What Is Business Process Workflow Management?
Arguably, the best way to assess a business’s effectiveness is to determine whether its business process workflows get appropriately executed.
A business process workflow is essentially a series of sequential tasks executed based on specific rules and conditions to achieve the business objectives.
In a business process workflow, different participants get assigned roles to finish one or more tasks and are held accountable for completing each step they are assigned to in the business process.
Why Use Business Process Workflow?
A business process workflow essentially provides a guide for people involved in the business process to get the work done in a timely manner.
Everyone involved in the business process is provided with streamlined and clear information to understand what kinds of interactions need to be advanced to achieve the business process’s objective. With a proper business process workflow software, we can tailor the user experience of different members so people with different roles can have the ideal experience that best suits their tasks.
With a business process workflow, we can properly define a set of required steps for people to follow to achieve the desired objective. Everyone involved in the business process can easily track the progress of the whole process and where they are individually in the business process.
With this benefit, a business process workflow would also help reduce or eliminate training needs because new staff and employees can let the business process workflow guide them. Business process workflow can help new staff understand their roles and tasks more quickly while reducing the risks of mistakes that could result in poor business performance and unsatisfied customers.
Business Process Workflow Software
With workflow software by Aproove, we can easily define a set of stages and steps for executing the business process, so everyone involved in the business process can easily understand their tasks.
Essentially, a business process workflow software can help you create flowcharts and workflows to help visualize the business processes in detail. With proper visualization, you can monitor these business processes in greater detail, identify bottlenecks, and figure out how to optimize these business processes.
We can implement business process workflow management in various areas in our organization, including but not limited to:
- New employee on-boarding (eliminates the need for training)
- Compliance management (reducing human errors)
- Invoice and management and automation
- Expense reporting
- Project management
- Account management
- Customer requests and customer service
Factors To Consider When Choosing a Business Process Workflow Software
Our implementation of business process workflow management will only be as good as the software solution behind it, which is why choosing the right business process management (BPM) software is very important.
Here are some important considerations you should make when choosing between different BPM software solutions:
- Your budget
Pretty self-explanatory, you should consider the upper and lower limit of your budget to narrow down your options. An important thing to consider is that different solutions might have hidden fees and costs on top of their initial (advertised costs), including mandatory training fees, locked-out features, etc.
- Your goal
Figure out what you will achieve by implementing the business process workflow management: is it about meeting your deadlines? Reducing cost?, Improving efficiencies? or eliminating errors? Knowing your objective(s) can significantly help you choose the right solution, so you can look for the right features that can help achieve these objectives.
- Ease of use
Remember that you aren’t going to be the only one using the software, but potentially your whole team. Check whether the user interface is easy to use and well-designed. This will significantly help in onboarding new employees or when we invite clients to use the software. In general, the easier it is to use the interface, the better.
Also, consider how easy it is to use the visual workflow feature. You’d want a visual builder with a drag-and-drop style approach so new users and clients can have an easier time contributing to workflow designs.
- Support
Some solutions offer 24/7 tech support. Also, consider whether the company provides tutorials and training.
- Overall Features
This one is pretty self-explanatory; the more features that can help achieve your business process workflow management objectives, the better. However, too many features might make the software too complex to use, so it’s essential to find the right balance.
- Scalability
To ensure more return from the software solution, you might want to consider software that can ‘follow’ your business as it grows. Consider whether the software will charge you more if you onboard more users to the platform, and how easy it is to implement the solution to new employees, new departments, and even new business locations.
- Automation
Some solutions offer built-in automation features. Also, check whether critical permissions and pathways would allow automation with minimal administrative control to secure your workflows.
Value for Money
By considering all of the above factors, you can decide how appropriate the solution is against the features offered. Calculate whether the price would be justified according to the potential ROI.
Conclusion
As the name suggests, business process workflow management is about managing processes to improve the business’s effectiveness to maximize its performance and improve its profitability.
Having the right solution to help you implement, monitor, and automate Business Process Management can be an excellent investment that may lead to a more productive team, resulting in happier customers and higher revenues.
Photo by Zainul Yasni on Unsplash
About the Author
Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.
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