollars, every year.

But where humans may falter, machines are capable of maintaining full attention and providing consistent results, every time. By adhering to pre-specified rules and methodologies, workflow automation programs provide unmatched accuracy. Even those tasks that require complex thought may benefit from workflow automation, thanks to advances in AI-based intelligent automation.

Accomplishing more in less time and with fewer errors — each of these benefits ties directly back into the primary advantage of workflow automation: A better experience for the customer. It’s not difficult to see why.

Error-prone, slow-moving processes create delays in service and product deliveries. They lead to ineffective service and support. They leave the clientèle feeling frustrated and unsatisfied. Workflow automation eliminates many of these issues, optimising business processes in ways that directly and indirectly benefit buyers.