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How to Create a Workflow?

The Principles of a Workflow

Traditionally, a workflow could be designed by anyone with a piece of paper, executed through messages, emails, and spreadsheets. With the advent of modern tools, it is now possible to create, manage, and execute a workflow much more easily, automating part or all of a business process. This ensures that all iterations are executed accurately and that necessary documents and information are provided for each step and participant without miscommunication.

How to Organize and Create a Workflow

To effectively create a workflow, some key aspects must be observed:

  • Identify the resources involved (participants, documents, required information).
  • List the tasks to be completed, particularly the goal the workflow aims to achieve.
  • Determine responsibility for each task and assign roles.
  • Create the workflow to visualize the process.
  • Test the workflow.
  • Train the team to understand the established workflow.
  • Publish the workflow for production use.

1. Identifying the Resources Involved

The first step in creating a workflow is to understand how the task is currently conducted:

  • How do the responsible parties handle the available information?
  • What documents and information are vital to achieving the objective?
  • Is approval from various individuals required?
  • Do participants communicate via email, phone? Is there a record?

In other words, start by talking to stakeholders, understanding how the work is currently done, and identifying the expected benefits of automating this workflow.

2. Listing the Tasks to Be Completed

A workflow can consist of a simple, sequential structure of steps or involve complex structures with multiple parallel or conditional paths. This creates a “map” with tasks that may or may not be completed depending on the specific case.

It may also rely on integrations or information from various sources, as well as approvals and inputs from different people.

Thus, it’s crucial to identify the tasks to be completed before designing a workflow and have a clear goal for executing it.

3. Determining Responsibility and Assigning Roles

For a workflow to function effectively, it’s important to define who will be responsible for each process stage and identify the roles involved for approvals. Pre-mapping the responsibilities for each process stage is essential.

4. Designing the Workflow

With the above information, you will have a clearer vision of your workflow. You can proceed with designing its structure using modeling tools like Flowable.

Tips for Designing Your Workflow:

  • Keep it simple: Even if the operation is complex, strive to keep the workflow straightforward. Break down large workflows into smaller subflows focused on specific objectives. For example, in creating a contract workflow, you could design a smaller subflow just for collecting party data, which could be reused in other operations. This modular approach simplifies the main workflow and builds a reusable library of subflows.
  • Delegate complex operations to APIs: Use APIs for complex operations to simplify your workflow while leveraging pre-built system functions that might otherwise require extensive BPMN design.
  • Monitor metrics: Identify stages with important data that can be used for optimization. For example, time taken for a stage, potential process interruptions, or bottlenecks that lead to delays. Collaborate with Data Analytics and BI teams to gain insights for future workflow improvements.

5. Testing the Workflow

Like new software, a workflow must go through a testing phase with end users. Conduct test runs, identify issues and difficulties, optimize, and simplify.

6. Training the Team

The biggest challenge in implementing an automated workflow is ensuring that involved individuals transition from traditional methods to the new automated model.

Thus, it is essential to provide training and onboarding for the team, especially to ensure that important information and documents are inputted into the system. This guarantees the workflow’s consistent execution and reliable metrics.

7. Publishing the Workflow

After developing the workflow, you can launch it in production. However, as with any system, it’s recommended to start with restricted access for a smaller group of people and operations.

This approach allows you to observe the workflow’s effectiveness, measure performance, make necessary adjustments, and gradually scale the solution in a controlled environment.