18 Workflow Examples for Smooth Operations

The excitement of returning to school is often short-lived as students quickly realize the daunting workload ahead. Suddenly, the prospect of writing essays and research papers no longer seems appealing. Students of all ages face similar challenges when tackling academic writing assignments, such as understanding their objectives, organizing their thoughts, and getting started. 

AI Workflow management examples can help students visualize how to approach their work to make the process easier. In this guide, we will explore the benefits of using AI to create efficient workflows for writing and researching.  We'll also look at workflows to illustrate how artificial intelligence can help students manage academic writing assignments.

Using an AI tool is one way to start creating a workflow for writing and researching. Otio's solution, AI research, and writing partner, can help students achieve their objectives so they can write and research efficiently using AI. 

Table Of Contents

• What is A Workflow?

• Importance of Workflows

• 9 Tips for Efficient Workflow

• 18 Workflow Examples Smooth Operations

• Supercharge Your Researching Ability With Otio — Try Otio for Free Today

What is A Workflow?

A workflow is a series of activities necessary to complete a task. Each step in a workflow has a specific step before it and a specific step after it, except for the first and last steps. In a linear workflow, an outside event usually initiates the first step. If the workflow has a loop structure, completing the previous step will usually restart the first step. Flow charts and process maps are used to visualize the steps involved in a workflow process and the order in which they should go. 

Flow charts use simple geometric symbols and arrows to define if-then relationships. Process maps look similar, but they can also include support information. That information documents the resources that each step in a business process requires. Workflow can be automated with software tools that use business rules to decide when one step has been completed and the next should begin. 

Some workflow management apps also coordinate dependent relationships between individual steps, a concept known as workflow orchestration. Workflow management software also provides templates for documentation and business process modeling, two crucial aspects of business process management (BPM).

Importance of Workflows

Get to Know Your Business Processes

Business workflows provide more significant insights into business processes. Obtaining a favorable outcome is the most crucial goal for any organization. By mapping the business workflows, one can understand how the data flows through the organizational system and impacts its decisions and work. It gives a clear, concise, and top-level view of the business.

Detect Redundancies for a Smoother Operation

Redundancy is a serious threat to business processes. A business deals with many unnecessary and redundant daily tasks, which can waste time and resources. Detecting and eliminating redundant tasks is a crucial step for any business organization, as it lets the employees focus on genuinely significant activities and create value for the business. After yielding insights about the processes during the workflow, one can analyze all the activities and eliminate the redundant and unnecessary ones.

Reduce Micromanagement for a Healthier Workplace

More often than not, micromanagement is considered a negative connotation that denotes a lack of freedom in the workplace. It leads to a toxic work environment, diminished performance, and increased employee turnover. When the workflow process is correctly mapped, managers will automatically invest less time micromanaging their employees. Reduced micromanaging will result in increased productivity and improved manager-employee relationships!

Establish Responsibilities to Encourage Employees

To achieve success, an organization must motivate and encourage its employees in all the best ways possible. The best way to do so is by giving them full responsibility for the task they are working on.

Enhance Accountability with Clear Workflows

Reduced micromanagement automatically increases accountability. With a laid-out and efficient workflow, the whole team can see what is happening and what must be done. Every employee knows about the tasks that are to be completed, what their responsibilities are, and what the deadline is for completing those specified tasks. Managers will also spend less time micromanaging their employees and more time on tasks with a higher significance.

Improve Communication for Seamless Operations

Poor communication at the workplace can be a deal-breaker. It is the most common problem in the workplace, but it is often not appropriately addressed. Goals can be easily misinterpreted due to a lack of communication that might affect productivity, quality of work, and morale of the employees. Communication is critical to ensure that all the employees are on the same page and all the tasks are completed within their specified deadlines.

