Understanding Workflow Automation: Transforming Business Processes

Workflow automation is a game-changer in the business world, streamlining processes and enhancing efficiency by shifting tasks from humans to software. This innovative approach involves using software to handle repetitive tasks according to predefined business rules, making everyday operations faster, easier, and more consistent.

What is Workflow Automation?

Workflow automation refers to the use of software to independently execute tasks, documents, and information flow across various work-related activities. This transformation, guided by specific business rules, ensures that processes are executed consistently and efficiently. Essentially, workflow automation moves task performance from human hands to software, making processes more reliable and less prone to errors.

Implementing Workflow Automation

To automate a workflow, an organization first identifies the tasks that comprise the job. Next, it creates rules and logic governing how these tasks should be performed. Finally, the software is programmed with these predefined rules and logic, typically using if-then statements that direct the software on actions to take and transitions between tasks. The goal is to perform the series of tasks from start to finish without human intervention.

Who Benefits from Workflow Automation?

Organizations of all sizes can benefit from automating repetitive tasks. A 2021 report from Zapier highlighted that 94% of small and medium-sized business (SMB) workers engage in repetitive tasks, and 90% of knowledge workers found that automation improved their jobs, with 66% noting increased productivity. In enterprises, departments such as finance, human resources, marketing, operations, and sales often implement workflow automation to enhance efficiency, reduce errors, and boost productivity.

Why Automate Workflows?

Workflow automation offers numerous benefits:

• Increased Efficiency: Automation accelerates processes and reduces the time required to complete tasks.
• Error Reduction: Automating repetitive tasks minimizes human error, enhancing accuracy.
• Boosted Productivity: Employees can focus on higher-value tasks, leading to improved overall productivity.
• Cost Savings: Enhanced efficiency translates to cost savings by reducing manual labor and resource wastage.
• Improved Visibility: Automation provides a clear view of business processes, enabling organizations to identify and eliminate bottlenecks.
• Enhanced Communication: Automated workflows improve communication and coordination across departments.
• Better Customer Service: Automation can enhance customer service by promptly responding to inquiries and requests.

Examples of Workflow Automation

Workflow automation can be applied across various tasks:

1. Document Approval and Signing: Automating the approval process for documents ensures timely sign-offs without manual follow-ups.
2. Employee Onboarding: Automating the onboarding process helps new hires get up to speed quickly and efficiently.
3. Invoicing and Accounting: Automating invoicing processes reduces errors and speeds up payment cycles.
4. Customer Service: Automated responses to customer inquiries enhance customer satisfaction and service quality.

Steps to Implement Workflow Automation

Implementing workflow automation involves several steps:

1. Identify Processes: Select processes with repetitive manual tasks that are prone to errors or expensive to perform manually.
2. Map the Workflow: Design the workflow by understanding the start and end points, and the steps in between.
3. Define Business Goals: Establish clear goals for what the automation should achieve, such as cost savings or improved efficiency.
4. Choose the Right Software: Select software that meets the organization’s needs and budget.
5. Train Employees: Ensure employees understand how to use the automation software.
6. Monitor and Measure Success: Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the success of the automation and make necessary adjustments.
7. Continuous Improvement: Gather feedback and continuously improve the automated workflows.

Workflow Automation vs. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

While workflow automation and robotic process automation (RPA) both use technology to automate tasks, they serve different purposes. Workflow automation focuses on automating a series of tasks within a process, emphasizing communication between various elements of the workflow. In contrast, RPA automates individual tasks using bots that replicate human actions, such as data entry or calculations.

Popular Workflow Automation Tools

The demand for workflow automation is significant, with the market projected to grow from $7 billion in 2021 to over $16 billion by 2028. Various tools are available, ranging from low-code platforms like Zapier and Microsoft Power Automate to more comprehensive solutions from IBM and Oracle. These tools often feature drag-and-drop interfaces, making it easy for users to create automated workflows without extensive programming knowledge.

