Workflow automation is an important
strategy to consider when your
company faces large-scale change. When companies are experiencing growth,
workflow automation software and management tools can help you keep up by streamlining
processes and managing
workflows across team boundaries. These tools give you greater control over how tasks are executed, where data or files go next in the process, and who gets notified about what’s happening on their end.
What is Workflow Automation?
Workflow automation is the design, execution, and automation of
processes based on workflow rules where human tasks or data are routed between people or systems based on predefined business process rules.
Why Workflow Automation Is Used
For certain
processes or repetitive tasks, an automated
workflow can help your
company save time and money when you are experiencing growth. For example:
Some of the most common use cases for complex automated
workflow software include managing
sales pipelines from lead to close, recruiting candidates through a multi-phase process such as hiring managers approving referrals before sending potential new hires on interviews or coordinating onboarding, and managing time-off requests or approvals.
Workflow Automation Examples
As businesses continue to grow, so do the manual tasks involved in their
workflows. To help keep up with the demand of business growth and what it requires from your
workflow management software, some examples include:
- Sales Pipeline Management - Sales managers can use a workflow automation tool to automate lead-to-close processes that are typically paper or spreadsheet-based by routing tasks and data to the right sales team member(s) based on pre-defined rules.
- Hiring Managers - Using workflow automation software, hiring managers can eliminate manual tasks and automate their recruitment process by routing potential new hires through a multi-step interview process and employee onboarding. For example, after candidates pass an initial screening step, the hiring manager is notified and has to approve before candidates are sent on their first round of interviews.
- Time Off Requests - Using a workflow management tool, companies can automate time-off requests for employees that include routing data or files about the request through a multi-step approval process such as approvals from managers and human resources professionals until it’s approved by the appropriate team member.
Workflow Management Tools for Your Business
There are a variety of workflow and project management tools available that can help manage your business
processes. To streamline your business with these types of
software solutions providers offer the following key features:
- Automate common tasks by routing files to different users based on predefined rules.
- Identify and resolve workflow bottlenecks or other issues that are slowing progress down in the process as they happen, rather than after it has already affected productivity.
- Give managers visibility into who is working on what at any given time so you can quickly identify if someone is overworked or underutilized to help better allocate work to the right people.
One of these automated
workflow management tools could be just what your business needs for a more efficient, effective process and help you streamline your business with this important
strategy when experiencing growth within your
company!
For more information on
workflow automation, management tools,
how to automate workflows, and how your
company can streamline business
processes with these
software solutions, check out Lightico's
workflow automation tools.
