How Workflow Approval Automation Can Supercharge Your Business?

In today's corporate world, rapid evolution is the norm, and staying ahead of the curve often involves navigating a complicated maze of permissions and workflows. In some organizations, implementing these processes can seem impossible, including purchasing requests, leave requests from employees, and project sign-offs. Traditional, manual procedures allow space for human error in addition to consuming the necessary time and resources. The obvious results are delayed support, inefficiencies, and a noticeable decline in ROI. As a service desk manager, I find the endless email exchanges, misplaced documents, and time-consuming back and forth extremely frustrating. Thus, in this highly competitive environment, taking a more strategic approach to preserving competitive advantage is imperative. Fortunately, workflow approval automation, a game-changing technology, is just around the corner and could boost your business significantly.

"How come there's such a fuss?" is probably the question on your mind right now. The daily struggles businesses have in effectively handling process approvals hold the key to the solution.

In this blog, we will discuss everything about workflow approval automation. Before we begin, let's look at how it can tackle the pain points faced by organizations.

What are Workflow Approvals?

Workflow approvals can be referred to as the formal processes that an organization uses to approve and verify different requests, actions, and choices made within its operations. A broad variety of tasks, including project proposals, purchase orders, reimbursement of expenses, requests for employee leave, document evaluations, and more, may fall under this category.

Workflow approvals usually involve several stakeholders or decision-makers, each with a distinct function to play in the process, and they usually follow a predetermined sequence. The goal is to make sure that requests or tasks satisfy specific requirements, are compliant with business guidelines, and have the required approval before moving forward. Approvals of workflow are essential to an organization's ability to remain efficient, compliant, and accountable.

The following is a brief overview of how workflow approvals operate:

• Initiation : When someone starts a request or job that needs approval, the approval process starts. This could be a request for time off from an employee, a department asking for project budget approval, or a vendor sending in a bill for payment.
• Routing : After that, the request is sent via a pre-established pipeline that specifies who must examine and approve it. Several people or departments may be involved in this path, depending on how complicated the procedure is.
• Review and approval : Every assigned reviewer or approver evaluates the proposal to make sure it fits within the allocated budget, conforms with corporate policy, and satisfies quality standards. When everything checks out, they grant the request. If not, they could reject it or ask for changes.
• Notifications and Tracking : Automatic alerts notify all parties concerned about the request's progress. This transparency makes it easier for everyone to monitor development, maintain accountability, and move quickly when needed.
• Completion : The request is deemed finished after it has received all necessary approvals. After then, it can proceed to the following stage of the workflow, which could be project execution or payment processing.

Common Pain Points in Workflow Management

1. Tedious, Repetitive and Time-Consuming Workflows

Earlier, organizations relied heavily on manual approval processes, resulting in a time sink with the mysterious capacity to make things disappear to equal the Bermuda Triangle. Consider the numerous email threads, the hours-long wait for a single approval, and the constant change that important documents will get lost in the shuffle. It kills productivity, that much is certain.

As reported by McKinsey, businesses spend 20% of their working hours on jobs that could be automated on average. The manual workflow approvals are a major source of this waste of time. 

Another report by the American Productivity and Quality Center (APQC) states that companies invest considerable time and money in manual approval processes. As per the poll, an astounding 60% of firms acknowledge their heavy dependence on manual workflow approval processes, which can cause operational delays, bottlenecks, and inaccuracies.

2. Prone to mistakes 

Manual workflows are a liability in a world where accuracy is critical. No matter how well-meaning, human mistake is an inevitable companion in the world of email- or paper-driven approvals. Even a small misspelling or carelessness can lead to expensive errors, such as project delays or regulatory violations. An IBM study says that human mistake is one of the leading causes of data breaches, accounting for a staggering 23% of them. Workflow approval automation can enforce established methods, significantly reducing these errors.

3. Lack of Accountability and Visibility

When dealing with manual approvals, it can be challenging to find your way through a dark wilderness without a map or compass. It might be challenging to track who is in charge of the next step, where a request is in the approval process, and whether things are moving along as they should. The outcome? Confusion, irritation, and delays. Manual workflows' lack of transparency can result in poor accountability, eventually reducing overall efficiency. PwC reports that 58% of CEOs express anxiety about their businesses' lack of trust, and a lack of openness in internal operations exacerbates that issue.

4. Ineffective Allocation of Resources

Irregular workflows can cause inefficient resource allocation, which can result in underutilized personnel and financial waste.According to the Standish Group's CHAOS Report, 41% of project resources are usually ineffective, which suggests that many businesses have a sizable resource efficiency gap.

