With businesses and marketing now being so modern, the organization of work and processes plays a critical role. Workflow Management Software (WMS) plays an integral role in organizing an operation, gets a team to work effectively, and encourages cooperation between team members working towards a common goal. To get the most out of a Workflow Management Tool, it’s important to understand and utilize the necessary features. Today’s Aproove blog highlights 12 features of Workflow Management Software that are essential for any organization.
A smooth user interface is where smooth workflow management starts. Responsive design and navigation will have your employees and your team quickly fall into the groove, reducing the learning curve and facilitating adoption across companies. Furthermore, the interface is good for a high-level view on all your initiatives, and for an overview of all the projects that you run, as well as the health of those projects.
Automation is the fundamental principle of workflow management. While it can be a great advantage in accelerating workflows, it can also reduce errors that often arise from repetitive and time-consuming tasks. The ideal software should enable you to program automated rules you can apply when a particular task meets certain criteria.
Each business is different, and each business workflow is unique. Therefore, quality project management workflow software should provide for customisation, allowing organisations to adapt workflows to their business needs. The software should not make you be a round peg forced into a square hole.
Good collaboration is essential to staying on task. Look for Work Management Software that has all your communication channels, commenting features and document-sharing built right into the platform. The more collaboration you can do without leaving your toolset, the more transparent your team can be and the more efficient they will become.
It should be easy to monitor current workflows and to create bespoke reports and dashboards that track goals (eg. time taken on specified tasks, tasks completed by customer type, or how many steps on a complex task are still outstanding). Ideally, the workflow management software should have real-time features for monitoring, along with strong reporting features to track progress, bottlenecks and give management reports.
Connected digital ecosystem also needs to integrate with your technology stack. Thus, project management workflow software that easily connects with other essential tools, such as DAM, PIM or CRM systems, as well as external storage solutions, ensures similar workflow and data flow across your organisation.
Thanks to the increasing prevalence of remote working, the workforce of today is becoming more mobile. Go for a WMS that has a mobile component, so that team members can access and monitor workflows even when they’re not on the premises. This fosters greater flexibility, and ensures that you can maximise productivity beyond the confines of an office space.
Task management is the key to success in this. Look for project management workflow software with features that enable its users to set priorities, assign resources, and complete all tasks on time to keep workflows on track.
As companies grow, they scale their processes and operations. Make sure the WMS you choose can scale with your company. If the solution is not able to follow your company into the future, pretty soon you’ll have a solution for which it’s not an asset, but a liability. Look for a solution that is not a ‘multi-tenant’ environment, freeing the solution from other clients impacting performance by slowing down your infrastructure.
Protecting sensitive data is not up for discussion. It is imperative to use Workflow Management Software that is loaded with advanced security features, including user authentication, data encryption, role-based security, and other protocols. Verify if your vendor has security certifications, like that of ISO 27001:2005, SOC2, HIPAA, etc.
This ensures accountability, ensuring that it is easy to find out who did what, and when, while also ensuring that all activities within the WMS are compliant. In simple terms, traceability ensures that companies are accountable for everything that happens within the warehouse. An audit trail feature in a WMS allows the system to document all of the changes made to its data as they happen, creating a transparent audit log of all activities within the system.
Your WMS will only deliver the full value proposition if used correctly, and for this you need a well-structured onboarding process alongside user maintenance & support. Check the user training resources, tutorials and responsive customer support available on the platform to help you. Choose a platform like Aproove that will help you avoid any detours when it comes to embracing the benefits of workflow management.
You need WMS to be efficient - otherwise, it's equal to your business being inefficient. These 12 features are the most important for a workflow management system. With this understanding, you will be able to fully leverage the benefits of WMS in driving productivity, collaboration, and achieve other business goals.
Choose wisely, implement well, and watch your workflows transform into pathways to success!