Don't Let Workflow Solution Become Shelfware!

I notice that sometimes Workflow Solution is viewed as a "magic bullet" to solve all business process woes with the click of a button. I admit that, prima facie, it comes across like this. I don't know how you viewed WFS when you first saw it (or how you pitched it to your company!), but WFS is no magic bullet. It is an incredibly valuable tool, but it takes work. While the "demo appeal" of WFS is really high, seeing WFS as a miraculous cure-all can quickly lead to frustration and disillusionment. Thus, the product goes from being a superhero to just another piece of shelfware.

The point of WFS is to automate business processes efficiently. What we have to remember is that any of our business processes, regardless of size or complexity, must be well thought out, well understood, and documented to some extent before we implement them in WFS. Otherwise Workflow Solution will simply automate bad processes - making bad things happen more quickly and more consistently than ever before. Not exactly what we promised our management.

So, how do we keep WFS from becoming shelfware? A few thoughts...

Step #1 - Start slow

Identify a "good" process in your company, small enough in size to accomplish in days . . . not weeks, and automate it with Workflow Solution. Even if it's a minor process, you'll have something positive to show. Get positive results. Get buy in to the technology. Get real-world feedback so you can improve your next process implementation. In short, take small steps initially but get moving right away. Don't wait for a lull in your schedule because it will never happen.

Step #2 - Get good, stay good

Although WFS is user-friendly and there are many self-made success stories, most people need training. Without training, WFS is your grandma's TV; with training it's 64" high-def.

After you "have it," maintain proficiency with the tool by sticking with it. Or, if you think you could use it, get more training through in-house expertise or professional services. Workflow Solution is like any other development framework environment. If you don't use it, you'll lose it. I've found that working with the tool a little every few months just doesn't cut it.

Once you've got it, it's easy to expect other people in your company to understand as well. Everyone who uses the tool should have real training, instead of relying on the "workflow guy" in your company to train people in his spare time. Bottom line: get training if you use the tool. There are some new docs on the Altiris site (http://altiris.com/Support/Documentation.aspx) to help scale the learning curve. WFS is Norm Abram's workshop; you can do anything you want, but only if you know how to use the equipment.

Step #3 - Think outside the box

The IT infrastructure/management box that is. Include areas, departments, and processes in your company that are non-IT centric, but that represent low-hanging-fruit opportunities to achieving real benefit and ROI with Workflow Solution. What do your sales and marketing teams need? What about all the requests you've heard from your finance and HR folks? What about processes related to your public-facing web site, or to your customers, or to your vendors? The list is endless and, if you're creative, WFS can be used to address these process requirements that fall outside IT . . . so use it!

Step #4 - Get the analysts on board

Identify a Business Analyst or two in your company who can become competent with Workflow Solution. Why? Because there are some parts of processes you build with Workflow Solution that should be maintained long-term by non-IT staff. Since the tool is graphical in nature and looks much like a Visio diagram, decide in advance which parts of a workflow can/should be maintained long-term by your Business Analysts and train them on how to make such changes (e.g., changes to emails, changes to rules/thresholds, changes to approval steps, changes to timeouts and alerts, etc.). This will ease your maintenance burden long-term and foster a sense of "process ownership" within your respective depts. and user groups.

Step #5 - Be patient

Workflow Solution is a long-term investment, not a short-term magic bullet. It is a tool to incrementally improve operations and efficiencies, and over time these improvements will translate to the bottom line. Doing step 4 (getting some analysts in on the product) is a good way to make sure WFS is a long-term investment. More people getting to know the tool = more people seeing the benefit and getting excited about it. Getting more product training, being involved in your local user's group, and contributing to Juice all help solidify WFS in the minds of the users, and thus in your company.

This all makes me think back to a number of years ago when I was wowed by a public demonstration of the Shopsmith MARK V woodworking tool. Its 5-tools-in-1 provided all the basic functions necessary to transform a piece of ordinary wood into an extra-ordinary work of art. "It can do anything," the salesman said.

Well not in my hands. Why? Because I never took the time to learn how to use it through trial and error. I never invested in training classes to become proficient in its use. I never picked a small, achievable project that I could handle. I never talked to people who did know how to use it. In short, it was a lot of money for a lot of half made stuff destined for the garage shelf.

Shelfware. It can happen to anyone. Don't let it happen to you.