Posted by Rachel Ho May 11, 2022 10:00:00 AM

There is no place for work inefficiencies in a world where cost reduction and time management can help your organisation stand out from its competitors. Moreover, when hybrid and remote working models are slowly becoming permanent, adopting an optimal digital workflow is the only solution to stay competitive.

Thanks to digital transformation, attaining efficiency and productivity has never been this easy. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), investment in digital transformation may increase to $6.8 trillion worldwide by 2023, clearly indicating the influence of digital workflows on both small and big organisations.

If you reap the full benefits of adapting to this digital revolution, it is imperative to know about the basics of what a  digital workflow consists of before implementing it. Read below for a complete guide on digital workflow.

What is a Digital Workflow?

Digital workflow is a term that defines specific steps that should be taken to complete a process using a software. It helps teams standardise phases, enforce specific requirements and digitise steps while operating in a cloud-based solution.

A digital workflow uses data, tasks, technologies and guidelines to allow documents and any information to be directed and delivered to their respective departments or authority after being passed on and traced through different stages. Furthermore, a digital workflow enables effective communication between departments and teams and automates repetitive tasks as required.

It is impossible to execute a digital workflow without the involvement of tasks, teams and people. These tasks might be complex or simple but should be repeated on a daily basis.

What Are the Functions That Digital Workflows Perform?

The implementation of digital workflow benefits both the employer and employees of an organisation. For instance, its execution helps eliminate manual processes and decrease paper transactions. Furthermore, digital workflow helps reduce human errors and ensures limited duplication.

These benefits are achieved through different functions that digital workflows can perform.

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Oversight Ability

Digital workflows help managers and other employees get a proper insight into various processes that run in a business. In addition, they offer quick access to managers to review the workings of tasks that they are responsible for managing. As a result, it becomes pretty convenient to detect bottlenecks right at the start or way before they can cause minor or significant disasters.

Reliable Routing of Documents

Unfortunately, lost documents often slow down processes and may damage your company’s reputation in your industry. A forgotten document that is unable to trace may result in several missed deadlines and opportunities. Besides, it can delay the delivery of services and products to customers and also prevent the acquisition of certain required supplies.

To avoid this from happening, digital workflow offers a trail covering the document's journey in an organisation. It helps locate a file pretty efficiently so that required actions can be taken quickly. In addition, digital workflows can help management track the implications and performance of these actions to ensure good service to customers.

Data Monitoring and Evaluation

One of the best qualities of digital workflow is that it allows managers to properly monitor and evaluate all data during audits. This benefit works wonders for most government agencies and authorities that depend on several accounting practices. By tracing financial events and data, managers can analyse the processes and make the entire process less time-consuming.

Quick Approval Processes

Suppose you have more than one manager heading each department in your company. In that case, the approval of processes may take longer than required. For example, in a paper-based workflow, getting a contract signed and then delivering it to everyone involved can delay the entire process and create issues with time management.

However, in a digital workflow, with the help of a well-defined approval process, every individual can get access to each stage and add their input as required. This is called a collaborative approval process that allows different teams and people to work together and helps achieve timely and best results.

Manage Complex Processes

Another primary function that digital workflow performs is making the management of complex processes quite convenient. It helps automate overly complex procedures, such as new employee onboarding, reducing the chances of any errors.

Similarly, a digital workflow also automates the entire currency conversion process for the companies that run international offices. Again this process is pretty complicated and prone to errors, but digital workflows simplify it.

Building a Digital Workflow

A digital workflow process has many benefits and performs more functions than anyone can imagine. So, if you are convinced by its advantages and are ready to implement and build a digitally agile workflow in your company to meet OKR and KPI goals, here are the steps you should follow.

Audit the Current Workflow

Audit the Current Workflow

Before implementing any new system, it is imperative to audit the current processes and identify any bottlenecks. So, work smarter and start with breaking down your current process and identify any repetitive and manual tasks, bottlenecks and things that require improvement. Then use this auditing to figure out any inefficiencies and demand for optimisation in your existing system.

Once that’s done, consider all the technical complexities involved in your workflow. This may include tasks more prone to human errors or forms that demand lengthy approvals from many parties.

Now evaluate your priorities to create a proper roadmap for implementation. When analysing your priorities, look for tasks or processes that may benefit from digitisation and predict the results they may reap.

Design a Roadmap

Your roadmap or workflow diagram should contain project objectives with all the technologies that require automation. Moreover, it should cover the timelines and success criteria to implement digital workflow effectively in your system. Start off with a project-off meeting in order to strategise the creation of an optimal digital workflow roadmap for your company. Other key project management tips also include resource levelling, utilising the pareto distribution or creating a weekly workplan template to improve workplace performance.  

Create and Deploy

A well-curated roadmap will make it easy for you to create a reliable plan for workflow automation. This plan is necessary to gain approval before deploying it in your company.

After all, both your higher management and employees need to agree with the plan before you can start working with it. Once you have achieved the approval, you can deploy and initiate the plan.

Evaluate and refine

Don't just stop there once your digital workflow has been successfully implemented. Instead, evaluate its results and make improvements where required. Then, if your implementation has helped you achieve your objective, rinse and repeat this process for other company departments.

Optimise your digital workflow with Tessaract

Adopting a digital workflow process is an excellent idea to introduce better productivity and efficiency in your company. Power your business with Tessaract, an optimal workflow automation solution that can help you attain your productivity goals without any hurdles. This business management software empowers businesses by making their management convenient and ensuring error-free workflow across all departments to nurture a high performance culture.

With Tessaract's intelligent corporate tools,  collaborate with your team efficiently, quickly access all documents and files from a shared cloud and digitally sign your documents in under two minutes.  Furthermore, Tessaract's ensures that you get excellent customer support to help your business grow with our client success team.

Rachel Ho

Written by Rachel Ho