Preparing for process automation

This guide helps you with the steps needed to convert a manual process flow into an automated workflow. For a deep dive into the business process management (BPM) discipline, refer to our BPM guide.

Preparation before automation

Start with the end goals in mind. Recognize that your initial workflow goals will never be perfect and that a healthy workflow will be fluid. Challenge every workflow over time as the organization matures.

Key things to consider

• The goals of this workflow are __.
• The departments, groups, or people this workflow will interact with are __.
• The department/person considered the “owner” of this workflow is __.
• The data/reporting needed from this workflow includes __. (For example, department, purchase category)

Document your process

Regardless of the size of your organization or the complexity of your process, it’s important to document your process before you build it in Nutrient Workflow Automation. In most cases, even if you documented the process in the past, at the time of your Nutrient Workflow Automation implementation, there are bound to be subtle variations and/or changes to roles and responsibilities that may not have existed when you originally initiated the process.

If you’re moving from a manual to an automated process, it’s important to identify every task that’s completed within a given process. Although the workflow built into Nutrient Workflow Automation may not represent a given task, it’s still part of the process in some fashion. All responsible parties will need to understand what’s required of them when they receive a task to complete in Nutrient Workflow Automation.

Documenting the process doesn’t require the use of special tools or costly software (any word processor or spreadsheet will do).

For more information, refer to the how to document a process blog.

Workflow creation at a high level

1. Sketch out what you believe the process currently looks like
2. Include any people/positions that have a place in the workflow
3. Include touchpoints/forms/data entry places

The following example is a bulleted list of the steps a company needs to put into place for an approval process when employees make purchases.

Example: A purchase order request

• An employee will start the Purchase Order Request and go to the first task, which is the P.O. Request Form. The requester will enter information about the item(s) that need to be purchased, such as the type, quantity, and cost.
• Once the P.O. Request Form is complete, the requester’s manager receives the task, Manager’s Approval. In this task, the manager will choose whether to approve the request, deny the request, or ask the requester to revise the form.
• If the manager denies the request, the manager goes to the task, Manager Deny Comments, to explain why they denied the request.
• Alternatively, the manager may request more information from the requester, and in that case, the manager goes to the task, Needs Revision Comments, where the manager describes the additional information needed. The requester then receives the original form to update.
• If the manager instead approves the request and the order is for less than $10,000, the flow proceeds to the Approval Notification task, which sends an email to the requester notifying them that the request was approved. After the system sends the email, the purchasing department receives the Purchasing Dept. Form task, where they enter the information about the order that was placed.
• If the manager approves the request and the order is greater than $10,000, the CFO receives the CFO Approval task, and they can either approve or deny the request.
• If the CFO approves the request, the Approval Notification task sends an email notifying the requester that the order was approved.
• Once the Approval Notification task completes, the purchasing department receives the Purchasing Department task, and it completes a form indicating the order and shipping information.
• After the purchasing department completes the Purchasing Department form, the system starts the Order Placed Notification task, which sends an email to the requester informing them that the order has been placed.
• The workflow will end if either the manager or the CFO rejects the request, or when the system sends out the Order Placed Notification.

Once you document the steps, it’s very helpful to have a visual representation of the process flow. If you have Microsoft Visio, using it will be the most direct way to create a workflow chart. If you don’t own a copy of Visio, Microsoft Word’s AutoShapes will let you draw shapes and arrows. There are also many freely downloadable programs to create drawings, such as Dia(opens in a new tab) or UML Pad(opens in a new tab).

Now that you’ve defined your process and you know what tasks are required within your workflow, record, at a minimum, the following additional attributes for each task:

• Task name
• Task type/purpose
• Recipient(s) — The group or individual(s) responsible for completing the task.
• Start rules — The conditions indicating when the system assigns the task/when it’s applicable.

You can create a chart, similar to the following, to have on hand while you’re building your process:

Other items you might want to consider for each task:

• Verbiage/text for email notifications for each task requiring user interaction, including any data values contained in them that you retrieve from the workflow rules or conditions that might drive a subsequent task (if/then). Will the system repeat the task if the next step dictates it? (for instance, a rejection or rework needed)

Now that you have a well-defined process, it’s time to socialize it.

Socializing the documented process

Call a meeting (virtual or in person) for all individuals listed in your sketch.

1. Display what you have sketched out to the team.
2. Go over the process in detail from what you know.
   • Ask for clarification on steps, forms, and people/positions if what you have sketched is either incorrect or missing information.
   • Acknowledge that each group or individual is the subject matter expert (SME) of the task(s) they’ll receive within the workflow.
3. Document all the changes with information learned and distribute to team members.

Repeat the above, including new team members, if needed, that weren’t included in the original workflow as known to you.

Documents and details gathering

Meet individually with each person in the workflow to understand their part in the workflow.

1. Get a copy of the form(s) or screenshots of any data entry that each person completes for each step.
2. Take note of any potential overlaps, bottlenecks, or dual data entry points that you notice.

Workflow finalization and implementation

1. Create the workflow within Nutrient Workflow Automation.
2. Call a meeting with the entire team to go over the workflow at a high level.
3. Individually or in group sessions, conduct training for each step.
4. Go live with the workflow.