5. Inconsistent Workflow Process

Different teams' or departments' inconsistent workflow processes can cause misunderstanding, lower productivity, and higher mistake rates.As reported by the Nintex survey, 49% of employees feel that inconsistent workflow approval processes and hold-ups in obtaining required clearances make it difficult for them to complete tasks quickly.

6.Limited Scalability

As an organization expands, manual workflows may find it challenging to scale correctly, leading to inefficiencies and more complexity. A Deloitte study states that around 32% of organizations perceive scalability as a barrier to managing their operations as they grow.

Redefine your Business with Workflow Approval Automation

Fortunately, technology has saved the day, and companies are increasingly using workflow approval automation to optimize and boost their operations. Organizations may increase productivity, lower the chance of expensive errors, and save time and money by automating the approval process. Having a modern ITSM solution or workflow management software and other automation technologies is made to offer a single platform for approvals so that stakeholders can work together efficiently and track developments at every stage.

This modern ITSM solution makes use of advanced technologies like Generative AI and automation to improve responsibility and collaboration, expedite workflow approvals, and get rid of mistakes.

Now, let’s talk about automated workflow approval.

What is an Automated Workflow Approval?

Automated workflow approvals are digitally simplified and automated processes designed to improve and speed up approvals of different organizational activities, requests, or decisions. 

A lot of businesses use an approval process for things like invoices, legal papers, important market messages, tickets, and more. This process involves getting the green light from one or more inside places. Automation of these approval processes means you use technology to do every part of it, like setting up approval rules and automatic notifications and creating special steps after approval.

Automating the workflow approval solves the problems of doing it manually and adds responsibility and efficiency to approvals. Using automation for approval is suitable for all kinds of organizations, big or small. If you have a process that you do again and again, with clear steps, you can make it automatic without much trouble.

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Benefits of Automated Workflow Approval 

• Increasing Productivity : When you do things manually without automation, each approval level becomes a separate task. This can cause interruptions in the ongoing process. On the other hand, automation makes decision-making faster at every stage. Things speed up when there's clear and prompt communication. Your organization's efficiency and productivity will increase when employees receive maximum support at each point in the approval process.

• Quick Approvals : A workflow automation system streamlines the approval process by automating decision-making and routing. Approval requests proceed quickly through predetermined processes, cutting down on waiting times and guaranteeing that important decisions are made on time. This speed is crucial in today's business climate because it enables firms to grab opportunities and react quickly to obstacles.

• Facilitating Seamless Audit : During workflow approval, an organization needs to consider a few critical parameters, such as the individual who made the decision, the factors leading to the approval or rejection of specific processes, and when a specific decision was taken.
  These parameters play an important role in auditing the results obtained. If they are not recorded during the process, it makes the audit process challenging and time-consuming. Automating your workflow approval process allows your system to capture every detail regarding every process undertaken, facilitating hassle-free audit of the results obtained.

• Reduce Errors : Workflow interfaces provide an intuitive way to configure and govern all processes. In manual workflow approval processes, employees and employers often need to remember the processes or refer to documents repeatedly, increasing the likelihood of mistakes, errors, and overlooked events. In contrast, with automated processes, the system provides the necessary information for taking action and tracking each event, reducing the chances of errors and oversights.

• Compliance and Consistenc : By enforcing uniform standards, workflow approval automation ensures that all teams and departments adhere to the same approval processes. This alignment with industry legislation, organizational policies, and quality standards decreases the danger of non-compliance. Maintaining compliance records is made more accessible, and auditing is made simpler when approval processes are consistent, both critical in sectors with strict regulatory standards.

• Increased Visibility : An automated workflow approval system can give an overview of the entire approval process. This allows organizations and service desk managers to quickly ascertain who is in charge of each phase, spot bottlenecks, and monitor the status of requests. Encouraging accountability and ensuring that all stakeholders know the progress makes it easier to act if necessary. Therefore, transparency is crucial. It also facilitates improved decision-making by giving a concise summary of the status of approvals.

• Enhancing Work Environment : Doing the same monotonous tasks every day can lower employee morale. Employees are more likely to be productive and satisfied when they can focus on tasks that require their expertise and human touch, thanks to systems that support them.

• Insightful and Actionable Data : Identifying bottlenecks and tracking stages can be challenging when multiple approvals are happening repeatedly. Workflow approvals serve as a database for the decisions made and all the factors contributing to the final outcome. Automating workflows will provide you with the insights you need to remove bottlenecks and improve your organization's processes.

• Reduce Costs and Increase ROI : Automating repetitive processes saves a significant amount of time every day. For an organization, time is valuable, and when critical decisions are delayed, it leads to additional expenses. Overall, organizational costs decrease when the time it takes for approvals in end-to-end processes is reduced.
  
  Non-essential processes, such as approving various documents, can be easily automated by setting approval levels. Automating approval tasks reduces time and cuts unnecessary expenses, resulting in a higher return on investment.

