What is workflow management?

Workflow management is an essential part of any business, large or small. It’s all about making sure each department can communicate effectively and that each step of the workflow process is handled by the right person.

When it comes to businesses that are struggling, the problem often lies in the fact that they don’t have clear workflow management in place. The term workflow management can seem overwhelming to those who aren’t familiar with the topic, but it can be broken down easily if you take it one step at a time

What is workflow management? It’s a bit of a buzzword at the moment but it can offer real benefits to business efficiency and productivity while improving day-to-day tasks and processes.

All businesses have goals, and workflows help a company achieve those goals. A workflow is a collection of activities that need to be completed in order to reach said goals. 

What is workflow?

What is workflow? A  sequence of tasks that need to be completed to reach a goal in a process. The way you get work done!

Workflow Definition – the way that a particular type of work is organized, or the order of the stages in a particular work process:

What is the use of workflow?

What is Workflow Management?

Workflow management is a way of creating and ultimately optimizing workflows to boost a team’s efficiency and coordination. It plays a crucial part in any organization and the optimization of its projects.
Workflow management tools play a critical role in business process management. What is the difference between workflow and processes? There are some subtle differences; for example, workflow management concentrates on the organization of instructions or people, thereby ensuring the correct steps are followed.
Business process management is a more high-level approach that concentrates on all business processes within a company.
To help manage workflow, there are a wealth of workflow management software systems and workflow automation you can use to manage and automate your workflows effortlessly.

What is Workflow Management Examples

Business Workflow – Workflow Management example:
Recruitment: is a workflow that includes writing a job description, sourcing possible candidates, screening and interviewing applicants, choosing the right candidate for the job. The goal is to find a new employee, and the workforce is the series of steps required to achieve that goal.
Employee Onboarding:
Business Process Example.

What is Workflow Management Benefits

There are many key benefits to adopting workflow management.

• Streamlines Processes: Processes are mapped out, so you get an overview of the highest level. The result of this is that you’re able to spot repeatable or unnecessary procedures that waste time and productivity. After careful analysis, it’s often possible to reduce the number of steps in a workflow process, thereby saving time and improving productivity.
• Reduces Human Error and Manual Work: Keeping track of assignments manually can be very time-consuming and tedious. Not only that but there’s also a massive potential for human error. There are lots that can go wrong, from misspelt task titles to incorrect deadlines. Workflow management and its associated system allow you to automate processes. Rather than using spreadsheets, you can use software to keep track of the methods and tasks. You only need to enter the data once, thereby reducing the risk of human error. It also speeds up the process and boosts productivity.
• Improved Accountability and Transparency: A workflow management system highlights all data that relates to the workflow clearly. For example, it shows you what your team needs to do, when their tasks must be finished, and who is assigned to each task.
  Project managers can quickly and easily check a workflow and its progress, as well as identify any roadblocks.
  Knowing who’s responsible for individual tasks means there’s better accountability across the board.
• Effective Communication: Communication in the workplace is critical With improved visibility comes more effective communication. Everybody is on the same page, which leads to a better understanding of other team members’ concerns. In addition, a workflow makes it much easier for team members to keep track of tasks.

Why is workflow management important?

People feel burdened and overwhelmed by boring and repetitive tasks.

Increased Productivity: Agile and flexible to make changes.
Improved Efficiency: Ensure tasks get done the correct way every time. Address bottlenecks within processes.
Improve Quality: Select the best person to perform the task

The key element in workflow management is the ability to automate workflow.

Types of Workflows

What is workflow management? There are two types of business workflow:

Sequential Workflow: Each step in the workflow depends on the previous step being completed.

Workflows using rule-based conditional logic (IFTTT if this, then that) are a type of sequential workflow.

Parallel workflow: Each task can be completed concurrently with other tasks.

State workflows can be dependent on each other.

Features of an Effective Workflow Management System

The best workflow management system will include the following features:

Workflow creation: The best system is one that’s easy to use for both simple and complex workflows. Compliance should be a given, but at the same time, it should drive standardisation and efficiency, enable collaboration, track and report.
Process flexibility: The system should be flexible enough to use for the optimisation of all projects, whatever the complexity.
Notifications and Communication: The system should send customised notifications so that you don’t need to waste time and effort following up. Push notifications and emails work equally well.
Easy integration: It’s crucial a workflow management system should easily integrate with existing apps and tools.
Reporting and Analysis: Clear, and easy-to-use reporting means your system isn’t wasted. It should include dashboards and the right key metrics.
Access permissions that are customizable: A range of people might need to use a workflow management system, from both inside and outside your organisation. External stakeholders should be able to make requests without accessing the complete system.

Workflow management vs Business Process Management (BPM)

Workflow management and business process management (BPM or BPMS) work hand in hand with each other. Workflow management is a smaller element of BPM. The two management terms are often confused or used interchangeably.

Business process management focuses on all processes within the business focusing on continual improvement.

Workflow management is an element of BPM of which it is clearly defined steps and tasks that help complete processes.

Checkify Workflow Management

Checkify is a workflow management software, task management software and business process management software (BPMS).  Enabling you to manage processes, tasks and workflow to help improve productivity.

Adopting a workflow management system is one of the most effective ways to boost your organisation’s productivity. Now you know the answer to the question “What is workflow management?” you’re in a much better position to adopt a system of your own.