Understanding SMB Workflows
Workflow management. Boosted productivity across multiple locations. Businesses losing over $1 trillion in process gaps and lapses in workplace productivity.
If you’re a part of a small or medium-sized business, buzzwords like workflow management and BPM may not mean much to you. You need more efficiency as much as anyone, but exactly how relevant are these tools to small and medium businesses?
Extremely. Let’s break it down.
What Workflows Are
(Hint: They’re Everywhere!)
A workflow is a series of tasks through which a particular set of data goes from idea to execution.
You have workflows all around you. Anytime data is passed from one person to another in a systematic way, it’s a workflow.
Common workflows are applying for paid-time off, making a purchase request, or filling out a sales order. Each one has a predictable set of tasks that must be completed to consider the workflow done.
This isn’t just about enterprise-level processes. Workflows are relevant everywhere.
Some Common Workflows in the SMB Space
Workflows are a great way to ensure efficiency in predictable, everyday business processes. Here are a few processes you probably handle every day at your organization.
1. Managing Time Off
Leave management with a workforce of around 50 or over is bound to be tricky. Multiple bosses need to sign off on the request approval. HR needs to be consulted regarding the employee’s attendance records, and payroll is also affected.
When handled over email and spreadsheets, this leads to a convoluted mess of lost messages and updating nightmares!
Using a structured workflow tool like Kissflow’s workflow platform can help you track and validate these variables and deal with requests automatically.
You’ll reduce the time spent on time-off management, have fewer errors, more transparency, and the whole operation will cost less too.
2. Handling Purchase Orders
Take the case of SAPIN, a can-manufacturing operation in the Middle East. This company started getting overwhelmed when their workforce size reached 200+.
With so many team members on the road on sales calls and meetings, keeping track of purchase orders was a huge ordeal.
Several POs at different stages, stuck in various department members’ desks is no way to run an efficient business.
SAPIN turned to Kissflow’s platform to take advantage of powerful workflows, and created a simple app for purchase order workflow automation. The result? They shortened the order processing time by a whopping 75%!
Keeping Ahead of Employee Onboarding
Workflows for the Common Man
Looking at these examples, you can start seeing all the workflows at your workplace. Each organization is unique, and an off-the-shelf solution to a single workflow may not give you the solution you need.
Instead, you can use a workflow automation software tool like KiSSFLOW. It’s a workflow platform, which means you can create, customize, and connect automated workflows for any department. Try it today to see how easy it is to create your first one!