The Top 5 Benefits of Workflow Automation

1. Streamlines communication

One of the biggest benefits of workflow automation is that it improves internal communication. This reduces the rate of employee turnover because one of the biggest reasons employees leave an organization is a lack of communication with management. Because you are automating workflow you also automate communication, because no one has to remember to tell the next person it’s their turn to do something.

The best way to create an automated process is to get everyone involved in that process together. Then you can begin creating a process map and visualize where the process begins and ends and what role each person in that process.

2. Creates accountability

By automating workflow you effectively create one person who is responsible for every part of the process. For each step in the process, there is one person designated to perform a specific action. By doing this you are creating a system of accountability, where everyone knows what specific tasks they are responsible for. This also reveals which tasks take the most time to complete and where the process seems to get held up the most frequently.

By creating workflow automation, everyone knows what person is responsible for what task and everyone is clear on what needs to be accomplished at any given point. And workflow automation enables you to make better future decisions to create more effective processes and divide out work accordingly.

3. Reduces costs and error

Workflow automation reduces errors because it keeps necessary tasks from going unnoticed. Because every person involved in the process is held accountable for their specific role, no one can make the excuse that “no one told me!” Workflow automation also saves companies from costly expenses associated with employee errors and it can cut costs on administrative labor as well.

4. Empowers employees to manage their own time

Workflow automation ensures every employee knows their expected role and what they are responsible for. Now management will know immediately if their tasks are not completed on time. No longer will supervisors have to manage every employee or spend time checking on their progress. Workflow automation allows management to look at the overall workflow process and view everything within the context of the bigger picture.

5. Creates more workplace efficiency

By creating customized workflow automation, you can assign approval responsibilities to anyone within the company, no matter what current reporting hierarchy is in place. No longer does management have to intervene in every task.

When Should You Consider Workflow Automation?

Workflow automation is the best way to achieve tasks in an efficient manner. It produces more consistent and accurate results every time.

Businesses should consider workflow automation when there is a repetitive series of tasks to implement. Often these tasks are managed with paper files, spreadsheets, or email. By creating workflow automation, this process will become streamlined and removes the risk of human error.

Workflow automation gives you a better picture of the different tasks and makes it easier to identify areas for improvement and increases overall productivity. Now the question becomes, what are the steps involved in implementing workflow automation?

Steps for Workflow Automation

Before implementing workflow automation, management must identify what areas need workflow improvement. The ideal way to do this is by making a visual representation of the current workflow by using flow diagrams. This will give you a better understanding of your current business workflow and will help you identify repetitive tasks. Now you can create workflow automation that will improve and simplify the existing workflow.

After you have identified the problem, the next step is to clearly define your business goals. And then you need to explain how your business goals will be achieved by creating workflow automation and what process you will use to measure them.

Now it is important to decide on the means to the end. What process do you want to use to achieve the established business goals? This will be the step where you select what workflow automation process you will use. An ideal workflow is simple, user-friendly, and easily adaptable by all users.

The next step is to train employees on how to use the new workflow software. In any company, new changes are often met with resistance so it is important to involve employees right from the beginning and explain to them how this software will help them. By giving employees a clear path of transition from the current process to the new system and providing necessary training, this transition should be a much smoother process.

Once these steps are completed, you should be up and running on your new workflow system. Continuous monitoring and assessment of your new process will be necessary to work out bottlenecks and identify areas for improvement.

Conclusion

By utilizing workflow automation, companies can reduce the number of manual tasks performed by employees, which frees them up to work on more important work. This allows more work to get done in a shorter amount of time and will likely boost employees morale and increase overall productivity.

Workflow automation helps companies achieve more consistent results. By automating an area, companies reduce the risk of mistakes and this allows them to create higher quality products with fewer increases in costs and time. Workflow creates processes which have the potential down the road to bring in more revenue with fewer expenses.