workflow automation solutions 101 · implementing a workflow automation solution is increasing...

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Workflow Automation Solutions 101A Comprehensive Guide

Workflow Automation Solutions 101: A Comprehensive Guide

Chapter 1: Introduction to Workflow Automation Solutions

What is Workflow Automation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .04

Anatomy of a Workflow Automation Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .04

The Benefits of Workflow Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .05

Chapter 2: Selecting a Workflow Automation Solution

Do I Need a Workflow Automation Solution? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .08

12 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Workflow Automation Solutions . . . .09

Understanding Workflow Automation Pricing Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

Chapter 3: Rolling Out Your Workflow Automation Solution

Getting Buy-in During the Purchase Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Building a Business Case for Workflow Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Successfully Implementing a Workflow Automation System . . . . . . . . . . .21

Table of Contents

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Chapter 1Introduction to Workflow Automation Solutions

What is Workflow Automation? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04

Anatomy of a Workflow Automation Solution . . . . . . . . . . 04

The Benefits of Workflow Automation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05

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Online Proofing

• Upload portal where creative teams can route proofs to reviewers for sign-off

• Online review environment where clients can access proofs and share feedback and approval

• Proof status details for tracking which proofs are still pending feedback and from whom, and which proofs require revisions

Anatomy of a Workflow Automation Solution

A workflow automation solution typically offers some combination of the following functionality:

Project Management

• Projects are assigned team members, tasks, and deadlines

• Centralized workspace where team members can access project information and proofs

• Project status information and alerts for tasks and deadlines

Job Request Portal

• Stakeholders / clients request new creative work to be started with digital job requests

• Creative teams review submitted requests and manage their release

Reporting

• Performance metrics such as time to market and resource allocation

• Application usage data such as number of proofs posted or active projects

01: Introduction to Workflow Automation Solutions

What is workflow automation?Workflow automation is the use of technology to eliminate the tedious administrative tasks in the creative production process – like routing creative briefs and content, collecting feedback, getting approval on creative content, tracking project status, and updating team members.

A workflow automation solution is an installed or SaaS application that allows creative teams to manage the production process in a shared, virtual space. Creative content and project information is seamlessly passed from one project stage to the next while remaining centralized and accessible to team members.

This produces significant efficiencies by automating many tasks currently performed manually and reducing miscommunication and errors .

Workflow automation solutions help creative teams get projects completed more quickly and efficiently, and offer a combination of:

• Online proofing• Project Management• Job Requests• Reporting

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The Benefits of Workflow Automation

1. Increase Productivity

The most anticipated benefit of implementing a workflow automation solution is increasing productivity. By streamlining the creative production process across numerous activities and roles, creative team members using workflow automation can see time savings of 7 hours a week. Winning back this time lets creatives spend more time producing content, instead of spending that time on non-revenue generating administrative work. This ability to produce a higher volume of creative content can allow businesses to explore new promotional opportunities, expand their brand, and increase audience share.

2. Achieve Faster Time to Market

Workflow automation solutions have been shown to speed project cycles by 56%. With creative content getting to market faster, businesses can begin capturing revenue sooner. Getting content to market faster

can allow businesses to 1. gain competitive advantages when launching new products and campaigns, and 2. to respond to time-sensitive promotional opportunities.

3. Improve Quality

The quality of the creative work being produced improves when a team adopts a workflow automation solution. One reason for this is that content can be marked up online like a printed proof, which makes change requests much clearer than requests communicated verbally or over email. And since it is easier for reviewers to provide feedback, they tend to return reviews sooner . With this faster turnaround time on reviews, designers get feedback while the work is still fresh in their mind so revisions can be more thoughtful.

Another reason that quality improves with workflow automation is that creatives often have better direction when projects are kicked-off. Because there is a formal system

What are the benefits of Workflow Automation?

Workflow Automation can help your creative team improve productivity by helping you accomplish four goals critical to maximizing revenue and proving ROI:

1 . Increase productivity

2 . Achieve faster time to market

3. Improve quality

4 . Reduce costs


Increased productivity+ Faster time to market+ Improved quality– Cost+ Happier clients

Maximized ROI

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The Benefits of Workflow Automation

to manage creative briefs, they are more likely to be filled out completely and to have been vetted by a team leader to ensure that all of the necessary assets and information were included.

