Every business is looking for ways to cut corners, speed up response time, deliver quality goods and services to their customers. They also want to grow and succeed in the marketplace against their competition. Brand reputation is an essential part of developing a customer base. So the question becomes how to make more significant returns while continuing to deliver the quality customers have come to expect. The answer is workflow automation.
Automation can assist the flow of business processes and deliver faster, more accurate results. Many CEOs are faced with these same dilemmas, from the family hardware store in your neighborhood to the largest of elite enterprises. There are many off-the-shelf business process management software and tools; they can be confusing and, if misused, can cause loss of data and other setbacks. Read further below to learn more about workflow analysis, automation tools, and where to find automation experts to ensure a successful transition.
Contents:
- Automation Begins with Business Process Management Software
- What Business Process Management Tools Automate Workflow?
- What Are the Benefits of a Workflow Analysis?
- Impact of Increased Efficiency
- How to Easily Create a Workflow Map
- Automation of Processes Using Airtable
- Enterprise Automation with Airtable Experts
Automation Begins with Business Process Management Software
First, let’s start with a solid definition. According to Gartner, business processes are defined as coordinating employee behavior and systems to generate specific results. BPMS, which stands for business process management software, are work platforms that generally includes the following:
- Ability to diagram the business process graphically.
- Rule modeling algorithms.
- A repository to manage modeling metadata.
- A process implementation engine.
- Management or rule generator.
In general, when a business or corporation begins to evaluate the different available BPMs, they will find that there are generally three basic types of platforms. These can be broken down into business process management suites or BPMSs, intelligent business process management suites (iBPMSs), and basic (and even free) BPM platforms.
When business owners look for the best ways to automate office processes, getting started with the right BPMS is essential. These platforms can create solutions and expedite the development of applications. With the right platform, most business processes can be digitalized, and the entire workflow transformed.
When a BPMS is used to digitalize the business process intuitively – the entire company becomes a part of the agile response created to harness moments of data interactions that can manage multiple aspects of the data lifecycle and customer interactions.
What Business Process Management Tools Automate Workflow?
The end goal of incorporating any business process management tool is to enhance corporate performance through workflow automation. No matter the size of the business – from family-owned farms or home-based businesses to corporations and even elite enterprises, automation of business processes starts with a systematic review of the corporate workflow. BPMs create the tools needed to provide optimization of these tasks and enhance overall time management.
The objective of a business process management system is to reduce inefficiencies, lower the risk for human error, and improve communications. Tackling the building of specific applications can be done quickly and tested before implementation. BPMs achieve these end goals with the following performance functions:
- Implement New Designs and Ideas
- Enhance Function Modeling
- Allow for Testing Efficacy and Accuracy
- Measure Workflow Progress
BPMs start by helping businesses refine their goals and optimize tasks. Next, they reduce redundant human interactions with various business applications. Reduced redundancy and time wasted can lead to higher ROIs and improved employee morale. Finally, BPMs enhance currently successful business models to strengthen their brand and achieve the next level of success.
What are the Benefits of a Workflow Analysis?
Workflow analysis can be highly beneficial to every size of business. So what is a workflow analysis, and why is it so important? A workflow map is a diagram of all the tasks, actions, or decisions involved from start to finish for business transactions.
Top Five Benefits of Performing a Workflow Analysis:
- Enhanced Understanding of Business Mechanics.
- Higher Productivity Levels.
- Boosted Employee Morale.
- Effective Use of Company Premises
- Improved Regulatory Compliance.
Workflow analysis should be scheduled by management annually for companies to keep up with the pace of technology and other market changes. This analysis could be most beneficial if completed before any compliance or data privacy risk assessments. The report can give you a clearer picture at the privacy compliance review.
Impact of Increased Efficiency
It has become increasingly clear to both small and large businesses the necessity of having a yearly expert workflow analysis. Companies are under increasing financial pressure to continue competitiveness with increased costs in data compliance, technology, and other government regulations. Minimizing employees' slack time or reducing redundant, repetitive tasks becomes essential to continued growth. You want your employees to have the ability to work as a well-coordinated racing team, but first, you need to give them the tools.
Corporations are now choosing to invest in workflow analysis and automation because studies have demonstrated the power and agility of business process management tools in increasing productivity. Many times, a company is faced with a need to revamp and adapt its existing processes. This evolution can be to changing technology or even department consolidations.
A real-world example of workflow automation and business process management tools and the significant help businesses in times of change. The recent pandemic has dramatically increased hospitalizations worldwide, overloading the medical system. Detailed Cendan and Good studies demonstrated the impact of workflow redesign in a hospital setting.
After studying the employees individually to diagram their current workflow, overlapping duties and redundancies were noted by management. By creating a new workflow chart for each individual, training on changes was implemented. The results were better patient care along with increased patient capacity. In this case, greater efficiency meant that more patients could get the medical treatment they needed.
How to Easily Create a Workflow Map
A workflow map demonstrates employee actions, decisions, and tasks in a visual diagram. These maps are helpful for management, current employees, and future employee training. In addition, these charts are a quick way to understand processes and tasks from start to finish.
Once workflow charts are created of current business processes, management can review these reports to determine areas of wasted labor. Building a workflow map involves three primary steps:
- Data Collection
- Interview Employees and Define Problems
- Execute Changes and Observe Outcome
To be effective, the workflow’s objective needs to be clearly defined. Once you understand the primary purpose of each task, you can diagram the necessary steps.
The following image is an example of a workflow chart designed for human resources departments to step through each task of the hiring phase.
Automation of Processes Using Airtable
Airtable is a great BPMS for businesses of all sizes. Airtable allows you to stay in step with your data and allow users or employees to access the correct data they need for their specific tasks. It can also deliver task information on a scheduled basis to remind employees of daily requirements.
Airtable can help you analyze your workflow, create reports, and point out any areas that can be improved. In addition, the platform can chart the workflow, deliver assignments as needed, and monitor the time spent on each task.
Airtable integrates with more outside applications than other BPMS. This makes it an excellent tool for accessing 'bases,' which is the Airtable term for databases. In addition, Airtable can help managers understand areas in which an employee performs redundant or repetitive tasks using data. In this way, Airtable APIs are integrated with the choice of applications used frequently. These integrations, for example, could allow the employees to enter data once, and it is automatically disbursed to the various apps that require it.
Enterprise Automation with Airtable Experts
Airtable offers a freeware version. This version is still quite powerful and could be used easily by a small business owner to get through tasks quickly. However, when a large corporation or enterprise is looking to analyze workflows and automate the business process – setting up a BPMS customized to your company requires expert analysis.
Airtable experts can build custom applications, prototypes, and automation within the platform. Many functions offered by the app are considered 'no code' or 'low code.' There are times when a business may require additional function codes that are not currently available. Experts in Airtable can code the custom function to deliver the results an enterprise-level corporation would need for an automation strategy.
Data security is a greater priority than ever for all businesses and is necessary for enterprise automation plans. Decision-makers want to know that as their data steps through each phase of their business process, it remains secure and accurate.
DataCose delivers custom automation planning, from efficiency strategies to full Airtable automation implementations for all businesses. When your data and time are on the line, talk to specialists in enterprise automation at DataCose.