Many organizations are relying on workflows to keep operations moving along efficiently. Your organization may also utilize document management software to store and manage vital records. But did you know that your organization can use document management software (DMS) to improve your existing workflows even further?
Why Workflows Are Efficient
In order to compete with other organizations in your industry, your company has to be good at what it does. Workflows are used to streamline operations and increase overall efficiency. Without using well-designed workflows, your company may find it difficult to remain competitive in the industry.
What Is a Workflow?
A workflow is the sequence of processes through which a piece of work (or job) passes from initiation to completion. Your organization may use workflows to coordinate tasks between people and synchronize data across systems. Ultimately, the goal of using workflows is to improve efficiency, responsiveness, and profitability for your organization.
How Do Workflows Help?
It doesn’t matter whether your organization manufactures widgets, builds roads, or provides accounting services to its customers, workflows can help your company operate more efficiently at many different levels. Workflows can be used to establish tasks and procedures that your employees must follow to get their work done, can ensure that time doesn’t go to waste on unimportant tasks, and facilitate the management of projects according to schedule. Here are a few things that workflows can accomplish:
- Automate the flow of tasks and activities
- Reduce time involved in completing processes
- Ensure that deadlines are met
- Provide visibility for managers
- Add accountability for monitoring purposes
Workflows in Your Document Management Software
Workflows are useful because they help your organization get things done faster. Unfortunately, establishing a workflow doesn’t always eliminate glaring inefficiencies. Establishing workflows in your document management software, however, gives you the wide-angle lens you need to identify and eliminate redundant and unnecessary tasks in your company’s processes.
Designing Workflow Processes
eFileCabinet’s workflow design creates specific “if/then” processes that help your employees stay on task. In fact, using these types of processes is often better than using a sequential workflow. After all, not every task requires the same number of steps.
Keeping Employees Productive
One of the biggest advantages of using our document workflow is that employees don’t have to wait around between tasks. Once a task is completed, your employee will automatically receive the next task.
Keeping Track of Deadlines
Our workflow also helps your organization meet important deadlines. It’s easy for employees to lose sight of what they should be doing when they have a large number of tasks to get done. Fortunately, our improved workflow includes automatic alerts that help your employees meet important deadlines. This way your employees will be able to prioritize work based on its importance rather than on chronological order.
The Key to Creating Efficient Workflows
The key to creating workflows is to increase operational efficiency. This doesn’t mean focusing on the speedy completion of employee’s task, but on the elimination of tasks that are unnecessary in the first place. You should keep in mind that the most efficient workflows are the ones that allow your employees to get the right work done.
When you use eFileCabinet to set up new workflows, you may find inefficiencies that you have never noticed before. That’s because setting up workflows inside our DMS gives you the perspective to eliminate the things that don’t need to get done.
Additional Advantages DMS Has to Offer
Improving workflow operations is one way your document management software can help your organization. But our DMS can do a lot more than that. Here are a few examples of what DMS can do:
- Keep your files safe and secure
- Protect documents from unauthorized access with user-specific roles
- Share and transfer information securely using data encryption
- Make documents available with quick word searches
- Ensure that you’re using the most current version of each document
- Show you older versions of the same document
- Track document changes via the audit trail
Our document management software makes your filing cabinet obsolete. Switching to a paperless office comes with significant reductions in cost for most organizations. After all, you no longer have to spend money on paper, toner, filing cabinets, and storage space.
However, the most important benefit that DMS has to offer is increased efficiency. Managing your documents with eFileCabinet saves your organization a lot of labor hours, especially when you utilize our advanced workflow features. DMS and appropriate workflow structures should be part of every enterprise management system.
Fortunately, eFileCabinet makes it easy to combine the two. Why don’t you give it a try yourself? Just fill out the form on this page and get started with your 15-minute demo.