Are you tired of doing too much busy work and not the creative work that brings you joy? If so, you are probably ready to jump onto the workflow automation craze that is taking businesses by storm. Managing your digital assets, workflows, and finances in one single platform is the way of the future. If you work with disorganized processes, it creates lost time and money. Switching back and forth from this app to that program is confusing and time-consuming, and you have more important things to do! So, if you are ready to move on from the spreadsheets, countless emails, and apps in favor of holistic workflow, try asking yourself these ten questions to create the best workflows for maximum efficiency within your business.
#1 – Do I Understand My Team’s Workflows?
The first step is to choose what process or task you need to map out a workflow for. Once you know what they are, can you take a pen and paper and sketch out the processes or stages the job or project goes through from start to finish? Create a blueprint of workflows so that when you search for your workflow automation systems, you can quickly tell if it’s equipped to meet your specific requirements.
#2 – Have I Talked To My Team About Their Needs?
If you work with a team, communication is always a must. Ask your team members what challenges they struggle with regarding managing their current workflows. Find out what works and what isn’t working so well. Workflow automation should solve your productivity-zapping problems, not create new ones. So ask the questions, listen to the answers, and come up with solutions or consult vendors to find the best productivity savers.
#3 – How Will This Solution Integrate With My Current Technology?
If you use specific software suites, you’ll want to find a solution that easily integrates with the tools your team already uses. A good rule of thumb is to ensure the provider you choose will be there for support promptly should you have any bugs to work out with their system.
#4 – How Long Is The Learning Curve?
You don’t want to disrupt and delay your work too much, so it’s important to find out how quickly you can expect your team to use the new workflows competently. You’ll want to use a provider that offers training and is user-friendly, so your team doesn’t have to struggle with software issues or other challenges during the learning curve.
#5 – Who Else Uses This Solution?
When searching for a workflow solutions provider, check for solid customer reviews. Try to find the vendor’s current customers whose business is similar to yours, not a Fortune 500 company that doesn’t work as you do.
#6 – What Are My Current Workflows Like?
Identify the workflows you currently use in your business and the issues or problems you experience with your current practices. How do you typically manage your workflows? Do you primarily use paper forms, digital forms, or email threads?
#7 – Who Are My Resources?
Document every person who is involved in your current processes. Pay special attention to who is responsible for approvals and reviews because this is where processes tend to bottleneck.
#8 – What Are My Deliverables?
Document the deliverables or your current processes, such as the documents, new software, and marketing materials. While doing this, try to optimize the processes to deliver these items more quickly and efficiently.
#9 – Are There Any Parallel Or Conditional Tasks That I Use?
When you document all of the tasks involved in your workflows, consider the relationship between them. Are there any parallel tasks that can be completed simultaneously to save time? Are there any conditional tasks that must be completed before moving to the next step?
#10 – Who Is Involved In My Current Workflows, And What Are Their Responsibilities?
List the people who are involved in your current workflows and document their responsibilities. Do any specific tasks require approval? Make a note of all parties that must approve the tasks. Also, note all the stakeholders and the information they need as the process progresses.
In Conclusion
Now that you have asked yourself these ten questions create a workflow diagram to map out your workflow using the information you obtained in the previous steps. Implement the new workflows you created and documented by testing them with all team members and stakeholders involved in the process. Gather everyone’s feedback and note any problems that occur so you can figure out how to resolve them. Then train your team by walking them through the visual diagram and tasks required of them. You can slowly start your new workflows by beginning with a smaller group first, then gradually increasing throughout your whole organization once everything starts to run smoothly and efficiently.
Contact us if you need assistance building your workflows, analyzing your processes and systems, and documenting them in an Operations Manual.
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