Workflow

Our company’s onboarding workflow starts with sending the offer letter and ends with conducting the new hire’s 90-day performance review.

• How do you find a good Workflow? Finding a good Workflow is difficult, whether you’re an organization trying to work out the most efficient structure for projects or an individual worker just trying to make their day-to-day work go as smoothly as possible. The truth is, the best Workflows usually develop organically – it can be hard to anticipate from the beginning what will work most effectively, but smooth Workflows develop with time and experience.We can make this process go faster, however – we can examine successful Workflows from similar processes to try to start in the best place possible. And importantly, we can always maintain the flexibility and patience to recognize what works and what doesn’t, and adapt as needed. Eventually, that awkward jagged stone of a Workflow will be eroded until it’s smooth as glass.
• Should you document your Workflow? For both individuals and organizations, documenting an effective Workflow can be a fantastic way to ensure that it remains effective both in the short term and in the long term. Documenting a Workflow allows us to review it as-needed to make sure we’re not missing any important steps, and it allows us to experiment with potential improvements without losing that baseline process in case we need to return to it. Additionally, documenting a Workflow means that others in the organization – whether it’s other departments, upper management, or even future workers in the role – all have accurate insight into how a particular process works, minimizing confusion and conflict.
• Does your employer determine your Workflow?“Workflow” is such a broad term, and there really aren’t any hard-and-fast rules about what it applies to or how it works. Typically, good organizations with years of experience will have documented Workflows for major regular activities or projects, so a new employee can anticipate using these to understand their role within the broader organization.However, on the individual level, we all develop our own internal Workflows that help us get through our daily tasks efficiently, effectively, and accurately – every time. While our employers may have strong suggestions (or even mandates) about how things get done, there’s usually room for us to find the path to task completion that works best for us.
• What is an example of a Workflow? A broad example workflow for a company designing a new product brochure might look like this:
  1. Get product details from the Development team
  2. Get marketing strategy details from the Marketing team
  3. Have the Graphic Design team design a brochure layout using a template from a past brochure
  4. Solicit copy from the Copywriting team
  5. Take product pictures
  6. Integrate photos and copy into brochure layout
  7. Edit and proofread
  8. Get approval from Development and Marketing teams
  9. Get final approval from department heads
  10. Send brochure to print

  Going more narrow-focused, an individual workflow for a Graphic Designer handling step 6 might look like this:

  1. Open brochure layout in design program
  2. Import photos into design program
  3. Resize and place photos into proper parts of layout
  4. Insert copy into template
  5. Organize copy into proper location on layout
  6. Resize and select fonts for copy
  7. Export brochure design file
  8. Send design file to Development and Marketing teams for approval