• Increased Accuracy : No matter how skilled your employees are, their processes will always have some scope for error. Especially if you are dealing with sensitive data, you cannot afford to commit errors in undertaking your processes. Automating workflow approval provides your organization with the accuracy of a machine. This ensures that all the decisions and processes are precise, accurate, and effective.
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  Moreover, automation of workflow approval allows you to configure your workflow for monitoring pre-set checkboxes for signing off the approval requests, changing the approval status, managing pending approvals, and more. Process automation provides users with features like real-time email notifications to ensure all processes are undertaken smoothly and without errors.

Now that you understand workflow approval automation better, it's time to look at the common workflow approval processes that can be automated. 

Major Workflow Approval Processes That Need to Be Automated

1. Document Review and Publication Approvals : Content production and review processes are streamlined by automating document approvals. Before publishing, it guarantees content accuracy, brand guidelines compliance, and legal compliance.

2. Workflow for Onboarding New Employees : The HR department's task is made easier by this business process workflow. First, a form containing the employee's data and a digital signature is collected. Information and approval are then forwarded to department managers, HR, IT, and other relevant parties to prepare the HR team for the employee's first day of work.

3. IT Service Requests : With a GenAI-enabled service desk system for IT service requests, we can make it easier to assign tasks by letting the right IT staff member know about the request.

4. Employee Account Setup : Automation lets HR or IT create accounts for new hires all at once instead of doing it manually one by one. This saves time and reduces errors.

5. Leave Approval Process : A transparent, automated method that gives workers visibility into the company can boost employee loyalty and morale. One of the easiest operations for a business to automate is the leave approval process. Employees can easily see and have their completed leave request forms reviewed by the appropriate manager. The staff can schedule their vacations by receiving automatic notifications from the system.

6. Workflow for Adding New Customers or Vendors : A company's strength is determined by the kind of clients it serves and the suppliers that enable it to offer goods and services.

7. Invoice Approvals : Automating invoice approvals streamlines the accounts payable process. It ensures that invoices are reviewed and approved promptly, eliminates payment waits and improves accuracy.

8. Change Request Approvals : Automating workflow approval processes like change request approvals in IT and project management guarantees effective evaluation and decision-making regarding proposed changes, reducing system downtime and operational disruption.

9. Approvals for Marketing Campaigns : Marketing teams may collaborate better and increase campaign compliance by automating campaign approvals. Campaigns are guaranteed to be in line with strategies and brand standards. Organizations can use top marketing automation platformto streamline the approval process and help them drive more ROI by automating their entire business process.

10. Approvals for Quality Control and Inspection : Improving product quality and speeding up production are two benefits of automating manufacturing quality control and inspection approvals. Before release, it guarantees that items fulfill specific quality requirements.

Conclusion

No matter what industry you're in, having a reliable, safe, and trackable way of doing things isn't just a hassle you have to deal with; your business needs to do well. Workflow tasks are usually things you do repeatedly, making them easy to mess up, like sending an agreement to the wrong person or forgetting to get it approved! That's where automation can help. When you automate these tasks, you not only lower the chances of mistakes but also make your company more compliant, keep a clear record, and get more done.

There has never been a greater need for efficiency, creativity, and a strategic focus in the dynamic field of IT service management. Rezolve.ai is a modern ITSM solution offering a no-code automation studio, a tool that turns your support heroes into automation maestros. With the help of a no-code automation studio, support agents may automate and streamline processes without the need for technical knowledge. With automation studio, Rezolve.ai gave your support heroes access to a fully functional automation workshop, removing the requirement for in-depth coding expertise.

With a no-code automation studio, they can finally be free of the complexities of coding and concentrate on strategy, creativity, and providing great employee support and service.‍

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FAQs

1. What is the automated workflow of approvals?
The workflow is forwarded by a system creating the approval order, sending email notifications, and collecting approvals online. The approval order is set up according to your business needs, like the hierarchy of managers in your company.

2. What is the workflow for the approval process?
An approval workflow is a particular sequence of actions required to finish tasks or handle data in an organization. Each step needs someone's approval in this particular workflow before moving on to the next one.

3. What are the stages of the workflow process?
A request workflow involves various phases, each with specific actions that transition a request to the next stage. This workflow has four stages: Submission, Approval, Commitment, and Closure.

4. Why is workflow approval critical?‍
When communication is quicker and more transparent, tasks can be completed more rapidly. An approval workflow provides stakeholders with all the necessary information at each step, enhancing the overall efficiency of your system.

5. Why do we need approvals?
‍Approval processes guarantee that the appropriate individuals make crucial choices at the appropriate moment and in an equitable way. The act of giving the green light or turning something down is also referred to as decision-making.