In the age of innovation, collaboration is the secret ingredient that allows companies to create new ideas and bring about change. Without an amazing team behind every product or service, great brands wouldn’t be great. You may have amazing insight into your business and understand all its needs, but if you don’t collaborate with your team to implement workflow automation, the project will fail.
One major reason automation fails is because of poor workflow management. Automation may be designed around a task or a process and not the people it will help. Research shows that up to 50% of process automation projects fail. To steer clear of failure, broaden the scope of who can manage workflows to include decision-makers and direct collaborators. Your organization will move away from the top-down approach and become more productive and efficient. Here’s how to ensure workflow automation is a success.
Subject Matter Experts Should Be In Charge
Subject matter experts have in-depth knowledge of a business area and can enhance their team’s understanding of a legacy process. They can easily identify potential challenges in their areas of focus and create unique solutions. In many companies, these are line managers who possess specific knowledge other employees lack.
Some processes have a high risk of error and must be automated by the people who understand them best. Managers who have a good grasp of their department’s processes should be in charge of workflow automation as this results in a seamless transition.
A subject matter expert understands departmental problems and their underlying intricacies and can come up with great solutions. By empowering subject matter experts across the organization, you effectively solve business challenges and enhance day-to-day operations.
Automation Initiatives Must Be Properly Scoped
Creating a good project scope is vital if you want to execute a successful project. Without project scope, line managers and other stakeholders won’t have a clue what time, cost, or labor is needed for the automation project. It forms the foundation for every decision a manager will make. Whenever something needs to be changed, the team will refer to the scope to know which approach to take. Many business teams use the following points to determine the scope of workflow automation:
- The methodical approach to be used
- The best practices
- The automation software to be used
- Tasks and processes important to the business unit
- The complex processes and processes with a large amount of data
- The common functions across business units
Workflow Management Is a Team Effort
While IT experts may be in charge of automation, many people are involved in workflow management. A subject matter expert ensures the tech solution delivers the required results while the users (non-developers) report on its effectiveness and give ideas on how it can be improved.
Workflow management is essential for business success. When workflows are streamlined, employees have more time to focus on their immediate tasks. They don’t have to wait for manager approvals. Top-level management also saves time because work is standardized. Micromanaging becomes a thing of the past and managers focus on product delivery, quality, and delegation.
Workflow Management Plays a Vital Role in Every Successful Automation Initiative
To sustain the predicaments of constant technological changes, businesses are now leveraging workflow automation platforms that act like an ‘electronic main door’. Right from a simple administrative task to managing complex operations, a well-designed workflow automation solution can be highly beneficial to any organization. Organizations of every scale can adopt workflow automation and fast-track their digital transformation efforts. But for automation to be successful, workflow management software is necessary. It ensures workflow steps are optimized so tasks are completed correctly, consistently, and efficiently.
