Workflow Design Tips

Designing Effective Workflows

A well-designed workflow can dramatically improve efficiency and clarity. Follow these best practices to create workflows that work for your team.

Start Simple

Begin with a basic workflow and add complexity as needed:

• Start with 3-5 stages for your first workflow
• Test the basic flow before adding conditional logic
• Get team feedback early and often
• Iterate based on real usage patterns
• Don't over-engineer the first version

Choose the Right Stage Types

WorkflowHero supports 5 stage types - use them strategically:

Assign Stages Strategically

Thoughtful stage assignments improve accountability:

• Assign stages to specific people, not generic roles
• Use multiple assignees for collaborative stages
• Mark critical approvers as "required"
• Set realistic due dates for each stage
• Consider time zones for distributed teams

Use Mandatory Sign-Offs Wisely

Mandatory sign-offs add accountability but can slow workflows:

• Enable for compliance-critical stages only
• Use "require all assignees" for unanimous decisions
• Use "required assignees" to specify key approvers
• Allow partial sign-offs for less critical stages
• Document why mandatory sign-offs are required

Handle Rejections Gracefully

Plan for rejection scenarios:

• Restart Workflow: Use when the entire process must begin again
• Move to Next: Use when rejection is informational but not blocking
• Complete Workflow: Use when rejection ends the workflow
• Require rejection reasons for audit trails
• Use rejection categories to track common issues

Leverage Forms Effectively

Custom forms improve data quality:

• Break long forms into logical tabs
• Use conditional logic to show/hide fields
• Set appropriate validation rules
• Provide helpful placeholder text
• Enable auto-save for complex forms
• Allow draft saves for incomplete submissions

Document Management Tips

Organize documents for easy access:

• Set confidentiality levels appropriately
• Use descriptive filenames
• Add tags for better searchability
• Include descriptions for context
• Categorize documents consistently

Communication Best Practices

Keep everyone informed:

• Use comments for stage-specific discussions
• @mention people to get their attention
• React to comments to acknowledge feedback
• Keep comments focused and professional
• Use notifications to stay updated

Monitor and Optimize

Continuously improve your workflows:

• Review audit logs to identify bottlenecks
• Track how long stages take to complete
• Collect feedback from workflow participants
• Simplify stages that cause confusion
• Update workflows based on lessons learned
• Archive or delete obsolete workflows