Management Platform Tips – Workflow platforms can save your company time and money by automating processes and cutting unnecessary steps. Whether you’re new to workflow management or have been using them for years, there is always a tip or trick that can help you improve your business productivity. These quick tips will help you work smarter, not harder, so you can get back to what’s important—your business.
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Table of Contents
Access Workflow Status Updates
The workflow management platform lets you view workflow status updates in real time. These updates will allow you to see what has been completed and what is still in progress. You can track the progress of a document through your pipeline and identify where something might go wrong. Built-in reporting features in your platform will give you a good idea of the status of each email that has gone through your system.
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Use Tags
If you’re new to workflows and using a tool, you haven’t discovered the power of the tags. Workflow Management Platform Tips allow users to attach relevant and vital data to emails and other documents that can be shared, requested, or even assigned through a workflow. In addition, tags allow users to connect different documents with different filters, making it easy for anyone in your company to search for precisely what they are looking for.
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Connect to Existing Data Sources
Through your platform, you can connect existing sources without reinventing the wheel. For example, if you already use a tool like Outlook, Google Docs, or Dropbox to store all your work documents, you can connect them to your platform. In addition, it will allow other users in your company to make updates or changes as they go through the document process.
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Create and Reuse Workflows
Rather than create a workflow for every job that needs to be done in the company, create one workflow for the most common tasks. Then wait to touch it again until it’s needed again. Doing this will help save time and will help you create a workflow that is all-encompassing for your business. This way, you can add new documents and emails to the workflow, but you don’t have to change or edit documents that are already there.
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Don’t Set Up Overlapping Workflows
Overlapping workflows allow a job to be partially completed twice instead of once early in the process. This can create confusion, especially if the same person manages both workflows. Make sure each document is routed through one method at a time and cross-referenced wherever necessary so everything is handled at once.
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Add a “Hold” Step
Depending on the type of workflow you set up, there might be instances where a document has to be placed on hold. For example, suppose you have an email that goes through your company’s pipeline and ends up being assigned to an employee. In that case, that employee might need more information from the person who sent the original email. Adding a hold step in your workflow will allow you to put the document on pause until it is either completed or canceled. The best part about adding holds is once your workflow platform has added a hold to a document, it will stay on hold no matter where it is routed.
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Limit Overloads for Employees
Nothing is worse for an employee than being bombarded with emails every minute of the day. Not only that, but if you have a new employee who needs to go through your platform and learn the process, it can be overwhelming if they have to process 20 or 30 emails simultaneously. Instead, start with just one or two emails on their first day and then build up. An excellent way to prevent this is by setting up separate workflows for any new hires in your company, so you know where to send their documents when setting them up with their new jobs.
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Be Brief with Details
When adding details to your documents, be brief. You don’t have to write a book when all you have to say is, “Please fix this form and email it back.” Writing too many details can make your emails harder to follow and lead to frustration and confusion. Keep everything short, sweet, and concise so your workers can get their jobs done quickly.
Management Platform Tips – A workflow platform can make your job easier and help you save time and effort in creating all the internal business processes that your company relies on. Your company’s growth can be accelerated by creating a system that helps you run it more efficiently.
