Many companies are now relying on workflow management software to streamline their business processes and tasks. Using workflow management software (WMS) may sound fancy, but it actually makes the management of each process of your business significantly easier. But before we get into the advantages of using workflow management software and the challenges of implementing it, we need to explain some of the terminology.
What Does Workflow Mean?
Workflow is defined as the sequence of processes through which a piece of work passes from initiation to completion. That sounds really complicated, but it’s actually simple. Workflow is basically how a task gets done from start to finish. For example, a task could be the process of hiring an employee. The workflow steps of this process would include creating the position and its requirements, posting employment ads, reviewing resumes, interviewing candidates, and making a job offer.
What Is a Workflow System?
A workflow system comprises different sets of workflows that accomplish overarching goals for the organization. Workflow systems can be found in each of the different departments of your company, but some workflows will involve more than one department and more than one level in your company’s hierarchy. For example, hiring a new employee would involve management to authorize a new hire and approve the salary, accounting for setting up the payroll, and HR for the hiring process.
What Is a Workflow Management System?
A workflow management system combines an infrastructure for the setup, performance, and monitoring of all the different workflows in your company. Instead of looking at completing one specific task, a workflow management system can be used to streamline all of the different processes in your company from sales to HR and accounting. For example, a workflow management system would outline all the necessary steps to hire a new employee.
How Do Workflow Management Systems Help?
Workflow management systems can help businesses streamline their processes by automating some of the work and replacing paper work with electronic work orders. Workflow management software also ensures that tasks are done from start to finish without skipping steps in between. For example, the system would prevent you from creating an employment ad without getting approval to hire a new employee.
Here are some other examples of how workflow management software can help:
- Responsible individuals are notified of new tasks
- Tasks are routed appropriately throughout the organization
- Redundant tasks can be automated
- Workflows can be audited
- Uncompleted tasks can be follow up on
Which Organizations Use Workflow Management Software?
Workflow management software is not limited to be used in any specific industry. In fact, many different organizations can benefit from using a workflow management system. Any company that has to manage a variety of workflows can potentially benefit from using software to take care of it.
Here are some examples of industries that tend to use workflow management systems:
- Manufacturing
- Accounting
- Retail
- Creative industries
- Health
- Military
However, the need for a workflow management system isn’t defined by the industry your company is in or by the size of your company. In fact, even a small business can enhance their operations by using workflow management software.
Challenges of Implementing Workflow Management Software
Implementing workflow software isn’t a quick fix. There are a few challenges you’ll have to overcome. For example, your employees need to learn how to use the workflow management software effectively. Additionally, it may take some time to set up your processes. There will probably a period of time where small tweaks and changes will be necessary, but the final results are certainly worth the small hassle required to make it work in the beginning.
Workflow Management Software and eFileCabinet
Workflow management systems are usually created to streamline certain processes inside of your company. In a similar vein, our document management systems at eFileCabinet can be used to streamline the workflow of documents inside your business.
Documents are often created through every process, whether they are in paper form or electronic. These documents usually have to make their way through your organization in order to complete the process. This could be a sales order, a manufacturing process, an administrative order, or something else entirely. By using a document management system, you can ensure that your employees perform the tasks the way you want them to and keep it uniform throughout your organization.
eFileCabinet also ties in with other workflow management software (including but not limited to Salesforce) to help manage your documents better. Our document management software (DMS) is designed to manage the creation, alteration, and archiving of documents as per company policy. Using eFileCabinet ensures security and compliance throughout your organization.
But now it’s time to explore what our document management software can do for your business. Fill in the form on this page for a 15-minute demo and more information about eFileCabinet.