Laserfiche Workflow is the glue that holds together an ECM solution. Workflow automates routine tasks in an organization while being flexible enough to handle the unexpected. For example, in an organization that has set up workflows, documents automatically get filed and named, employees receive email notifications when they have pending work, databases are synchronized and documents get routed for approval quickly and efficiently.

Follow the below steps to begin building workflows:

Define and diagram the business process you want to automate. Start with a simple process and take the time to sketch it out, ask for input from the people involved in the process, and list any exceptional scenarios that need to be handled. After building a workflow to handle the simple process, tackle a more complex process. Learn more with these resources:

Get familiar with the Workflow Software. Workflow has over seventy activities that perform specific actions. For example, the “Move Entry” activity moves a document or folder from one spot in a repository to another, the “Email” activity sends an email, and the “Deadline” activity lets you specify what will happen if a task isn’t finished in the time allotted. To build a workflow, choose activities from the toolbox, arrange them on the canvas, and configure their properties.

Learn more:

Expand on the basics. Explore the multitude of activities and options available in Workflow. Particularly, tokens, the business process options, and parameters add robustness and flexibility to workflows. Workflow even has a built-in script editor to allow for full customization. Learn more:

Run the workflow. After building a workflow, test it several times to ensure it runs correctly. Then, assign it a starting rule that specifies when the workflow will run. Workflows can run on a schedule, when a condition is met (e.g., if a document is placed in a specific folder), or when a business process is started in the Client or Web Access.

Track running workflows. The Workflow Designer collects valuable statistics and information about each time a workflow runs and displays it in the instance details. These details record all the documents and folders a workflow interacted, how long the workflow took to run, if there were any errors, and much more.

Keep learning. The links above only the scratch the surface of the material available to help you learn how to use Laserfiche Workflow. Here are even more resources: