What is a Workflow?

So what IS a workflow, really?

Hint: it’s not a corporate buzzword, even though it’s thrown around all over the place and no one seems to know what it means.

A workflow, at its core, is how you get work done by completing a sequence of tasks.

Sounds confusing? Well, in this article, we’re going to explain everything you need to know about workflows in simple terms!

Read on to learn:

What is a workflow, both in a business and personal environment
3 essential reasons to document your workflows
How (and why) you can create workflows
6 common workflow examples for businesses of all sizes

What is a workflow?

A workflow is a sequence of tasks you go through to accomplish a certain repeatable goal.

The keyword here is “repeatable.”

It has to be something you do on a regular basis.

A workflow is NOT:

A one-off task. A workflow is a series of tasks, not just one or two.
A project. A long-term collaboration between employees or departments in order to meet a certain goal.

For example, in a non-work environment, a workflow can be how you prepare dinner:

1. Go to the grocery store
2. Buy meat, vegetables, and spices
3. Go back home
4. Cook a tasty meal
5. Enjoy

In most cases, though, when people refer to the word “workflow,” they mean it in a business setting.

For an organization, a workflow is a set of steps that your employees have to go through in order to complete a specific, repeatable business goal.

So, for example, let’s say you’re onboarding a new employee. The workflow could look something like this…

1. HR manager prepares all the paperwork
2. HR manager inputs employee records to HR software
3. HR manager prepares workstation
4. IT specialist gives access to relevant software and systems
5. HR manager prepares a welcome package

Now, generally, when people refer to a “workflow,” they either mean a workflow diagram, =or a digital workflow created through workflow management software…

“So, what’s the point of workflow diagrams?” you might be wondering.

“Why should I spend valuable time documenting all of my processes and creating workflows diagrams?”

Well, there are 3 main reasons workflow documentation is essential for most organizations…

How to create your workflows

If you want to get the most out of your workflows, you should use workflow management software.

And no – it’s a lot easier than you might think.

Around 10 years back, you’d have to invest 6-figures into a high-powered BPM software to manage your workflows.

Today? All you need is a SaaS like Vendr.

Want to get started? Here are the EXACT steps you need to take in order to document your workflow.

First, request a Vendr SaaS Management demo, and start an account.

Then, go to Gallery, and pick from our extensive library of workflow templates:

Now, all you have to do is pick the workflow you want to document, load it up, and customize it for your business.

Finally, if you want to create a workflow that we DON’T have a template for, you can create a workflow from scratch by clicking “new.”

Once you have your workflows up and running, all you have to do is invite all of your employees on-board the software, and start using it on a regular basis.

6. Practical workflow examples

There are a TON of workflow examples in just about every niche or industry.

Whether you’re a corporation with dozens of processes, or a small-time content marketing agency, you’re bound to have a ton of workflows.

Here are some of the most common workflow examples for all sorts of companies…

Employee onboarding workflow

Employee onboarding is a process that just about every single organization has.

Most companies, though, don’t have a structured workflow diagram that helps guide the new hire through the process.

They tend to look at onboarding as an ad hoc process – the HR, more or less, knows what they need to do, and they get it done.

So, why fix something that’s not broken?

Well, it’s simple. Just by having a structured employee onboarding workflow, you can improve new hire retention by 82%, and new hire productivity by 70%.

Pretty convincing, right?

Now, here’s our workflow example for employee onboarding…

Day #0 – Before the new hire walks into the office

Prepare all relevant paperwork
Input employee data to HR software
Prepare workstation
Create all relevant accounts
Give access to all relevant software
Create a welcome package with onboarding documents
Approve all employee paperwork
Establish goals & KPIs with employee supervisor

Day #1

Tour of the office
Introduce to relevant coworkers
Assign training materials and readings
Take out on company lunch
Assign initial tasks

First Week

Explain KPIs, goals, and expectations
Assign first real tasks
Explain how to execute common workflows

First Month

Schedule check-in meetings
Ensure that they have a full to-do schedule
Explain long-term goals and KPIs
Invite to company events

Employee offboarding Workflow

Employee offboarding is just as important as onboarding.

