Most of us would love to be more organized at work. We read about Fortune 500 leaders getting four hours of sleep, fitting in a game of tennis before 7 am, or reading a novel every week. These habits might be extreme, but they are an example of how structure and routine can help us to stay on top of things.
If structure is the key to organization, then it’s something we can all implement at work. We all have processes that are difficult, time-consuming or require a greater deal of thought than others. Process automation plays a vital role in eliminating manual tasks that take us away from that high-value work. But creating robust automated processes can take time, even if you’re using the best low-code automated workflow solutions.
These processes need to be structured, and workflow templates are a great way to put in place process automation quickly and effectively. Here we look at the top 5 workflow templates that our customers have downloaded this past year.
What are workflow templates?
Workflow templates are pre-built workflows that provide the structure and procedure for carrying out a specific use case. Their structure allows organizations to build workflows in the most intuitive way possible, streamlining monotonous tasks and breaking down more complex processes into achievable steps.
Workflow templates can be used across departments, facilitating processes in IT, marketing, HR, finance, etc. Since processes are made more achievable, they are taken on more readily. Employees see their productivity increase: they can iterate faster on processes, leaving more time for work of higher value.
What are the most popular workflow templates?
At Nintex, we provide ready-made workflow templates to help businesses streamline their processes. But what are the most popular templates, and how can they help streamline the process of building quality workflows? Let’s take a look at the top five from 2021.
Employee onboarding is a vital first step for companies to make a good first impression. A clear and streamlined process shows new employees that they are in safe hands.
Taking advantage of a workflow template for this process helps to ensure every step is included. A good employee onboarding workflow template will include management, HR, and other departments as part of the onboarding process. With onboarding workflow templates, employees are prompted to take action depending on the tasks inputted. For example, an HR Manager will be prompted to complete new employee forms, set up an employee in the HR system, and schedule an orientation. An IT Manager, at another stage in the process, will be reminded to set up the IT equipment. The template makes it easy for organizations to streamline the process, providing employees with an easy transition and better experience overall.
Vendor onboarding is the process of introducing new vendors into a company’s network. Approval is usually needed at different stages in the onboarding process, and from different departments, such as finance, legal, and the executive suite. One of the biggest obstacles to smooth onboarding is the number of steps in the process. Another is a lack of visibility across the process, leaving contributors second-guessing and in the dark. A structured process, using a vendor onboarding template, increases cooperation efforts and minimizes project delays, ensuring that every stage of this complex process is completed with due diligence.
With more employees working from home, organizations need to establish a clear policy on remote working. A work from home policy agreement can be used as a starting point for companies implementing a work from home strategy. The template can be tailored to a company’s specific needs and facilitates a better hybrid working model. Due to the urgent need for companies to establish a working from home policy, it’s become one of the top 5 workflow templates in 2021.
Finalizing documents can be a tricky process when there are multiple revisions, a pileup of comments, and with no one sure if they’re looking at the correct version. An automated document approval workflow solves all of these issues, creating an automated process to guide documents through as many revisions as they need. With the Nintex Workflow Cloud, users can access a history of workflow version events, revealing changes made and ensuring the right document gets to the right people. Our template for this process ensures that whoever is in charge of streamlining the process can do so effectively.
Microsoft Teams enables users to create groups and collaborate on projects. It’s a great tool, but when a new group is created, it also means that a related SharePoint Online site is provisioned for that group. To help reduce the spread of content and untracked use of resources, Teams group request governance is required, ensuring there is a structured process to keep alive those groups in use, and archive those which are not. A Microsoft Teams group request form ensures that any Teams group created is approved and regulated. With the level of remote and hybrid working, and the explosion of Microsoft Teams use, it’s no wonder this template is one of our most popular in 2021.
Workflows help you manage your workload
Workflow templates help you create the right structure around a process so that you can enable a step-by-step approach to tasks. They prompt users to take the right steps at the right times, mitigating the chance for error and facilitating quick iteration. At Nintex, we create workflow templates designed to be used across a range of processes. You can check out the most popular templates in our Solution Accelerator Gallery.
Get in touch with the Nintex team today, to find out more.
