Business Process Workflows use standard predefined processes to help ensure process and data consistency.
Organizations use business process flows to create a series of steps that must be followed to achieve a goal.
They are used to guide the end users on the right way to complete a task.
They help minimize data entry errors, the need for retraining and bottlenecks in the process.
How are business process flows created ?
Software applications are used to create business process flows by defining a series of steps which must be completed to fulfil a goal.
Each step has fields that can be populated with data, the mandatory fields would have to be filled by the user for them to move on to the next step in the process.
Can you create business process flows for all processes ?
Business process flows can only be created for software applications that support them.
They can also be used in conjunction with other software applications such as workflow applications to act as the workflow triggers and ensure process consistency.
An example a Business Process Workflow application is Microsoft’s Power Automate.
What are some Business Process Workflow examples
There are numerous examples of business process workflows and some of them include the following:
- Document Approval Workflow: A document approval process is a process that is triggered when an end user needs a document to be approved.
The process starts when the user creates the document and sends it for approval, the approver receives the document approver and would review the document.
Then they would make an approval decision which may be to approve, reject or amend the document.
If the document is approved or rejected then the process ends.
But if the document requires amendment, then the user would make the necessary changes and send it for approval again.
This process can be automated into a business process workflow by creating a standard document form with predefined fields which must be filled in order for the user to submit the form.
Once the fields in the form are filled then the form can be submitted.
Once the form is submitted, it is automatically sent to the approver who can review it and make a decision.
If the document is approved or rejected then the process ends.
But if the document requires amendment then the form would enabled and the user can make the necessary changes and resubmit it.
Once the form is resubmitted it is automatically sent to the approver for review.
Changing the manual document approval process into an automated business process workflow can help reduce data entry errors, and duplication of efforts.
2. New Employee Onboarding Process: the New Employee Onboarding Process is used by organizations to integrate new employees into the organization.
It involves creating the user’s profile in the organization’s Human Resource application and granting them the required application access rights.
The process starts when a new employee joins the organization.
They are given a personnel form to fill so that their accounts can be created in the organizational databases.
Once the new employee hands in the filled form, the Human Resource Personnel would have to manually input the information into the necessary databases to create the user’s profile.
Then the user’s login information would be sent to the user so that they can log in to the various applications to set up their passwords and update their profiles.
This New Employee Onboarding process can be automated by creating a form with multiple fields which should be filled by the user before the form can be submitted.
This can happen by sending the new employees a secure link to the business process workflow.
They would log in and fill in the form and submit it.
Once the form is submitted it automatically creates the user’s profile in the database and sends their login information to them.
This reduces data entry errors, duplication of effort and the time that it would take to onboard the employee.
3. Expense Claim Approval Process: the Expense Claim Approval process is used by users who need to submit claims for reimbursement.
The process starts with the user filling the claim form and attaching the expense receipt and sending it to their supervisor for approval.
The supervisor reviews the expense claim and would make an approval decision such as approved, rejected or amend.
If the expense claim is approved then it is sent to the accounting department for payment, if it is rejected then the process ends.
But if it needs to be amended, then it is sent back to the user to make the necessary changes.
Once the changes are made, the user would email the expense claims form back to their supervisor for approval.
This Expense Claim Approval process can be automated by creating a form with multiple fields which should be filled by the user before the form can be submitted.
Once the fields in the form are filled then the form can be submitted and automatically sent to the approver who can review it and make a decision.
If the expense claims form is approved, then it is automatically sent to the accounting department for payment.
If it is rejected then the process ends, but if the expense claims form requires amendment then the form would enabled and the user can make the necessary changes and resubmit it.
Once the form is resubmitted it is automatically sent to the approver for review.
Changing the manual expense claims form process into an automated business process workflow can help reduce data entry errors, bottlenecks and duplication of efforts.