Workflow Automation Solutions also help product and brand teams ensure brand compliance and document the approval process .

4 . Reduce Costs

Many businesses report a reduction in personnel costs when workflow is automated and team members are no longer spending a large part of their day manually managing the creative production process. Plus, costly make-goods can be eliminated as a result of improved content quality and fewer miscommunications.

Additionally, workflow automation features like online proofing can result in immediate savings by eliminating the need to print expensive color proofs and ship proofs to reviewers. This is also an important benefit for green companies looking to reduce their environmental impact.

Even more impactful is having a single solution that can encompass tools like project management, online proofing, time tracking, and creative brief management all in one. If your organization is currently using

one or more of these types of applications, it may be more cost effective to procure one application that can replace them. This has the added benefit of streamlining information sharing and reducing the need for IT support. Additionally, implementing an all-in-one solution can improve adoption, allowing your business to achieve ROI sooner .

PLUS Happier Clients

An additional benefit that is often unanticipated is the increased happiness of creative services clients. Clients on the reviewer side of a workflow automation solution often report delight in having an easy way to communicate feedback and approval. And with an audit trail of client sign-offs, there’s never any doubt about whether creative content was released without authorization.

Additionally, creative brief management and project management utilities that give clients a reliable way to stay updated on the status of their requests and deliverables can provide clients with an important sense of confidence that progress is being made on their projects.

These factors can improve the ability of a business (or an in-house creative department) to foster healthier client relationships and even to win new clients.


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Chapter 2Selecting a Workflow Automation Solution

Do I Need a Workflow Automation Solution? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .08

12 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Workflow Automation Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .09

Understanding Workflow Automation Pricing Models . . . . . . . . . .13

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Do I Need a Workflow Automation Solution?Workflow Automation Solutions are designed to address a range of challenges faced by creative teams. Identifying the challenges unique to your team can help you determine if workflow automation will be a good fit.

If you’ve faced any of the challenges below in your creative production process, your team would most likely benefit from adopting a workflow automation solution.

02: Selecting a Workflow Automation Solution

“I can’t keep track of the status of all of my projects.”

Because today’s creative teams are often working simultaneously on multiple types of content for a variety of channels that need to get approved by different review teams, they struggle with maintaining transparency into the status of all of their projects. The plethora of communication methods now available further complicates things – project details might be shared over the phone, email, instant messenger, fax, video conference, etc.

With a workflow automation solution, all of your project details and proofs are in a single, shared workspace making it easy to get status updates, often in real-time.

“Managing projects is getting in the way of actually completing projects.”

Creative teams can spend an excessive amount of time updating status reports, chasing down approvals, and deciphering feedback from long email chains. This administrative management is not revenue-generating activity, and can drag out project cycles and reduce a creative team’s ability to produce high-quality work.

With a workflow automation solution, automated routing and notifications make sure your content moves quickly down the pipeline and that status updates are reported automatically. And since proofs are shared online, version control is easy to maintain and feedback is clearer. So your team spends less

time on administrative tasks and more time producing content and completing projects.

“Who signed off on this?”

A typical creative team’s approval process may include many stakeholders such as clients, product and marketing managers, legal, finance, and others. Sometimes projects are released without the correct authorization or with

an overlooked mistake. In these cases, it can be difficult to identify the cause of the issue – and having to dig through old email threads or try to recall a phone conversation puts creative teams in a tenuous position .

With a workflow automation solution, reviewers’ feedback is linked to the content and archived with time and date stamps so you always have an audit trail. Plus, automated workflow routing helps to ensure that content goes to the right stakeholders every time .

You may need a workflow automation solution if:

• You struggle to keep track of the status of your projects

• Your team spends more time managing projects than producing content

• Your approval process lacks accountability

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Workflow automation solutions are complex and range widely in the types of features that they offer, which can make selecting the right one for your team overwhelming.

