Business Processes, Task Management And Automated Workflows

When we group related tasks together to produce a specified outcome, such as a product or delivery of a completed service, we refer to this as a business process. There are 3 broad categories of business process, and we shall outline them here.

Management Processes

Management processes will typically include control, monitoring and reporting functions to ensure appropriate oversight and stewardship of the business or organization.

Operational Processes

Operational processes are at the very core of a business or organization, and involve how the entity performs operations to produce a desired outcome. You will be familiar with operational processes as they typically follow the various operating subdivisions of the organization, such as purchasing, sales, marketing, manufacturing, customer service and so on.

Support Processes

Support processes assist the performance of core operating processes, and these will include such activities as technical support, customer helpdesks, Human Resources and legal.

Business processes of any description may also be broken down into further sub-processes, each with its own distinct attributes and features. Business analysis of processes involves mapping out of process and sub-processes (also referred to as modeling), and in this way the operations of the organization can be defined.
Modeling business processes is an approximation to real-life operations, however once mapped out then component workflows can be identified and analyzed. Workflows can be defined as operational sequences, such as the working process of an individual staff member or team, or of a machine or production line, or indeed of the whole business. In respect of management overview (control process) a workflow may be regarded as a window into real-life work from a pre-selected perspective.

Task Management and Automated Workflows

Task management involves the establishment of systems of control to ensure all tasks are completed as assigned, in order to facilitate the flow of work through the business processes of the organization. Task management may be very basis and be comprised of simple ‘to do’ lists, a whiteboard grid, or an Excel spreadsheet. Typically, such basic examples suffice for small or very simplistic instances, however they do not scale and are very restricted in terms of management control, accountability and enforcement of company procedures, nor do they provide any central repository for documentation, alerts and notifications, or reporting system. Task management software solutions are now widely available on the open market, and even a small business can now afford an enterprise task management solution and has no need for specialist expertise in-house.

By mapping business processes, we are able to identify and establish workflows through which tasks can be pushed. Again, there are numerous workflow software packages available, and ideally you want a solution which will combine the functionality of task management with the creation of automated workflows.

An even more desirable feature is where you are able to visualize workflows, and create them using drag and drop functionality in the software’s user interface (UI). Again, these enterprise-class solutions are available, however you should ensure you are not over-paying for a solution which contains functionality you will never use.

Jane Wrthe writes on business, management and technology issues and is currently reviewing Lean BPM and enterprise task management solution, JobTraQ.