Repetitive tasks can corrode a business.
Employees may lose morale if they have to do the same thing repeatedly. Even worse, it could cost a business a fortune if the task reoccurs on a daily or weekly basis.
Don’t you want your star employees concentrating on more seasoned, complex projects?
That’s why it’s so important to automate repetitive tasks. One way to do this is with software workflows.
Software workflows align teams around common projects while automating key tasks to drive the project forward and hold accountability.
Sales teams, marketing teams, and product teams can all work together in the same workflow.
In this article, we’ll cover the following:
- What is a software workflow?
- Why should a business consider implementing a software workflow?
- What are three examples of software workflows?
- What are the top software workflow tools in 2023?
Before we jump in, let’s define software workflow and share an example to make sure we're all on the same page.
What is a software workflow?
A software workflow is a cloud-based program with a series of logic-based steps that control certain processes at a company.
If you set up a software workflow, you can automate basic processes that need to happen every day while providing your team with insight into these processes.
A software workflow can function as a digital headquarters for employees that need to check in for an update on a project.
Software workflows can be customized for businesses of all sizes.
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You can think of a software workflow as an invisible hand that is prodding the business forward on key tasks.
With workflow automation tools, you can remove manual processes and redundant tasks by setting up complex workflows that help you save on employee costs and scale your business.
Depending on which program you pick, most have a per-month-per-user payment structure, which means you pay for the total number of monthly users.
By granting your employees access to the software workflow, they can receive assignments and notifications for when they need to contribute to the broader task.
But does every business need to have a software workflow? Well, there are many benefits for businesses of all sizes to consider implementing one.
However, you need to implement one for the right use case for your business.
Let’s take a look at why it is a good idea to consider adding a software workflow to your organization.
Why should you use a software workflow?
To understand the benefits of a software workflow, you need to consider your life before it and the impact of it.
In a business without a software workflow, employees are likely spending time on daily, time-consuming administrative tasks. For larger projects, some employees might be disengaged while others are confused about where the project stands.
If you implement a software workflow, some of that confusion and disengagement will melt away.
With a software workflow in place, you can cut down on the time your team is spending on recurring tasks.
The workflow can take basic tasks off your employees’ to-do lists, which enables them to concentrate on more high-touch tasks.
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This will drive more accomplishments and productivity and will eventually scale the business more effectively.
Most importantly: software workflows can cut the high number of human errors that result from manual tasks.
Did a project stall because no one notified the next person that it was time to start their part? With a software workflow in place, this wouldn’t happen due to automated notifications that can be triggered by the completion of the previous step.
By automating key aspects of your business with a software workflow, you can grow it exponentially while removing basic errors that are holding you back.
Want to set up a few basic software workflows immediately? Let’s take a look at some of the most common ones to start with right away.
What are three examples of software workflows?
There are many ways you can deploy a software workflow, but we’re going to highlight three of the most common ones that most businesses could use.
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These include new employee onboarding, expense processing, and purchase orders.
New employee onboarding
Businesses can only grow as fast as they onboard and train new employees. This onboarding process can easily make or break an employee’s experience.
However, rarely do businesses have the time to continuously train each new employee. That’s why a software workflow is necessary for the administrative part of the onboarding process.
Imagine providing your new employee with login credentials to watch modules documenting your company policy. As an administrator, you’d be able to see how much the employee watched and if they completed an assessment at the end.
By documenting this information for each employee in a software workflow, you can automate this part of the onboarding process and have a digital place where their documents and new hire paperwork all live.
Expense processing
Need to get reimbursed for a payment you made on a personal card? Don’t worry about digging out an old template from your files.
Companies often use software workflows to automate expense processing.
You can set up a software workflow and have your employees submit their expenses digitally. While a “PENDING” status is shown to the employee, an alert will be sent to your finance team.
They can log in, see the submitted expense report, and approve or disapprove. This makes the entire process seamless without the need for paper.
Purchase orders
Is your team wondering when something is approved to order? Consider implementing a software workflow to issue and track purchase orders.
You can set up a workflow that accepts uploads for future purchases. After the purchase is approved, a purchase order number can be issued and tracked within the system.
This helps companies stay organized and keep track of what they are buying.
Interested in setting up your own software workflow but don’t know which program to use? Let’s take a look at some of the top software workflow solutions on the market this year.
The top 6 software workflow tools to use in 2023
It’s time to supercharge your productivity and automate recurring tasks.