Promote Knowledge Sharing for Better Outcomes

Transparency is the key to quality output. Sharing knowledge and information plays a crucial role in the successful working of an organization. Finding workflow automation software with features that will help business users collaborate efficiently is essential. Holding information by employees with higher positions is a common practice, which can jeopardize the execution of strategies and the smooth running of the organization. In Workflow Automation Software, the information should be adequately collated and shared with those who require it.

Enhance Product and Service Quality

An ideal situation for an organization is when the product is working perfectly, and the customers are content with the product. It is crucial for the business that its products and services keep on improving after every workflow process. Improvement requires consistency, and the organization can achieve great heights through consistency.

Break Down Barriers to Increase Efficiency

In an organization where traditional approaches are being followed, there are higher chances that one department might not share or hide some data and information with other departments, hindering the organization’s smooth running. To achieve customer satisfaction, one must have all the information present, which is possible only when departments cooperate and work together in harmony. Therefore, information should be meticulously documented and shared on a common platform for everyone's consumption.

Quantify Performance for Continuous Improvement

Monitoring and measuring performances at regular intervals is essential, as it helps detect faults and correct them on time. Measuring performances can give exact information about the correctness of the process. It also points out the flaws that need to be improved. Some workflow tools, such as business process management (bpm), can also record and monitor a company’s performance and results.

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9 Tips for Efficient Workflow

1. Utilize the Power of Otio

Otio is an AI-powered workspace\ explicitly designed for researchers, students, and knowledge workers overwhelmed by the sheer volume of online information. Otio simplifies the research process by streamlining workflow with intelligent features that help users manage all types of content.  For example, with Otio, you can collect data from various sources, extract key takeaways with AI-generated notes, and create written outputs faster than ever.  

Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner—try Otio for free today!

2. Empower Citizen Developers

Business users outside of IT are often best equipped to identify and solve workflow problems. Empowering these individuals to automate processes through citizen development can improve organizational efficiency and enable IT teams to focus on more complex tasks. 

3. Use No Code Platforms 

No code is the only way to instill digitalization in an organization's DNA. According to Forrester, organizations that empower their non-technical staff to automate processes improve employee productivity by reducing repetitive tasks and manual errors and allowing them to focus on high-value work. A ‘no code’ approach is the most direct way to improve workflow efficiency. Since process owners and business units can innovate with minimal (or no) support from IT or outside programming, it’s a powerful tool for scaling process improvements. 

4. Invest in Workflow Efficiency 

If you are looking for a tool to drive your process improvement strategy, you'll need to find one to demonstrate a return on investment. Putting data at the heart of your strategy will showcase the impact of process improvement on people, resources, and tasks. This, in turn, will highlight productivity improvements, workflow improvements, and task visibility to make data-driven decisions.

5. Start Small and Scale 

We recommend focusing on a limited number of workflows, building for scale, and automating that sample process across the organization. Using this approach can mean the difference between incremental and exponential ROI. Selecting a simple process will also embed learning across the process improvement team, which can power the strategy to scale in the future.

6. Become Data-Centric 

Your organization must become data-centric and start standardizing workflow data collection, analysis, and reporting approaches. If you don’t follow this approach, it becomes impossible to improve workflow efficiency. Automation. Without the visibility informed by rich data, it t will also become difficult to measure the ROI from your tech investment. Fast and easy access to data will help users measure workflow efficiency and effectiveness. Dashboards can highlight errors, gains, and ROI in real-time, helping simplify the technology's business case. It is also a fast and straightforward way to measure workflow efficiency across tasks.

7. Perform Situational Analysis of Existing Workflows 

Before beginning a process improvement plan, you must conduct a situational analysis of the organization's workflow efficiency. Start by mapping your current processes. Identify opportunities to optimize current processes. Map the future state. List how to get there. Begin optimizing your workflows.

8. Focus on Continuous Improvement 

Efficient workflows are the cornerstone of a successful process automation strategy. Taking the Kaisan approach to constant improvement - making minor workflow improvements that will positively impact the holistic strategy. Data is central to the continuous improvement plan, as each workflow stage needs to be analyzed for improvements. Get employee feedback to gauge the success of your process automation strategy. This will be key to determining the success of your workflow automation initiative.