A structured offboarding workflow can lead to…

Better relations with your ex-employees (and hence, better employer branding)
Protecting your company from potential security breaches
Ability to maintain knowledge within the company

And here’s a workflow example to help you do it right:

Request a letter of resignation
Inform the HR department
Terminate all employee accounts
G Suite
Project management software
Chat software
Workflow management software
Any other relevant applications
Get all company property back
Laptop
Office keys
Company credit card
Cell phone
Any other relevant items
Transfer all employee tasks & to-dos to someone else
Ensure that all of the employee’s workflows are documented (so as not to lose company knowledge)
Issue final paycheck
Conduct an exit interview

Client onboarding workflow

Another common workflow example is client onboarding.

The first 90 days you work with your new client determine whether they’re going to stick with you for a while, or get dissatisfied with your services and eventually leave.

So, having a structured client onboarding workflow can really do wonders.

Here’s an example client onboarding workflow you can steal:

The client reaches out by submitting the contact form
The client’s information is automatically stored into the CRM
The sales rep reaches out and schedules a call with the client
If the client is qualified, send a proposal to the client
If the client accepts, schedule a kickoff meeting and clarify deliverables for the first month
Get access to all relevant client software or accounts
Check-in with the client on a weekly basis and ensure that all of their needs are being met

Approval workflows

Approval processes are usually relatively simple. For example, let’s take vacation approvals:

Employee submits vacation approval form
The HR manager approves (or disapproves)
The team lead approves (or disapproves)
The HR manager inputs in the company HR software that the employee is on leave.
Everyone that needs to know gets notified
Team calendar gets updated

Despite the simplicity of the workflow, though, approval workflows are something that are almost always better executed through workflow management software.

For large organizations, you always have a ton of approval processes going on concurrently, all of which are done through email.

This, as you can guess, leads to a ton of issues:

Emails end up getting lost
Approval processes end up being completed late
Your organization, as a whole, loses agility

Using workflow software, you can automate the execution of all your approval workflows through a single solution.

All you have to do is log in to Vendr, go to the workflow gallery…

And pick whichever approval workflows you want to automate.

Then, you simply have to customize the workflows for your business, invite the relevant employees, and you’re good to go.

Content Marketing Workflow

Content marketing is a very standardized process.

In simple terms, you create an article, publish it, and promote the hell out of it.

In practice, though, there’s a LOT more to it than just that.

A good content marketing workflow includes the following steps…

SEO manager finds a keyword to target
SEO manager creates an outline file for the writer
Writer creates an article based on the outline
Editor polishes the article to perfection
Designer creates and includes relevant images for the article
Writer uploads the article on WordPress and makes sure that it’s SEO-optimized
SEO manager publishes the blog post and shares it across social media
Link-building specialist reaches out to prospects and tries to get links for the article

This process too, can easily be automated using workflow management software.

Customer Support Workflow

Our final workflow example is customer support.

As with the other processes we’ve discussed so far, customer support is something that’s very standardized…

Customer submits a support ticket
Is it a support ticket, or feature ticket?
If feature ticket, forward to product team.
Notify the customer that the ticket is received
Is the ticket something the support team can solve?
If no, assign to someone from product team who can
If yes, assign task to relevant support specialist
Once the problem is solved, notify the customer

Conclusion

And that’s a wrap!

Hopefully, you understand a lot more about workflows now, than when you started reading this article.

Now to make sure you takeaway the key information, let’s recap everything we’ve covered in this post:

A workflow is a series of sequential tasks that one needs to complete in order to meet some goal
Most organizations can really benefit from documenting their workflows through a diagram or workflow management software
There are a ton of workflow examples for every industry or niche, including employee on/offboarding, approvals, and more
Finally, if you want to get the best results out of your workflows, you should use workflow management software to automate your processes

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