There are a variety of workflow management solutions you can use on the market. Each workflow software has its own pros and cons with capabilities to match.
Some of the most common features in a workflow management tool include: custom workflows, team collaboration, customizable templates, project planning, custom dashboards, simple automations, and more.
Some even have additional features like service management, daily workflow reports, and project plan templates.
Here is a list of the 6 best software workflow tools you need to review.
Motion
Motion is a software program that leverages AI and automation to increase productivity. Businesses and employees looking to level up trust Motion to automate recurring tasks that are time consuming and frequent.
Motion can serve as a digital companion for a variety of functions: calendar, project management, task management, and meeting assistant.
To optimize your day, you can add tasks to your schedule around your meetings and plan your day with a minute-by-minute schedule. Additionally, Motion can break down your project and create individual plans for your team with set due dates added to your calendar or optimize your to-do list with your most pressing items first.
The workflows you can set up in Motion for your team will bring everyone together while impacting the meaningful work each is contributing.
Try Motion’s free trial, and supercharge your productivity today.
Hive
Hive is a collaborative program that teams use to simplify complex projects that involve many members. Within Hive, you can set team goals, add approval workflows, use project templates, add annotations to projects, track progress, and sync with other tools.
You can use Hive for a variety of use cases: timesheets, time tracking, project management, employee scheduling, goal setting, and more. Hive provides its users with visibility over the entire project, including all action statuses required to move the project over the goal line.
Additionally, you can set up customizable dashboards, team reporting, and project analytics to identify weak links or areas that need to be optimized.
monday.com
monday.com is a project management solution that keeps all your “processes, tools, and teams together.” Depending on how you configure the platform, there are endless possibilities for how your team can use it.
One of the most common ways people use monday.com is for project and task management. These workflows help rally employees around complex projects and company-wide goals. Each sub-task can be outlined as a line item with a different owner and status. That way, everyone can see what is being worked on and how much of the larger project is complete.
monday.com is a visual tool that has a simple user interface. You can reconfigure the same dashboard into multiple different views, including Gantt, Kanban, docs, forms, and more. Plus, the platform integrates with hundreds of different tools on the market, making it easy to connect to your favorite software.
Pipefy
Pipefy is a business process automation platform that many companies use for project management, customer relationship management (CRM), human resources (HR), and finance. You can configure Pipefy with complete customization freedom and build a workflow that works for your business.
Set up your logic with specific triggers. For example, when a card enters a phase or a field is updated, you send an email, move a card, update a listing, or more. With Pipefy, you can eliminate spreadsheets, increase more comprehensive decision-making, and bring together project assets and request management for teams to see.
Kissflow
Kissflow is a no-code platform that can be reconfigured in a variety of ways to connect businesses, build processes, and boost productivity.
Kissflow’s process management function enables you to build software workflows that rely on conditional logic and automation. These nudge projects forward while handling many of the administrative tasks for teams.
To build a workflow, you can set up a customizable form, outline the path the content will take, grant access to key players, and set up automated reports to evaluate progress. The best part: these workflows are simple to set up, can scale easily, integrate with hundreds of platforms, and don’t require you to write any code at all.
Smartsheet
Smartsheet is an all-in-one platform that enables teams to “work better at scale.” With Smartsheet’s numerous templates, you can set up a variety of workflows that hold key resources, automate tasks, and more.
Smartsheet makes real-time work easy by bringing together the necessary tools for each department to tackle a complex project. Some of the processes you can automate in Smartsheet include sending alerts, requesting approvals, deadline reminders, and more.
Users can create “conditional paths” within their workflows which are triggered based on prior actions taken. Complex, multi-step approvals can also be implemented for larger projects that need additional sign-off. Employees can use the Smartsheet desktop or mobile app to respond to and approve steps in real time.
Automate your processes and boost productivity
Save time on recurring tasks by automating them with a software workflow.
Businesses that are looking to get ahead of the competition and accomplish more use software workflows in a variety of ways. Plus, you can save your employees time and refocus them on tasks that impact your business’s bottom line.
From scheduling meetings to setting up calendar links, the right software workflow can do wonders for your productivity.
With Motion, you can focus on the tasks that matter while your tasks and calendar are optimized for you.
Manage your tasks, automate administrative processes, and intelligently plan your day with Motion. Try it out now for free and increase your productivity today.