When determining which workflow automation solution is best for your organization, it’s important to first determine what your needs are. Establishing your needs before speaking with vendors will help you focus on the best questions to ask vendors in evaluating how well their solution can meet your needs .

12 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Workflow Automation Solutions

1 . What is your current creative production process?

Sketch out the workflow for your typical creative project. Who initiates project kickoffs? Is there a formal creative briefing process? How is work assigned to creatives? Who is involved in the creative approval process? How is feedback solicited?

Your process may also vary based on the type of content being produced or who it’s for. For example, video projects may require different creative briefs than printed pieces, or press releases may need to go through a more rigorous approval process than email blasts.

2. What quantity and type of content are you producing?

Make a list of all the different types of projects that your creative team works on. In addition to design files, you may be creating copy, web pages, animations, and videos. There’s also the issue of quantity - do you produce a few pieces of content a week or dozens? Is your workload steady or do you have periods of increased volume?

Keep in mind that the volume of content you produce today may grow, and that the type of content you’re producing could also change as social, interactive, and mobile content continues to gain prominence.

3. What kind of training and support does your team prefer?

Don’t discount the importance of support – adoption is critical to the successful implementation of any solution. You will want to make sure that your team is available for training as soon as you rollout the application, before inertia is lost and especially if free training comes with an expiration date. Also factor in if support is included or if there is a cost for support and if your budget addresses that.

You may also want to consider the types of support resources offered. Is it limited to online help menus and user guides or are there support personnel available to offer assistance? Is your team – including reviewers – comfortable enough with technology to use online support, or do they prefer to pick up the phone and speak with a person?

6 Questions to Ask Yourself

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training fees and, for an installed solution, up-front investments in hardware or software upgrades. You may also need to consider how many team members will be using the solution, as many solution providers charge per user fees.

(See more about pricing in Understanding Workflow Automation Pricing Models.)

Your return can be calculated by setting benchmarks for your team’s current performance. How long does your approval process take without an implemented solution? How many rounds of review do projects go through? How long does it take to get feedback returned? What are you spending on rush orders and make goods? Solution providers should be able to tell you what sort of improvements you can expect for these key performance indicators .

4. How does the solution fit into your other departmental technologies?

Managing the production process is just one of your department’s responsibilities. Think about how you will use the solution in the context of other technologies. Can you tie projects or reviews to your work orders and billing systems?

If your team uses other technology solutions, you may want to determine if it’s necessary to integrate your workflow automation solution with those solutions.

5. What are your organization’s IT and security requirements?

Like many organizations, your IT department is probably closely involved when implementing any new technology. The level of their involvement may depend on whether you choose an installed solution or a cloud-based platform.

Your IT department will generally be concerned with what type of storage the solution provides, what the level of effort will be for implementation and support, and what measures are in place to keep your company’s creative content secure.

6. What are your projected costs and ROI?

First, make sure you’re comparing apples to apples – some solutions charge a one-time fee, some solutions have an annual or monthly subscription cost. There may be


6 Questions to Ask Yourself (continued)

Steps to evaluating workflow automation solutions:

1. Understand and articulate your creative workflow, your team’s challenges, and what your needs and expectations for a solution are

2. Ask vendors to demonstrate how their solution would address your unique workflows and challenges, and determine which of the solutions best aligns with your predetermined needs and expectations



3. How will my reviewers communicate feedback on proofs?

Since online proofing is one of the main components that differentiates workflow automation solutions from other technologies for creative teams, you’ll want to ensure that the application manages the review and approval process in a way that is effective for your team.

Often, a simple approved/rejected choice of approval status will suffice, but some teams need a wider variety of statuses such as “approved with changes” or “not relevant”. You may also find it useful to have the ability to do opinion reviews, where content is ranked or rated .

Also consider if and how you want your reviewers to provide feedback. Will reviewer comments attached to content be easier for your creative team to interpret, or would having the ability to make markups on the content – like highlighting or circling – be more clear? Do your reviewers need to be able to see and address the feedback of other reviewers?

