Digital document workflows benefit organizations since they give faster access to business information and provide better document security and access control. There are also more consistent business processes and easier measurement and process improvement.
According to Statista, worldwide spending on digital transformation reached $1.85 trillion in 2022, and over 90% of organizations worldwide implemented cloud technologies as of 2023. In addition, 40% of North American organizations adopted generative AI in 2023.
What's surprising is that despite these impressive numbers, many companies still haven't implemented some of the most basic digital tools. For example, a digital document may be rarely used in some circumstances.
What Is a Digital Document?
A digital document is information that's created, stored, viewed, or shared in an electronic format. Examples include:
- PDFs
- Word documents
- Spreadsheets
- Electronic forms
- Invoices
- Contracts
- Presentations
- Scanned records
Most people are familiar with digital documents that have text, but they can also contain images and tables, as well as signatures and metadata.
Because these files are digital, they can usually be accessed from a computer, smartphone, or any other connected device.
What Are the Benefits of Digital Document Workflows?
Digital workflows are structured processes, and tasks, information, and documents can move between both people and systems. These are benefits you can get from using them.
Faster Access to Business Information
A huge benefit of digital document workflows is that they make business information much easier to retrieve when it's needed. In normal circumstances, you'd have to look through filing cabinets, people's desks, or even email attachments and disconnected storage locations, and these searches may not even be fruitful.
These workflows allow employees to work from a centralized digital environment, and there are helpful search functions, too. Workers can use the following to locate key documents:
- Names
- Dates
- Keywords
- Categories
- Other metadata
This is very useful for companies that handle large volumes of records or serve customers who need quick responses. It's also beneficial for remote or hybrid workers, as they don't have to go into the office to retrieve authorized documents.
Better Document Security and Access Control
Digital document workflows can provide more structured control over who can view, edit, share, or manage sensitive information. In an office, one of the only ways you can have control over physical files is to put them in a locked filing cabinet.
With a digital workflow, administrators can assign permissions according to job responsibilities, departments, or other organizational requirements. Even better is that there are audit trails that show activities, such as document access, sharing, or changes.
You can keep these files secure with additional safeguards, too, such as:
- Encryption
- Authentication
- Retention policies
- Automated backups
With clearer governance through intelligent document processing, organizations can reduce the risk of unauthorized handling.
More Consistent Business Processes
Standardizing how organizations handle recurring administrative work can be of great help. With things like templates, predefined fields, validation rules, standardized routing, and best practices for converting DOCX to PDF in C#, this can reduce variation between employees or departments. This consistency is great when a process has to comply with internal policies, contractual requirements, or industry-specific procedures.
Standardized processes can also make training easier, as employees have a defined system to follow. They won't have to learn various approaches from different colleagues.
With time, businesses can identify where procedures differ unnecessarily, and this can enable them to establish more consistent practices.
Easier Measurement and Process Improvement
Digital workflows can often generate automatic reports, which provide useful operational data. For example, organizations can examine:
- How long processes take
- Where work tends to stall
- How many items are completed
- How frequently exceptions occur
As a result, managers can get a clearer basis for improving processes, and they don't have to solely rely on anecdotal feedback.
In addition, performance information helps teams look at whether process changes are actually producing improvements. This creates a feedback loop where teams can measure workflow performance, identify weaknesses, make adjustments, and evaluate results again.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Can You Provide Some Examples of Digital Workflows?
One common example of a digital workflow is invoice processing, which is where:
- An invoice arrives digitally,
- Relevant information is captured
- The invoice is routed to the appropriate employee for approval
- The approved record is sent for payment
Another example is employee onboarding. In most cases, a new hire has to complete electronic forms, provide required documentation, receive approvals, and then gain access to internal systems.
Contract management is a digital workflow, too. It can involve drafting an agreement and routing it through legal review, and then collecting electronic signatures and storing the completed contract.
What Are the Four Types of Workflows?
The four types of workflows are:
- Sequential workflows: Move through predetermined steps in a specific order, making them suitable for processes such as multi-stage approvals
- State-machine workflows: Change an item between defined states, such as from draft to under review
- Rules-driven workflows: Use conditions to determine what happens next, such as automatically sending an invoice to different approvers
- Parallel workflows: Allow multiple activities to happen simultaneously rather than waiting for one task to finish before another begins
What Are the 5 Steps of a Workflow?
The five steps of a workflow are:
- Identifying the process: Defining what needs to be accomplished, where the process begins and ends, and who's involved
- Mapping the workflow: Documenting each activity, decision point, dependency, and handoff
- Assigning responsibilities: Establishing which person, team, or system owns each task
- Executing and monitoring the workflow: Work moves through the defined process while progress, exceptions, and bottlenecks are tracked
- Review and optimization: Involves examining performance and making changes where necessary
Businesses can simplify unnecessary steps and automate tasks to streamline things.
Adopt a Digital Document Workflow
To keep up with the times, organizations should further invest in digital transformation, but they shouldn't forget about the basics, either. By implementing a digital document workflow, they can make things more efficient and ensure data security, too. Another benefit is more consistency, which is invaluable, especially in fast-paced industries.
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