Workflow Automation - Recipe for Success

by:  Michael Atherton

Setting the right expectations

Automation, in any field, is an alluring proposition. The idea that we can take a manual process and apply technology to it in a way that replaces people with machines, reduces costs, increases speed, reliability, and accuracy is irresistible. This temptation is a significant trap for organizations that intend to implement workflow automation software. Workflow technologies offer tremendous opportunities for improved effectiveness and efficiency, but their implementation requires careful preparation, both in examining the process to be automated and the culture it will invariably change.

One vendor of workflow automation software describes it this way:

" [it is the] automation of internal business operations, tasks, and transactions that simplify and streamline current business processes."

The end result of a successful implementation of workflow technology will accomplish these results but processes do not streamline and simplify themselves. A key element of a workflow automation implementation project is understanding each process, how it relates to other processes and its bearing on the organization's goals. Then creative and open thinking concerning the collection of tasks that make up a process presents an opportunity for finding ways in which these goals can be achieved faster, cheaper, with less complexity and better results.

What is workflow automation technology?

Before we go any further, let's define workflow automation technology. All endeavors are made up of small definable tasks. A group of tasks may be linked together to form a process (sometimes referred to as a workflow) and a collection of processes may be combined, some in parallel, other serially, to achieve the desired result. Workflow automation attempts to increase the speed, visibility, and coordination by which work gets done through the implementation of software that links together events, tasks, and resources.

Preparing a meal is a good representation of how tasks form processes, and multiple processes come together to achieve an objective. It adds the additional complexity of requiring resource coordination. The chefs and cooks, ingredients and kitchen equipment must all be coordinated to produce the desired result.

Consider a simple meal made up of a main course and two side dishes. Each of these represents a process that is made up of tasks such as defrost, cut, mix, cook, cool, and serve. Each task is made up of an:

• Event that initiates the task 
  • for example cutting begins when the timer dings indicating that defrosting is complete 
• Action 
  • defrost, cut, mix, cook, cool, and serve 
• Resource 
  • cook, chef, stove, ingredients, knives, workspace 
• Subsequent task 
  • after the cutting task is complete the sautéing task begins

A simplistic diagram might depict the overall process of preparing a meal like this:

or, as defined in an the workflow automation tool, a meal could be defined in BizWorks Workflow to be prepared like this:

Business processes are similar to what happens in any chef's kitchen, although in business it often seems that progress is made at a much slower pace.

Workflow automation software initiates every task with an event. Events may be manual, application driven, or kicked-off by a predecessor task or process. Manual events, such as traditional mail received from a customer, are physically started in the workflow automation software. Application events may be initiated through a trigger in a database such as a service request entered by a customer through a web site. Once a process is started, the completion of one task or entire process may automatically initiate the start of another task or process. For example, when the engineering department completes the review of a new product's bill of material, the result may be a task for manufacturing to review its operations routing.

What are the opportunities?

The benefits of implementing workflow automation software are significant. Work is prioritized because tasks are assigned priorities. With workflow automation, higher priority processes get done faster because users have visibility, through their task list, of each task's priority. When one user completes a high priority task, its subsequent task in the process becomes visible to the next user immediately. If the task is not completed within a designated amount of time, it may be escalated. User calendars ensure that tasks are not sent to users who are out of town or on vacation and workload balancing can spread the workload across multiple users who are capable of doing the same task.

Tasks may be linked across an organization and even between organizations. This gives rise to another benefit of workflow automation software: creating processes that span departments and even supply chains. As companies become increasingly dispersed geographically, the ability to seamlessly link processes that span an office or the globe is a competitive advantage.

Visibility is another advantage to implementing workflow automation software. At first glance the benefit here might appear to be that of knowing the status of a current process. But, managers soon learn that the visibility inherent in workflow automation software also helps them identify resource constraints, bottlenecks, and opportunities for improving overall process design. Of course with increased visibility also comes increased accountability - more on that later.

Jeff Adams, Vice President of Information Services at Redland Brick uses BizWorks Workflow from Computer Associates to ensure that multiple departments have visibility of processes that span more that one department. "Sales receives information from customers about a unique shape they want us to produce for them. With workflow, the moment that information is collected from the customer, our shapes department gets an alert and a task. Both departments love it because there are no surprises."

Managers often view workflow automation software as changing the way their end users work. What they find is that it changes the way everyone works. Managers become less involved in managing the day-to-day flow of a process and more involved in monitoring it. This frees them to work on improving how work is done, but also may come with added span of control. With workflow automation there is the potential for having fewer managers manage processes that span a wider portion of the business.

The best place to start … and keep going

Successfully implementing workflow automation also requires an understanding what the technology cannot do:

• It does not improve the inherent process by which work gets done 
• It does not eliminate tasks 
• It does not solve capacity constraints 
• It does not ensure an objective is achieved

The age old axiom "garbage in, garbage out" still applies. Bad management, bad policies and bad procedures merely result in bad workflow automation.

The best place to start a workflow automation project is with a blank piece of paper and an open mind. This sounds curiously like a Business Process Reengineering (BPR) project, and in many ways it is. Michael Hammer, who coined the term Business Process Reengineering, did so when he noticed companies using computers to automate outdated processes. The implementation of workflow automation software has the potential to break down functional and management barriers, but only if it is viewed in the context of a project for which the objective is to first remove work that does not create value.

The implementation of workflow automation software is just the beginning. Inherent in the visibility that the software provides is an opportunity to continually improve and integrate processes. The United States Coast Guard's Operations Systems Center has implemented workflow automation software from Remedy Corporation and 170 Systems. Michael Scott, Division Chief for the Infrastructure and System Technologies Division, says "the metrics and reporting available to us through our workflow automation solutions give us visibility we did not have before to identify bottlenecks and make process improvements." Tasks that constrain the throughput of an entire process are more easily identified enabling managers to change a process, task or reassign resources.

Corporate culture issues are also important to an implementation. End users may view workflow automation as another "Big Brother" application. The way in which end users receive and prioritize the work they do and the work itself will change. Getting employee involvement in the initial reengineering can help mitigate this reaction. Early exposure to the technology is also helpful in generating enthusiasm. Unlike some forms of physical automation, workflow automation software does not generally replace value added work that people do. Once end users embrace it as a tool that enables them to work more effectively together, adoption frequently comes quickly.

Resistance is not limited to end users. Processes frequently span departments and functions. Within an organization, the span of an automated process may generate turf wars between managers. These issues must be identified early in the reengineering process and organizational changes as a result of the effort must be considered.

The implementation of workflow automation technology initially should begin without regard for the underlying technology. Once begun, the implementation is continuous in nature.

The technology provides insights necessary to identify bottlenecks, resource constraints, and task sequence problems. Process, and sometimes organizational changes are made and the cycle starts again.

Jeff Adams, of Redland Brick, continues to look for new and creative ways to expand his implementation of workflow automation technology. "We are now investigating workflows that integrate processes that occur between Redland and our customers." A healthy dose of creativity is helpful in pushing the bounds of what is possible.

Conclusion

Workflow automation has the potential to radically improve the level of an organization's effectiveness and efficiency. The implementation of the underlying technologies that enable the linkage of events, tasks and resources that make up business processes is a small part of the overall effort. Changes that encompass reengineering techniques, continuous improvement techniques, cultural issues and management structures are part of any successful workflow automation implementation and must be embraced. Organizations that take this holistic approach to the project will be rewarded with business processes that achieve desired results quickly, are highly integrated, and produce information that enables management to identify problems early and make changes rapidly.

 

Questions?  Comments?  Please contact Mike Atherton at 703-486-8497