Understanding Digital Workflow: Benefits and Methodology
- What is a Digital Workflow?
- How Does Digital Workflow Differ from Paper Workflow?
- Creating a Digital Workflow for Your Business
- Step 1: Study Your Existing Process
- Step 2: Put Together a Workflow Map
- Step 3: Bring Everyone on Board
- Step 4: Use the Ideal Automation Software Partner
- Step 5: Turn Paper Files into a Digital Directory
- Step 6: Allocate Access Carefully
- Step 7: Test Thoroughly Before Deploying
- Step 8: Observe Your Progress
- Step 9: Review and Revise
- Are You Ready to Digitize Your Workflows?
The transition to digital processes in organizations isn’t new. It’s a slow shift that began long before remote or hybrid working began to gain popularity. Today, however, digital transformation has entered a new era. Not all employees work from the same physical space, and many times, the teams are spread across geographies and even time zones, making collaboration challenging. Many companies are implementing digital workflows in their businesses to bridge this gap.
What is a Digital Workflow?
A digital workflow or a digital asset management workflow means the automation of any process within an organization. These include the procedures, tools, and steps required for completing these tasks. A significant portion of the process could still be carried out by people, or they might initiate the process. However, with document digitization, it becomes easier, faster, and trackable.
Digital workflows can be usually found in customer relations, human resources, sales, and other business processes. These might include sales orders, payments, customer claims, new hire paperwork, time-off requests, etc. In many industries, a digital workflow can even help manage the supply chain and marketing campaigns.
How Does Digital Workflow Differ from Paper Workflow?
A digital workflow can be simple or complex depending on the work that needs to be done. The biggest benefit of a digital workflow over a paper workflow is easier management. Digital workflow management is an automated system in place for planning, managing, and tracking the steps needed to keep a process running. There are timely reminders and a central repository for information accessible to most people involved in the task.
In a paper workflow, files can be difficult to secure or they can get lost. Further, manual processes are a waste of the time and talents of your people. With a digital workflow, data is more secure and easier to track, and more work can be done in the time saved. You also save the cost of paper supplies and reduce the risk of manual error.
Where a digital workflow scores over a paper workflow is the valuable data that it generates. The collected data can be analyzed and used to find inefficiencies in your process, thus improving the overall efficiency of your organization.
Creating a Digital Workflow for Your Business
Step 1: Study Your Existing Process
Create a digital asset management workflow that improves your business’s output without disrupting existing systems. Manual, repetitive processes, such as sorting, labeling, and filing, are great candidates for digitization. Conduct a workflow audit to determine which manual processes can be digitized.
Step 2: Put Together a Workflow Map
The next step is to create a workflow map for a smoother transition. This should be as detailed as possible for you to achieve the best result. Capture each action in your workflow, how it can be automated, and the results that you expect. This map serves as a guide to identifying errors in the existing process and can also work as a blueprint for future workflows.
Step 3: Bring Everyone on Board
Transparency is key here. Ensure that the new process is accessible to everyone involved. This way team members understand how their roles might be changing. Consider using a cloud-based storage system that gives access to important documents to team members, no matter where they are. This also makes it easier to onboard a new member.
Step 4: Use the Ideal Automation Software Partner
The market is full of several automation software, each designed to cater to specific tasks. Depending on your need, you can look for:
Customer Relationship Management: Helps evaluate and manage the current and prospective customers’ data and analyzes it to identify areas of opportunity.
Human Resource Management Software: Stores and provides easy access to HR-related company documents, like policies, employee records, and benefits data.
Business Process Management: Acts as a central hub for all automated processes and generates reports to help companies optimize their digital workflows.
Step 5: Turn Paper Files into a Digital Directory
Transfer all company data and information into digital files that make it easier to access useful information quickly. Take the time to identify the files, scan each paper, and turn it into a digital record.
Step 6: Allocate Access Carefully
It is important to keep roles and permissions crystal clear. Not every employee needs access to all data, especially confidential information. Assign roles and permissions to ensure there are no security risks in your digital workflow.
Step 7: Test Thoroughly Before Deploying
Conduct tests and troubleshoot as many likely scenarios with your digital workflow before deploying it. This is especially important in the case of customer-facing processes. Create a fake account and conduct a purchase, or have a conversation with the chatbot. Do this to eliminate all bugs or errors that could create an obstacle in your process.
Step 8: Observe Your Progress
Identify KPIs (key performance indicators) at the start of the process and study them to see how your digital workflow is progressing. You can adjust these along the way to get better results because digital workflows should adapt and evolve as per changing priorities.
Step 9: Review and Revise
A digital workflow isn’t a one-time activity. You must regularly fine-tune them to get more productivity, improve results, and boost employee morale. Review its progress periodically to stay on top of its expected performance.
Are You Ready to Digitize Your Workflows?
When implemented properly, digital workflows can save precious time and money, and have a direct impact on your business’s overall efficiency. With careful planning and attention to detail, you will soon notice an improvement in productivity over time.
At ProHance, we can support your teams to build and manage any type of workflow for your business.
