How to maximise operational efficiency via Workflow Automation
A key objective for most businesses is to update and enhance their operational efficiency across all services and delivery of products to their customers. But what is operational efficiency? And why is it important?
Operational efficiency is the ability of a business to operate in the most cost-effective way, whilst ensuring the best customer service, support and consistency in the standard of its products.
We cannot underestimate the positive impact on results that peak operational efficiency can give us. The most important contribution to this being - workflow. Despite this, many businesses still struggle to maximise their workflows, relying on outdated manual processing or paper-based forms and spreadsheets, instead of automating simple tasks.
Workflow Automation
Our goal with automating workflow is to save time, tasks and costs by streamlining business processes across sales, finance, marketing, HR and distribution. This will free up the time of employees, enabling them to focus on higher value tasks.
With the right processes in place, you can expect to see more results and efficiency in less time; reducing the possibility of errors and speeding up the production process. In addition, with an automated approval workflow engine in place, important but simple tasks can’t be forgotten or ignored. Every team member is aware of and accountable for the tasks designated to them.
Business owners benefit from being able to observe the activation of processes from a macro level, instead of through reports and updates. If there is any diversion in the workflow, management will be alerted via a notification. Bottlenecks likewise are highlighted quickly, enabling business owners to take immediate action. Furthermore, greater visibility means it is possible to where improvements can be made and are necessary.
By tracking key activities and results, workflow automation helps companies maintain and upgrade standards.
Codeless Platforms’ Workflow and Human Interaction Capabilities
A Business Process Automation platform is designed to integrate all the systems within your business organisation, while the Workflow and Human Interaction capability gives your business a powerful and flexible workflow automation solution; safeguarding your business protocols and discarding costly administration. The platform enables users to receive and authorise multi-level workflow jobs and generates a 100% audit trail - for peace of mind.
Below you will find a few examples of processes that can benefit from workflow automation:
Finance
- Bank account management
- Processing of Invoices
- Compliance and Governance
- Financial Reporting
Sales
- Automate Lead Follow-Up Notifications
- Trigger Alerts for High-Quality Leads
- Route leads to the correct team member or department
- Notifies Account Managers about Contract Expirations
Production
- Supplier and Contract Management
- New Product Development
- Procurement Processes and Work Order Approvals
Marketing
- Upsell, Cross-sell and Cycle-Based Sales Opportunities (Sales rather than sell)?
- Abandoned Cart follow up and retargeting
- Create Automated Email Responses for Enquiries
Getting the Best ROI from Workflow
Incorporating automated workflow systems into your business will transform it, but it is fundamental to establish the correct systems from the offset. For the most effective set up, you need to comprehend what inefficiencies and systems you want to change - and make sure that everyone involved in the workflow, is involved in its design.
Once it has been created and tested, the workflow ideally needs to be documented and communicated to all the users. Existing employees will need to know what is expected of them and new employees will also benefit from having the workflow documented; enabling them to familiarise themselves with the system quickly and reducing the risk of disruptions to the process.
If you would like to discuss how automating workflow processes can advance your business, don’t hesitate to book in a call with one of our system architects today or download our brochure at vh3.digital.