9. Pick the Right Workflows to Automate 

Start with a workflow that is simple to automate and then scale. Workflow is identified as a pain point. Identify task owners to guide the steps in the workflow and get employee feedback. ROI from automating workflow can be demonstrated. Backing from the business area for the project is needed. 

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18 Workflow Examples Smooth Operations

1. Recruitment Workflow: Smooth Transitions for New Hires  

When you find the perfect candidate, you want them on the team quickly. A streamlined recruitment process is essential for making this transition smooth and organized. It also shows the candidate that your company has its sht together and that your interest in them is genuine. 

Plus, a smooth workflow is the secret to ensuring that the right prospects find your opportunities and that no candidate falls through the cracks. By automating the busywork behind the recruitment process, a candidate’s skills, values, and likelihood of success.  

2. Sales Order Workflow: Speed Up Your Sales Orders  

Sales orders play a significant role in every business, regardless of industry. It is a waste of time and productivity if you are still stuck to manual sales order generation processes like email, excel sheets, and forms. Automated sales order processing workflows can eliminate a lot of paperwork, leading to faster processing. Here is a sales order processing sample workflow: 

The salesperson generates an order. The manager approves/declines it. The VP must also approve if you offer a discount of 25% or more. The client should sign it. A billing invoice is sent to the client. The client processes the payment. Deliver the product(s.). Documents are filed for record-keeping. 

Workflow action

The manager and VP are informed about the ongoing sales. 

Roles

Typically, the workflow should include the respective salesperson, VP, and manager. 

Pro Tips

Link different processes together to convert your sales request into a sales order without adding information twice. Store the buyer information safely for the automated referral.  

3. Employee Onboarding Workflow: Create a Smooth Experience for New Hires  

Attracting top-tier talent to your company requires careful thought and effort, but landing the perfect candidate is only half the battle. The onboarding process is a new hire’s first experience as an employee and will set the tone for how they expect a company to treat them going forward. More than a day of solitude to read the handbook or sign a stack of papers, the employee onboarding process is a critical first impression. 

Think of it as an opportunity to flex your company’s passion and ability to Help employees grow, Promote healthy physical and mental well-being, Offer support, Facilitate a smooth transition to a new team, Engage in conversations on essential topics, And so much more! Onboarding should be as informative, engaging, and efficient as possible, which requires a well-planned workflow analysis to start every new employee off on the right foot.  

4. Travel Request Authorization Workflow: Avoid Costly Errors  

In the ongoing hybrid workforce, organizations often need to authorize travel requests. Manually getting it done can lead to costly mistakes. Employees can overestimate their travel budget and file for reimbursement above their cap. You can automate the travel request process through a workflow where you can upload receipts, and employees can track their ongoing travel expenses using their cameras. Here is a travel request authorization sample workflow: 

The employee must complete a travel request form with the purpose and date. The Head of the department must approve. Employees travel for their respective purposes and keep a record of their expenditures. Employee reconciles actual expenses with approved budget. If actual costs exceed the budget, the Department Head must approve again. The finance must reimburse the employee.  

5. Customer Onboarding Workflow: Help Your Customers Transition to Their New Purchase

The customer onboarding process is just as crucial as your employee processes. A choppy customer onboarding workflow may be the thing that stands in the way of your customers fully diving into your product, especially if it requires additional learning tools to integrate it among their team fully. Here’s how Belén Papa, Digital marketing analyst at Flokzu, uses workflow automation to optimize her customer onboarding workflow. You can automate reminders, emails, and reports depending on your workflow. 

When you register a new customer, you can enter their information in your system, such as country, language, company, etc. With Flokzu, we also turn that information into valuable metrics and statistics. The workflow starts when you register the new customer. You can set up an automatic personalized email where you welcome and invite them to their first meeting with a Customer Success Manager. During that first meeting, you establish joint goals and plans to show the customer how to get the most out of the service. 

