How to Develop Workflow Processes

simplify document workflow

Workflow processes are the steps that a task takes from beginning to finish, and they’re a critical part of any project. They help you plan and track important milestones, and they can also help you achieve them by creating a logical sequence of tasks.

To design workflow processes, begin by identifying your goals. Find out what needs to be completed, who’s responsible for each task and what long each step will take. This will allow you to create an efficient workflow that is tailored to your business’s specific needs and objectives, which will improve efficiency and yield the best possible outcomes.

Then, discuss with your team members to determine the roles they have to fulfill. This helps you eliminate duplicate tasks and redundancies which waste both resources and time. For instance, if one member of your customer service team spends most of their time answering phone calls but not dealing with email inquiries, it could be time to reallocate that individual’s work to better meet the needs of your business.

Take a look at your workflow map and see where inefficiencies can be eliminated. For instance, if one of your workflows are taking too much time because employees wait for feedback from another person, reworking that process could increase satisfaction of both customers and employees.

Use interaction nodes for defining the options that users will be presented with during the workflow process such as accepting or denying a record. You can also include wait nodes that pause the workflow for a certain amount of time or until a certain event occurs, like receiving a response from a customer.