Hi Guys! Hope you’re well today. I welcome you on board. In this post, I’ll walk you through Introduction to Workflow Automation.
Workflow automation is a critical part to run a successful business. It is used to improve the efficiency and productivity of the business to provide a better user experience, reduce errors and increase revenue. Workflow automation is the process of automating a set of repeatable tasks to achieve a certain goal within the software or app you use.
Confused?
Don’t be.
We’ll touch on this further in the article.
Curious to know more about workflow automation, its benefits, how to choose workflow automation software, and how it can help your business?
Keep reading.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of workflow automation we must know what workflow is.
Every business is based on a predefined process. It’s the set of activities including manual tasks like creating reports, data transfer, collaborating within the company and more… all these tasks are performed to fulfill the business needs. Workflow guarantees all these processes are planned and executed in a sequential manner by the people or systems to achieve a certain goal.
Know that a workflow image can be a simple flowchart diagram representing a set of activities to reach the desired goal.
And automation is the process that repeats itself without human intervention. It works on WHEN and THEN rules. For instance, when the temperature falls below 30 C, then turn on the AC.
Simply put, workflow automation is automating the workflow – it involves incorporating the automated software system within the company to monitor and control business processes. The software is used to perform a repeated set of steps consecutively to do a certain task. In this process the work goes from start to finish without human involvement, eliminating the manual steps and ensuring the error-free work on time.
The workflow automation you can implement in the business processes includes sales and marketing, human resource, lead management, and more. This way businessmen can pay careful attention to the more important tasks rather than worrying about properly executing the workflow within the software.
The key benefits of workflow automation include:
Choosing the right workflow automation software is a bit tricky. It depends on the workflow processes you want to manage within a business.
There are two types of software used in workflow automation: no-code tool and low-code tool.
The no-code tool works better for the beginner with no technical expertise. Some of these tools come with a drag and drop feature, allowing you to easily customize the workflow for your business process at hand. The low-code tool, on the other hand, requires coding skills to put into practice. Low-code tool doesn’t mean you have to be a tech-geek to get a hold of it. And you don’t require any software degree either, you can learn it easily if you put a deliberate effort and attention.
Other things you must consider while choosing the right tool include:
The tool comes with easy to handle user interface UI which means you can learn it yourself, if it requires technical support at every step, you better skip it.
The tool must be economical and scalable so you can modify it as per the business processes.
The tool must be compatible with your apps. What may fit for other businesses might not work for your business. If everyone is buying it doesn’t mean you also have to buy it. Keep your business processes in mind before choosing the right tool.
Workflow automation sets you free from doing manual repetitive tasks and automates your business processes to improve efficiency and productivity.
Following are the key areas of your business you can automate with workflow automation:
Invoice generation is a crucial task to create a document to bill your clients. When done manually, mistakes are obvious. But with workflow automation, you can automate the invoice generation process to bypass the multiple manual processes. You can use workflow automation software to create the invoice to bill the client month after month for a definite amount. Plus, you can keep a record of the invoices you create for a particular client.
Onboarding new candidates is overwhelming at times. It requires a lot of brainstorming, resources, workforce, and time. However, with workflow automation, this process can be straightforward without the involvement of repeated manual processes. Workflow automation software allows the new candidates to list their information and submit it directly to the HR department. It removes the need for manual tests and check-ups to reach the hiring manager, effortlessly bridging the gap between the company and new candidates.
Quality leads form the basis of any business growth. Manual lead management requires a lot of data filtering and manual follow-ups that slow down the process of reaching potential clients.
Workflow automation allows the companies to discard the low-quality leads, and automate the process to turn the visitors into customers. Moreover, it allows the sales team to streamline the sales funnel process, stuff CRM with the required information, direct new leads to the sales manager, and effectively deliver the products to the customers.
Manual handling of staff expenses is a tedious job. But workflow automation is here to rescue you. At times you spend money on the behest of the company. If you want to have approved those expenses from the company, first you need to write the email to the manager who will approve it and then send it to the accounting department. Everything will be documented in a report before the accounts department refund the money to the employees. However, workflow automation software can simplify this and other manual processes including creating reports, managing travel tickets, approving leave and vacation requests and producing purchase orders, and more.
A workflow automation software is an important tool for your business growth.
Using this tool, redundant tasks are eliminated and repetitive and manual tasks are put on auto-pilot.
Whether or not should you pick the automated workflow software for your business is a tricky question and unfortunately, there is no simple formula to figure this out. However, the business processes that can use automation to drive value include time-bound activities, manual repetitive tasks, lead management, customer support and data entry jobs, and more.
Keep two things in mind while picking the right tool: it meets your business's core objectives and it should be economical.
That’s all about the Introduction to Workflow Automation. If you have any questions in mind, you may ask me in the comment section below. I’ll help you to resolve your query. Keep sharing your feedback and suggestions to help us improve the quality of our content. Thank you for reading this article.