What is Workflow Automation? How does it help your Business?

Automation is key to the success of every business. It gives the ultimate solution to all those manual work processes which is very time-consuming and improves the efficiency of the business process.

The manual work process might be one of the most uninteresting and inefficient for the employee and it is Not only doing it put employees to sleep it also waste the valuable time of your employees and reduce productivity. Reducing operational costs and improving the ROI is the primary goal for every business. And applying automated workflow is the best way to achieve this goal.

What is Workflow Automation?

Workflow Automation refers to the design, execution, and automation of processes based on workflow rules where human tasks, data, or files are routed between people or systems based on pre-defined business rules.

Workflow automation changes the existing system such as approval, claims, requests, assignments, sending out emails, etc., into an automated system.

Why do organizations require Workflow Automation Software?

It’s clear that organizations spend quite loads of time on redundant, manual tasks that can be automated.

To learn about Business Process Automation read: The Definitive Guide to Business Process Automation (BPA)

Did you know it

• Every year companies face poor management costs of around 1 trillion USD
• Organizations waste more than 50% of the sale time on unproductive prospecting
• Employees spend 20% to 40% of their time searching for files manually
• Almost 20% of CEO’s work can be automated
• 73% of Customer Support specialists believe dealing with time and workload is the most principal issues

If you really want to expand your business to the next level, you must think about making an investment in business workflow automation software.

Uses of workflow automation

1. Creating Task:

It is quite common for many organizations to communicate tasks via email, but this may lead to miscommunication, confusion, and sometimes missed tasks.

Workflow automation can help you:

• Create to-dos out of emails, and consequently make way for higher task management
• Notify the person who has been assigned the project and follow up with them for updates
• Save you crucial time checking in, getting updates, and manually updating everyone

2. Generating Invoices

Generating Invoice is core to most businesses ‘accounting. With the help of workflow automation organizations can automate many such traditional accounting processes. Besides, it speeds up the technology and delivery of invoices without going through more than one manual process.

When you need to invoice a particular client for the same amount every month, an automatic workflow can generate and send the ones invoices on a fixed schedule, freeing any team member from such repetitive tasks.

3. Onboarding New Staff

The employee onboarding process is very tedious, involving a lot of time, workforce, and resources. Hiring just one candidate to onboard them can be overwhelming for new hires.

Workflow automation helps to accelerate this process by inputting their information and submitting it directly to the human resources personnel. The system also allows everyone — the hiring manager, the employee, and HR access to the same set of information, so there may be no redundancies.

4. Approving leave and vacation requests of staff

Processes around leave and holiday requests and approvals are simplified via workflow automation. Rather than personnel emailing the request to their managers for approval and then ahead to payroll and HR, the employees can fill in the request form and put it up on the automated system.

When the supervisor approves the request, employees’ leave records get populated into the HR and payroll systems. This will store time for any manual data entry.

5. Managing Trouble Tickets for IT

Generating tickets for IT support and contacting the IT team for assistance can help the IT team handle such technical assistance efficiently.

When something is not working and requires IT support, instead of emailing the IT team they can fill in and submit a form.

The workflow automation system can generate and assign a unique ticket to a specific IT support person. It helps to manage, leading to less response time by the IT team.

The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify efficiency. — Bill Gates

Read more here: Top 10 tips and tricks to automate your business

Benefits of Workflow Automation Software

• Saves Time:

With the help of workflow automation organizations can save their employees’ time on repetitive tasks.

Decision-making is time-consuming, particularly where data is limited. In fact, making decisions without good enough data is a recipe for disaster. Automation not only gives information but also furnishes you with data analysis tools. This way, you are making well-knowledgeable decisions and saving time and money.

• Fewer Errors, Lesser Risks:

The right workflow automation software can reduce the Manual and human error that costs companies a lot of time and resources.

The workflow automation tool would handle the activities such as updating the list, attaching an updated file, adding proper signatures, subject line, etc., on its own. This would wipe out the possibility of forgetting to send emails or attaching outdated files and so on.

Human errors affect all the departments of an organization such as the finance, sales & marketing departments. With the help of workflow automation, you can reduce human errors and risks.

• Enhanced Employee Productivity and Quality of Service:

Employees feel unmotivated when the task becomes Repetitive. The routine tasks not only take up time but also reduce the overall productivity of your employees.

Automation tools eliminate repetitive tasks and allow your employee to focus on more critical business activities. It can enhance the morale of employees and improve creativity.

• Improved Teamwork and Communication:

A workflow automation tool provides your employees with a better platform where they can communicate and collaborate efficiently. And that encourages teamwork and improves the overall productivity of your organization.

A state-of-the-art workflow automation software allows your enterprise to obtain higher goals in less time. A maximum of the tasks is automated, you may place greater effort into the core business operations and raise the growth rate.