1. Does the solution support roles-based privileges?

A frequent struggle that businesses have with applications that cross multiple departments is ensuring that users see only the application content that they need to see. If you have external clients, it may be critical that they have access only to proofs posted for their review and a job request portal – and not other client’s content or project management details.

Even if you don’t have external clients, roles-based privileges can still be important for preventing users from getting “lost” inside of an application, or to provide some organization to project teams.

2. Can the solution be customized to fit the way my organization functions?

There are a lot of parts of the creative production process that are going to be unique to your organization. Your needs might include custom creative briefs, the ability to include outside vendors, creating complex approval routings, or simply branding the application. The more clearly you can articulate your various workflows, the better equipped you’ll be to identify your needs and ensure that the solution can accommodate them .


6 Questions to Ask Your Vendors



4. How will project changes and completions be managed?

Think about how you want to manage the projects as they evolve. As typical project activity takes place – such as tasks being completed, assets shared, or deadlines shifted – how is that information presented and communicated with team members? Version control is another common challenge for creative teams, and one that a workflow automation solution can help manage.

You’ll also need to decide what happens to projects in the system once they’re completed, and if you need an archive with the project content, originating creative briefs, and time and date stamps.

5. What is involved in implementing the solution?

Any new solution is going take some time and resources to set-up but it’s important to have a clear picture of just how much. You will want to know who will be involved in the rollout of the solution and how long it is expected to take. Will you need to change some of your existing processes in order to use the solution? Getting staff to change the way they work can delay adoption of the solution.

An important consideration before adopting a workflow automation solution is how quickly you can leverage the solution and notice a return on your investment .

6. Does the solution provide tracking and reporting capabilities?

You will want to know how easy it is to keep track of the status of your projects and proofs. Are there status dashboards, reports, and notifications? What information is provided? Think about the kind of status reports you are using today and look for a solution that can provide something comparable.

In addition to just reporting on status, you may want a solution that can provide metrics on your team’s productivity, such as project volume, review duration, number of versions, and time to approval.

Having a clear understanding of your organization’s needs and carefully considering the factors in this section should make it easier for you to evaluate workflow approval solutions.


6 Questions to Ask Your Vendors (continued)



Understanding Workflow Automation Pricing Models

FeaturesOne common way that solutions are priced is by editions or plan levels with varying feature availability. Always ask your vendor to provide a comprehensive list of the features that are included in the different plan levels.

Questions to ask about feature costs:

• Which plans have all of the features that your team requires?

• Is something expected missing?

• What is the cost to add features to your plan at a later date?

• Will new product features require paid upgrades?

The best way to ensure that your purchase includes everything you need is to refer to your list of critical and desired features and verify with the vendor that these are included in the quoted price.

UsagePricing plans based on usage can be based on any number of variables, such as number of users, number of posted proofs or projects, storage, bandwidth, etc. Frequently, usage plans will be tiered on more than one of these variables.

Questions to ask about usage costs:

• How is a user defined?

• Are there varying access levels for users?

• Are there metered services such as per file charges, bandwidth, or storage?


Pricing for workflow automation solutions can be complicated by the many variables and application attributes involved. The pricing that is represented on a vendor’s website many not be an all-inclusive price. It’s important to understand each vendor’s pricing model beyond just knowing the sticker price of the solution so you can avoid hidden costs and surprises.

In general, workflow automation pricing models rely on three variables, sometimes in combination: features, usage, and fees.



There may be specific usage charges for different modules of a workflow automation solution. Here are questions to identify some common ones:

Questions to ask about online proofing costs:

• Is there a limit to the number of proofs that can be shared? Is this monthly or over a specific period of time?

• Will we be charged when a new version of a proof is posted?

• Is there a limit to the numbers of reviewers I can add to a review? Am I charged for reviewers?

• Are different types of files or assets charged in a different way? Is there a file size limit?

• Is there a data limit?

Questions to ask about project management costs:

• Is pricing based on the number of active projects? How do you define “active”?

• Is there a data limit?

Questions to ask about creative brief management costs:

• Is there a limit to the number of briefs, tickets or job requests that can be submitted? Is there a charge for each?

