Introducing changes in working methods often seems like a difficult and unnecessary endeavor, especially if current practice does not seem to be causing problems. Why change something that works? What is often neglected are the actual costs of day-to-day repetitive activities. The processing of incoming invoices is certainly one of such activities in most organizations, entailing a series of costs that are hard to notice at first glance.

Order management process is what makes or breaks any eCommerce company. Aspects of this process touch on every other aspect of business. Customer makes an order on the website, it goes through an ERP system, everything needs to be coordinated with suppliers, processed, shipped… Actually, there is not a single instance in a lean eCommerce company that does not play a role in order management process.

Even the simplest task may seem an insurmountable obstacle when the volume of work increases. At first look, correspondence seems to be a fairly simple process: you receive an email, you reply. However, a few months later, when you try to find that specific item of correspondence, you can easily end up spending quite an amount of time looking for it...

Sometimes a company is not a good fit for a workflow system (yes, that too is possible). Their business model might be slightly loose and there actually is no need for structure, everything works just fine as it is...

The notion of agile software development appeared around the time when academics took interest in what the software engineers have been doing to make their job easier. In this iterative, 'small-steps' methodology aimed at getting projects done in time, extensive analysis are performed and problem identification is clearly separated from the actual development. The very same ailment plagues workflow design.

'Workflow model design' — this surely sounds like an undertaking that can only be completed using a state-of-the-art software. Such a technical wording suggests a conundrum that requires sophisticated tools and in-depth knowledge of the field, often leaving the user paralyzed by the unknown.

More often than not, I have heard customers say: „We have a problem with internal communication that we are trying to solve with a tool; we need a workflow management system.“ I used to get excited about such inquiries, knowing well that a properly implemented workflow system can be a game-changer in solving internal communication problems.