What is workflow management?

Given the size and complexity of most modern business processes, coordinating and tracking tasks and people associated with workflows demands effective tools. Workflow management systems are software solutions created to help businesses better streamline their workflows. These tools generally include built-in functionality making it possible to automate repetitive tasks and processes, schedule reminders and follow-ups, alert users about uncompleted tasks, track performance metrics, and work from a comprehensive view of every aspect of the workflow.

From beginning to end, there is a lot that goes into effectively managing a workflow. Top workflow management systems must be capable of optimising every aspect of the workflow and supporting human users on all levels. As such, workflow management systems depend on a range of advanced features and capabilities, including: 

• Analytics tracking
• Automated notifications
• Cloud-based computing
• Code-free workflow designer
• Drag and drop tools
• Integration with third-party applications
• Low-code app development
  
• Parallel branches
• Report generation
• Role-based access control
• Service-level agreement (SLA) status indicators
  

Workflow management software tools are designed to handle most of the heavy lifting associated with your workflows. That said, the effectiveness of any tool depends heavily on your ability to put it to proper use and get the most out of what it has to offer. As you work to implement a workflow management solution for your business, consider the following best practices:

Workflows can extend beyond the boundaries of individual departments, involving people and processes throughout your organisation. And because these solutions will likely impact your business company-wide, it is imperative that you get backing from company leadership. Discuss workflow management with managers and C-suite executives, and make sure that you have their support before you commit.

In addition to company leadership, you will also need to involve individual stakeholders. Identify who will be responsible for various tasks within the workflow. Work closely with these individuals to ensure that everything is in place to effectively guide processes end-to-end.

Mapping is a crucial aspect of workflow management, but not every workflow has the same urgency or importance. Priority workflows (those related to finance, IT, HR, etc.) and customer-facing workflows should be your primary concern. These need to be agile, fully operational and efficient. Once these are in place, you can then prioritise supporting workflows.

Automation is the key to effective workflow management and should be applied wherever possible. Comb through your workflow to locate any simple, repetitive tasks or approvals; these may be well suited to automation and can help free up employees to perform other more strategic actions.

Mapping out workflows provides a birds-eye view of exactly what tasks are involved. This can help you identify redundant actions that take up employee time but provide no additional benefit. Work closely with your stakeholders to review workflows, locate areas of duplicate effort, and remove them.

Many workflows may need to be reassessed and revised after deployment. Establish relevant metrics and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure that everything is proceeding optimally and that individual processes are functioning as anticipated. This will help you identify potential problems areas which you can then work to improve.

Although advanced automation technologies can create workflows that drive themselves, it is always better to have a human overseeing the process. Govern your workflows, make course corrections where necessary, and use the insights you develop to further optimise your business.

Optimising processes by eliminating bottlenecks and duplicate tasks is one of the primary benefits of workflow management. But while speed is a natural by-product of this approach, establishing a workflow management system from the ground up is not generally something that can be accomplished overnight. Setting up the relevant tools, training users, integrating associated systems and finally deploying the solution may take days, weeks or even months. Alternatively, workflow management that functions as part of a larger management platform and operates using low-code tools may not require much set-up or training at all. This allows for faster deployment — often within a single day.