From then on, the CSM becomes a partner in the customers’ success and assigns the client to an Executive to continue the process. With Flokzu, the Executive can set automatic reminders with due dates to follow up and ensure that every goal is achieved. Once the onboarding process ends and the client is stable, you can notify the CEO and COO automatically.  

6. Email Campaign Workflow: Make Email Marketing Easier  

Email campaigns are challenging. However, a well-executed email campaign can bring your business much new attention and revenue. Plus, it’s a great and more personalized way of engaging with subscribers or customers you want to pull further down the funnel. So, if you haven’t already gotten on the email workflow train, it’s time to climb aboard. Beyond the customer relationship management side of email marketing, your email campaign workflow should help you save time, manage customers across multiple channels, and be tailored to each campaign goal. Let’s say a new user just subscribed to your blog. A welcome email campaign workflow will help you connect with that new subscriber, take your relationship further, and lead them to content on your blog that they’re likely to love. Here’s an example of what that workflow might look like: 

A new subscriber joins your email list. A pre-written welcome email will be sent to that subscriber. After two days, check to see if any links in your welcome email were clicked. Send another email with content personalized to their interests based on the links they clicked.  

7. Content Creation Workflow: Organize Your Team for Success  

Creating engaging content requires multiple stakeholders and clear communication. This workflow ensures that every piece of content goes through ideation, creation, editing, and publishing without bottlenecks. It helps teams deliver high-quality content on time.  

8. Vacation Requests Workflow: Get Organized to Approve Time-Off Requests  

With time-off or vacation requests, the goal of the process is to approve planned, scheduled days off. Without a workflow system, employees typically send requests through email, and the respective boss/coordinator/approver maintains a log through spreadsheets. Here’s a vacation request sample workflow: 

Form Data to Collect

• Employee details (ID, department) 

• Requested start and end dates 

• Calculated total leave 

• Type of leave Leave balance 

Workflow Actions

A user-made decision on whether the leave is approved 

Roles

Direct manager HR processing 

Pro Tips

Add a section on the field to choose who will cover tasks for this person while they are gone. Link your form to a dataset to pull updated leave balances. Use an automated form to make sure days are counted accurately  

9. Content Marketing Workflow: Optimize Your Process to Drive Traffic  

A workflow that I hold near and dear to my own heart. Producing high-quality content is crucial for establishing your brand as a leader in your industry. It draws in new potential customers, establishes trust with existing customers, and provides another opportunity to promote your product and services.  

10. Document Approvals Workflow: Speed Up Standard Business Operations  

Sample workflow of Document approvals is a common, everyday task in businesses across industry verticals, but they tend to slow operations down. An email request system is only going to make things slower, so what you need is a workflow like this one: 

Form data to Collect

• Initiator details Type of document 

• Key information Document 

Workflow actions 

Leaders should be able to review, approve, or reject an item. They should also be able to ask contextual questions quickly. Rejection can trigger an ‘update document’ task allocated to the initiator, who will submit a new draft for approval. 

Roles

The number of workflow steps depends on the complexity of the document, but you usually need at least two people to look at it. 

Pro Tips

Audit logs are key for documents to ensure that everyone is working on the same one. Make sure to adjust the read-only and editable fields so that no one can change information after approval. Storing documents in Google Drive also allows you to see document changes.  

11. Design Approval Workflow: Keep Your Brand on Track  

Ensuring every design, copy, marketing, and product choice rings true to your brand is a full-time, all-encompassing job. Like any HR request or lunchroom snack suggestion, all designs must adhere to a fixed approval process before getting the green light. That design process may look something like this: 

A design request is made with a general idea and possible mockup for the planned design. The design concept or mockup is approved. The designer receives the request and creates an image or graphic based on the approved concept. The manager reviews the design and either approves it or sends it back with specific notes for slight edits.