FeesOften the pricing plans provided by a vendor don’t represent the full cost of the solution. Make sure to find out about any one-time or recurring fees applicable to your purchase.

Questions to ask about set-up and support fees:

• Are there additional costs for installation and set-up?

• Do you have an online support center? Do you offer free phone and email support?

• Will we have a dedicated support representative and training program to help us? For how long?

• Are there costs for training? What if more training is needed at a later date?

• How frequently does your company have new product releases and is training offered on new features and functionality? Will there be a cost for additional training?




Questions to ask about other common fees:

• Do you charge a server fee? Does this vary based on our usage?

• Are there costs associated with customizing or branding the solution?

Summary

Before you make a solution purchase make sure you get an itemized price outlined for your specific needs and use case. You should also make sure you have a payment option that suits your organization’s billing preferences .

Questions to ask about payment options:

• When is payment due? Are there any net discounts?

• How frequently will payments need to be made?

• What kinds of payment are accepted?

It’s always a good idea to ask your vendors for an all-inclusive, itemized list of all the costs and fees that might be associated with your account before you make a purchase.


Workflow automation pricing generally includes 3 variables: features, usage, and fees.

Make sure that your vendor provides you with an estimate for how each would apply to your team.


Chapter 3Rolling Out Your Workflow Automation Solution

Getting Buy-in During the Purchase Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Building a Business Case for Workflow Automation . . . . . . . . . . . .19

Successfully Implementing a Workflow Automation System . . . . . . . 21


Getting Buy-in for Your Workflow Automation Solution Purchase

Successfully rolling out a workflow automation solution requires getting acknowledgement from stakeholders that a solution is necessary and a consensus about the solution of choice.

Since the creation of marketing and promotional content affects team members across multiple departments, a new solution for this process is going to involve many stakeholders, interests, and agendas. This section provides an overview of who you may need to get buy-in from before you deploy and how you can earn their endorsement.

Marketing

Chances are the majority of content being created is for the marketing department, who will be using the application to review and approve the content. So they’re going to be interested in how the review environment affects or changes the way that they work and what the benefits of making that change are for their department .

Finance

Your finance department and executives are going to want to ensure that the budget exists for a new technology solution and that there will be a return on the investment. In this case, that means that the savings or increased revenue resulting from increased efficiencies in the creative production process will be greater than the cost of the solution itself.

IT

Security is the name of the game for the information technology department. They will want to look under the hood and make sure that your business information is secure and also that the new solution will complement other technology solutions already in place.

Procurement

Many enterprise businesses these days have a team of experts dedicated to procuring and rolling out new solutions. If you’re company has such a department, you’ll want to enlist their expertise early. They’ll look at what your team’s needs are and what solutions are available in the marketplace that best fit those needs.

03: Rolling Out Your Workflow Automation Solution


Clients

Your clients, whether internal or external, are going to be key partners in ensuring the successful deployment of a new solution. They’ll likely be using the solution to review and approve creative work, submit requests for new projects, or receive project status reports. You’ll want to get them excited about the solution early on by sharing the benefits, to offer reassurance that the deployment is happening for them and not to them .

Getting Buy-in for Your Workflow Automation Solution Purchase


It’s important to understand the motivations of your peers in other departments who would be impacted by the implementation of a workflow automation solution, especially if they have a vote in the buying process.

Understanding their needs will allow you to alleviate any concerns and get them excited to adopt the solution.

Production

Your creative production team – designers, copywriters, project managers, etc. – are going to be your deepest users. While you may not need their sign-off, adoption goes much more smoothly when your staff is excited to use your solution. It’s important to be clear about the challenges your new solution will help address and the specific ways in which it will make your team’s work easier .


Building a Business Case for a Workflow Automation Solution

Your leadership team may need additional assurance of the value that a workflow automation solution will add to the business. By building a business case that justifies the cost and resources involved in deploying a solution, you will be well prepared to address their concerns.

This section shows you how to build a business case for a workflow automation solution.

Identify the challenges

Providing detail around the challenges that your department is facing will give decision makers context for understanding why you are proposing a solution.

