What is workflow automation, and what are the benefits?

Streamline operations with software that automates manual tasks.

Workflow automation lets software take care of manual tasks, like data entry, instead of people. This process frees up employees, bosses, and even customers to spend more time on what’s important, such as:

Building relationships
Problem-solving
Critical analysis

Is your business ready to explore workflow automation? Check out the following guidelines to get started.

Save time with automation.

Most businesses that implement workflow automation love it for two reasons: First, it saves time; second, it saves money. Let’s cover the first benefit here.

Think about your day-to-day tasks: There’s probably a lot of repetition. For example, maybe you have to:

Send numerous emails
Perform a high volume of data entry
Manage many recurring notifications and alerts

And if you don’t have to handle these tasks, your employees probably do. Luckily, workflow automation eliminates these extra tasks for you and/or your team — this time-savings makes room for more important work that needs direct human attention.

Save money when you streamline.

You’re probably familiar with the old saying “time is money.” It remains true today: Human employees are an expensive component of your business. Salaries, benefits, and bonuses typically represent one of the largest business expenses.

But workflow automation, on the other hand, isn’t expensive. It actually saves employees time, thus saving the business money. In addition, digital workflows also reduce or cut out entirely costs from paper, printer ink, and other tangible business supplies. For example, the State of Hawaii saved $5 million in just over two years by switching from signing physical hard copies to a digital workflow. They also saved 24 thousand pieces of paper each day.