Workflow: It's a real thing... no, really!

Chances are if you've ever played corporate buzzword bingo (and I know you have) then you've probably won a round or two with the word "Workflow". So what does the term Workflow really mean? Is it just filler for when someone is trying to sell you software and services? Or is it another trendy business-y word that people like to throw around as filler at corporate functions when they can't think of anything else to say? Actually, it's none of the above. Workflow is an important part of everyday business whether we realize it is happening and being tracked or not.

Workflow can be broken down into two areas. The first area is the functional process of workflow. This is what happens everyday in every organization and sometimes unbeknownst to the folks that are participating in it. A simple example of this is purchasing a new hard drive from a supplier. Most likely there is a purchase order form that needs to be filled out. Sometimes this is an electronic form and sometimes it might be hand written. But then that information needs to be given to someone else to review and approve the purchase. They will then approve it (hopefully) and then the hard drive would actually be purchased and paid for. This is obviously a very simple example and some workflows are as easy as going from point A to point B and then others may involve complex processes and require that information be moved from department/person to other departments/people. It's in these complex workflows that things usually start to go off the rails.

In most organizations, these functional workflow processes are handled by emails, phone calls, ad-hoc conversations and everyone's favorite, sneaker-net, which isn't a name of a cool hacking community, but rather physically walking paper information from one place to another, hence using your sneakers!

A lot of times you don't even realize the dysfunction of these processes because they are so ingrained that they become automatic in day-to-day operations. So the first order of business is to whiteboard or flowchart (that's a buzz word bingo double whammy for those of you playing along) out how the process currently works, review and discuss the efficiency of the process, and then make adjustments where there are obvious gaps, bottlenecks, or areas for information to potentially be lost. Once the fun part of drawing pictures and arrows on the whiteboard and you come down from your dry-erase marker high now the next area of workflow begins.

The next step in getting your arms around workflow is translating your flowchart into a software system. There are plenty of business systems out there today that specifically handle the management of workflow and most modern ERP systems have a workflow engine built into the application. So chances are you already have the necessary tools at your disposal to manage any workflow process that might be out of control at your business but just haven't implemented it yet! It's important to have the process mapped out though because the reason that implementing workflow processes in a software system usually fails is because the process wasn't effectively mapped out before the task of setting up the system begins.

Once you are tracking these mission critical workflows in your business system rather than relying on email communications and pieces of paper, then you can focus on activities that are true value-add (BINGO!) to your business rather than chasing data. Moving day to day tasks and processes into your business system gives visibility into what is happening, who is responsible for taking action, and what the next steps need to be.

Hopefully we can see the concept of workflow as a tangible, real thing that is imperative to any business and not just a bingo square anymore.

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About the author:

David Dozer is an ERP professional that has worked in different facets of the industry ranging from IT Management, Quality Assurance, Accounting, Consulting Services and ERP Product Management. Currently, David is a Senior Business Consultant at Algorithm Inc.

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The Psychology of an ERP Implementation

Technical vs Human: The Bane of ERP Selection