How to choose the best Workflow Management Software for your business?

Workflow management software helps in driving optimized performance across multiple departments/ divisions in a business setup.

Whether big or small, every business entity should ideally have the right workflow management software to ensure top performance. However, it is easier said than done. Choosing the right and the most effective workflow management software can be overwhelming because there are too many options available. High costs and difficulty in use are two factors that could intimidate you from proceeding ahead. Here are few tips for choosing the right workflow management software for your business.

Workflow management software is a pre-requisite today in most organizations. It helps eliminate bottlenecks and helps in improving process efficiency.

What is a workflow management software system?

Workflow Management Software or WMS is an asset because it helps make your business processes faster, efficient, and effective. The software helps streamline processes. Most businesses chose WMS because workflow automation empowers their business to remove redundancies, gaps, loopholes in processes and help in improving reporting while reducing costs

The best workflow management system has some of these features:

• An automated tool helps the business assign particular and specific jobs to employees, teams, and departments.
• The tasks are assigned with a deadline for completion, which means that no task is missed out and employees need to finish the process hence, no shortcuts work here.
• Workflow management software helps in removing loopholes and errors in the existing processes.
• The best workflow management system will have a usable dashboard that is smart and user-friendly. It helps the end-user go through the entire job seamlessly.
• Real-time reporting is a big aspect of the best workflow management system. It helps team leads and managers stay updated at all times.

Features to consider when choosing the right workflow management software for your business

• Choose a software system that is easy to setup

There was a time when software installation would typically take months to complete. It would require rigorous training and demanded technical know-how in the people responsible for using the software, day in and day out. The time-consuming setup means that the costs would be accordingly high with the vendor’s engineering team present for months onsite. If the workflow management software system you are currently using involves such an arduous setup process, the right thing to do is cease it. The basic thumb rule is that software systems should be easy to set up and quick to adapt to the changes. A cloud-based WMS is a good option to consider because:

• They are easy to set up and these systems can be accessed 24-hours a day, from any location.
• They are known for being affordably priced as compared to onsite enterprise systems that are good for bigger organizations but not recommended for SMEs and start-ups. SaaS companies usually have pricing plans where clients are charged based on the number of users, which work out to be quite reasonable for businesses of all scales.

• Intelligent and intuitive WMS

If your WMS provider tells you about the complicated coding level required, it is an   indication to show him the door. Modern-day workflow management software that uses the latest technology and tools are generally intuitive and intelligent. These do not require any form of coding at the front-end.

Remember that the entire automation process is going to be a big change for your employees. Some would readily accept the change, and some would resist it. Managing the resistance to change could become overtly difficult if you chose a software system that needs to be coded, tested, and so on. Going in for such software systems means wastage of time, money, resources, and also a tedious schedule of back-to-back training of your staff.

Use a software system with superior user-friendly features, like drag and drop simple-to-use reporting and analytical tools. Choose a no-code software that anyone can use, and the workflow or processes can be created or edited by just about anyone.

• Ensure that the software can be integrated easily with other apps/ tools

Be sure to choose a software system that can be integrated with your tools. There are three different types of integrations possible:

• Workflow management software that come with options to easily integrate with IaaS (Integration as a service) providers.
• Others have built-in tools that are already integrated with the major apps/ tools, for example, MS Outlook, Evernote, etc.
• The third kind of workflow management software have Representational State Transfer (REST) architecture-based Application Programming Interface (API), where the API can be used to connect and integrate with other tools/ apps.

In the case of the third option, coding is required that can prove to be time-consuming. Its, therefore, ideal to go in for the first or second option.

• Customization

It is an important feature that many businesses ignore or forget initially and later regret. Remember that each business is unique and different; therefore, each business’s requirement would differ. Instead of going in for off-the-shelf software solutions, it is important to consider customizable features so that you have an optimized software system in hand.

• Scalability

It is important to consider this feature, especially if your business s a startup or a SME. Your business growth plan is a part of your strategy, but if you have workflow management software that is not as futuristic as your strategies are, you will need to reconsider your decision. As your business takes the lead or gets ready to grow and expand, you need an optimized workflow management system that accommodates growth and development as well.

CONCLUSION

The presence of the right workflow management system is a big boon for the business. It is, therefore, important to assess all factors and features thoroughly before making a choice. It will not be a straightforward task – but, if you follow our tips and techniques mentioned here, you can sure have the best system selected and fitted into your business processes.