Now that you’ve learned what workflows are and how they can benefit your business, you may be wondering how to get started. The good news is that you can get started identifying workflows very easily. Start by talking to people in the business to identify common tasks that are done on a regular basis.
From there, you can start documenting your workflows to identify the people, systems and data that are involved in each. Special tools are not needed to document your workflows, but a purpose-built process mapping or process management tool can make the job easier.
Once your workflows have been documented, you can determine if there are workflows you would like to automate. To automate your workflows, you will need workflow automation software. Workflow automation software allows you to create a visual representation of the workflow and to configure the business logic and system integration needed to automate each of the steps involved. There are many different types of workflow automation software on the market today. The best tools let you build all types of workflows, both structured and unstructured.
In addition, some workflow automation software includes additional, related capabilities like digital form development, document generation, robotic process automation, eSignatures and task or process mining to make the discovery and identification of workflows more automated.
Depending on your organization’s needs, you will want to evaluate workflow automation tools to ensure that the capabilities they provide will meet all the needs you have. Keeping future needs in mind may also be helpful as you will want to choose a tool that is flexible enough that it grows along with you as you expand workflow automation further in your organization.