Example: Our department is being asked to produce more content with fewer personnel and is finding that the biggest challenge in meeting deadlines is the amount of administrative effort needed to manage projects.

Estimate the business cost

Showing that there are quantifiable losses that are routinely incurred because of the above challenges will get decision makers invested in exploring potential resolutions.

Example: Projects go over budget when approval due dates are missed and printing or production has to be expedited.

Propose the solution

Describing the solution that you’ve selected and explaining why it’s the preferred solution will allow decision makers to understand how the solution will resolve your challenges.

Example: This solution will make it easy for us to keep track of our active projects and their tasks and proofs. It will also automate the review process so that routing and proof status updates won’t require manual effort.


If the buying decision is contingent upon another party, you’ll need to make a clear and compelling case to get them to see your vision and approve the purchase .


Show ROI

Ultimately, for your decision makers it all comes down to the bottom-line.

Demonstrating how a solution will be a boon for the company makes advocating the purchase a no-brainer. Keep in mind that some “soft” benefits – like improved creative energy and happier clients – while difficult to quantify are also important.

Example: If we had been using this solution for the past year, we would have saved $2,000 per month in expedited printing costs, make-goods, and wasted employee time. Since the solution costs less than $1,500 per month we can expect to see a net gain of $6,000 annually.

Be transparent about risks

Showing that you understand any risks associated with implementing a solution and have a plan in mind for mitigating those risks will make your decision makers far more confident in moving forward.

Example: There may be some lag time while users get accustomed to new processes but we’ve mitigated that risk by finding a solution with a simple interface and ensured that training and support are available.

Laying this out for your leadership team will help them understand the importance of the challenges that you’re trying to address and how the business as a whole will benefit from implementing a workflow automation solution.

Building a Business Case for a Workflow Automation Solution



Successfully Implementing a Workflow Automation SolutionGetting people to change their habits can take some effort. Even a relatively easy change with demonstrated value is going to face stiff competition from the status quo.

When you’re rolling out a workflow automation solution, you may need to take steps to ensure your team is utilizing the solution and not reverting back to the tools they’re accustomed to relying on. Here’s how you can encourage the adoption of a workflow automation solution.

Support – Ensure users receive adequate training and feel comfortable using the tool. Make sure everyone has access to a support person, whether it’s an internal expert or the service provider, and offer refresher training as needed. Make sure new users are fully trained to use the solution, and that new application developments are communicated .

Measure –Your solution’s reporting capabilities can be used to give you metrics around user adoption, such as the number of projects and proofs being posted, or the average length of time reviewers take to return feedback . These metrics can do more than just provide accountability; they can help to demonstrate department wide improvements and value. You can also use the metrics to share the success of the solution implementation, further motivating people to utilize it.

Encourage – Some incentivizing is often needed to get people to adopt new habits. Simply acknowledging team members when they use the solution can go a long way. Relying on the solution for status update meetings and reports can encourage users to keep their projects up to date.

And everyone loves prizes – randomly selecting a completed proof and rewarding the uploader and reviewers is a fun way to motivate your team .

Inform – Before you begin to support, measure, and encourage it’s important to make sure your team understands why the solution is being implemented, how it benefits the company, and how it benefits them. Offering a discussion helps users to feel some ownership of the application, so they see it as a tool and not a hindrance.

Taking these steps can help ensure that widespread adoption of your solution happens quickly, so you can begin to see results and get a return faster.

Adopting a new business technology is rarely, if ever, like flipping a switch. It can take some concentrated effort to move staff from old methods to a new tool. But the more quickly you can get inertia on your side, the sooner you can see a return on your investment .



InMotionNow solves project request, project management, content review, and reporting challenges for marketing and creative teams with its workflow automation application called inMotion. With inMotion, teams can automate administrative tasks that typically distract content creators from getting their content to market faster.

inMotion gives marketing and creative teams what they need to ease the launch of new projects, solve visibility and accountability issues during project execution, surface actionable insights, and end the chase for approvals.

Please visit us at inmotionnow.com or speak with our workflow experts at 888.462.8044.

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workflow automation solutions 101 · implementing a workflow automation solution is increasing...

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