12. Purchase Orders Workflow: Automate the Processing of Incoming Orders  

This business process example is a little more complex than the previous ones, as it’ll need to include triggers from incoming customer emails containing POs. This process involves two goals: providing the service/product requested in the PO and generating the respective invoice. 

Form Data to Collect

• Copy of the PO Buyer details Any PR numbers Delivery instructions 

Workflow Actions 

• Approve the PO Communicate with the buyer Roles

• Procurement leads Supply chain manager Finance team 

Pro Tips

Link different processes together, dovetailing your purchase request into a purchase order without needing to add information twice. Keep buyer information in a stored location for automated referrals.  

13. Procurement Workflow: Streamline Purchasing Operations  

Managing procurement involves coordinating with vendors, tracking purchase orders, and ensuring timely delivery. This workflow keeps every step of the procurement process organized and efficient, reducing delays and errors.  

14. Sales Order Workflow: Manage Your Sales Orders Smoothly  

Sales orders include quotes, invoices, estimates, returns, and product information. That’s a lot to manage. No matter the size of your business or the industry, having a digital workflow to keep track of all sales orders is a must. This keeps you organized, reduces clutter, and helps you accurately track your profitability. It also does it faster. 

Opting out of a digital sales order process can lead to significant delays while waiting on signatures or document approvals as you manually route tasks, and going through an automated workflow can be just as turbulent. Digital forms and e-signatures completed in workflow management software can trigger new tasks or notifications when completed, helping teams process orders faster and from virtually anywhere.  

15. New Contact Addition Workflow: Speed Up Your CRM Processes  

Adding new contacts to the database is crucial for building and maintaining strong customer relationships. This workflow ensures all relevant information is captured, organized, and ready for follow-ups.  

16. Feature Development Workflow: Coordinate Team Efforts to Build New Software Features  

Building new features requires coordination across multiple teams, including design, development, and QA. This workflow ensures that features are developed, tested, and deployed smoothly while meeting deadlines.  

17. Incident Management Workflow: Resolve IT Issues Quickly  

Quickly resolving IT incidents is critical to keeping the business running smoothly. This workflow ensures that issues like system outages or technical glitches are resolved efficiently and without affecting productivity.  

18. Software Deployment Workflow: Organize Your Process for Safety  

Deploying new software or updates requires careful planning and execution to avoid downtime or disruptions. This workflow ensures that all necessary steps are followed to efficiently test, approve, and deploy software while minimizing risks.  

Supercharge Your Researching Ability With Otio — Try Otio for Free Today

Knowledge workers, researchers, and students today suffer from content overload. Sure, the Internet has made it easy to find information. However, the ease of finding information has created an avalanche of sources, and sifting through it all to find what you need for a specific project is no small feat. To make matters worse, the tools available for managing the chaos of content overload are fragmented, complex, and manual. 

Many knowledge workers settle for stitching together complicated bookmarking, read-it-later, and note-taking apps to get through their workflows. Now that anyone can create content with a button, this problem will only worsen.  Otio solves this problem by providing researchers with one AI-native workspace. It helps them go from the reading list to the first draft faster. 

Along with this, Otio also helps you write research papers/essays faster.  Here are our top features that researchers love: AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI-assisted writing. 

Collect:  A Smarter Way to Gather Research 

Otio helps researchers collect various data sources, from bookmarks, tweets, and extensive books to YouTube videos. You can gather all your research materials in one place, so you don’t have to forget where you saved an article or which app you stored your notes in. 

Extract:  Key Takeaways Made Easy

Once you’ve collected your research materials, Otio helps you extract the key takeaways. You’ll no longer have to manually sift through piles of research to find what is most relevant to your project. Instead, you’ll get detailed AI-generated notes and source-grounded Q&A chat to help you make sense of your findings. 

Create:  Write Drafts Faster with AI Assistance

When you’re ready to start writing, Otio helps you create draft outputs using the sources you’ve collected. The AI tools assist with writing to help you cut down on time and produce better first drafts. 

Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner—try Otio for free today!

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