When it comes to improving productivity in the workplace, more and more businesses are realising, and turning to, workflow automation. It's the process of streamlining repetitive and tedious tasks, freeing staff up to concentrate on their high value activities. It also cuts down the amount of paper a business might generate, by managing tasks digitally.
Workflow automation also helps a business to run more efficiently. According to research from the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO), disorganisation in the workplace leads to financial losses equivalent to 10 percent of a manager’s salary - and the challenges around disorganisation are what workflow automation systems are all about.
However, it's also true that a lot of business owners take one look at what's involved in evaluating and implementing a workflow automation system, and are put off by what needs to happen to get the project off the ground. It's with that in mind that we've developed a new eBook, Top 10 must-have features of workflow automation, aimed at helping you navigate your workflow automation journey.
There are many workflow automation platforms to choose from. The trick is finding the one that best suits your business needs, that can simplify and digitise your workflow processes while helping your staff to find efficiencies. The eBook outlines 10 must-have features you should tick off when you're comparing systems:
1: Low code workflow design - you shouldn’t have to be a programmer to design and manage your team’s workflows.
2: Drag and drop form design - forms are essential, and there's no reason that they can't look fantastic and provide an interface all at the same time.
3: Instant, powerful and automatic validation - this is aimed at preventing mistakes, which can cost a company in time and money.
4: Visual & dynamic behaviour - optimise as well as automate your workflows.
5: Built-in mobility - it needs to be mobile friendly, especially in this increasingly mobile world.
6: Notifications, reminders and escalations - your staff need to know what's going on, so that each task can be progressed efficiently, and someone is made aware if there's a glitch.
7: Integration - business processes are more relevant if they can use data from databases, and other business systems.
8: Reports - eliminate the inefficiencies and optimise the subprocesses.
9: Accountability - maintain a record of all activities. Who did what and when?
10: Reasonable pricing and resource requirements - not really a feature, but it's important to make sure you're getting value for money.
As businesses around the world integrate automation into their operations, they're reaping the rewards. Workflow automation is all about helping businesses gain higher efficiencies and greater productivity. And for your staff, the mix of their work is changing to be less repetitive and more judgment-intensive. Workforce changes are creating new and more exciting jobs, rather than merely eliminating positions.
Keep these 10 must-have features in mind when looking at your options, and remember that TEAM IM has extensive experience in this space and workflow automation experts ready to help you, wherever in your workflow automation journey you may be.