What is a workflow?

Every company has workflows, even if nobody calls them that. A quote is requested, drawn up, approved and sent. A new colleague gets an account, a laptop and an onboarding plan. A customer question comes in, is assigned and answered. Each time there is a series of steps with fixed roles.

The difference lies in how they are tracked. Without software, a workflow hangs on agreements and memory: someone remembers to take the next step, or not. With software you record the steps and let the program do the hand-over. Once a quote is approved, the salesperson automatically gets a task to send it.

A workflow in software has three parts. A trigger: the event that forms the start, such as a new request. One or more actions: what the program does, such as creating a task, sending an email or updating a field. And often a condition: the action only happens if something is true, for example if the deal comes out above a certain amount.

Automating is useful for work that comes back often and goes the same way each time. It is less sensible for work that is different every time. That is why we start with a few workflows that solve a real problem, rather than automating everything that can be automated. A CRM is a good example: follow-up tasks and reminders are often the first gain.

Workflows across the borders of one program call for an API or a standard connection. And whether a workflow works, you see in figures on a dashboard: how long does it take from request to completion, and where does work get stuck? Also see our page on Zoho and Zoho Flow.