An important success factor for companies to remain competitive in the future is the effective design of business processes. With the help of workflow management systems, document-related business processes can be fully or partially automated. At the same time The age of digitalization the importance of effective collaboration. But to what extent does the digitalization of document-related business processes contribute to improving collaboration? This article takes stock and highlights the most significant advantages and points of criticism that result from the digitization of document-related business processes.

Status quo: How document-related business processes are paralyzing day-to-day work

Long throughput and idle times, no uniform channeling of documents, high coordination and exchange effort, low transparency in the processes - who knows this sometimes really nerve-wracking process flow of paper-based business processes from their own everyday working life? According to a survey conducted by hosting provider Host Europe in collaboration with the online community YouGov among 1,000 office employees, the business process "signing documents", for example, is currently purely digital for only nine percent, partially digital for 27 percent and not digital at all for 64 percent. The result shows that even in the age of digitalization, many companies are still working with numerous paper-based documents and are therefore not fully exploiting their potential in process handling.

Digitization creates potential - with workflow management systems

Handling paper-based business processes can be so "simple". The solution offers Workflow management systemssoftware systems that electronically support the flow of administrative processes. The individual work processes are controlled and coordinated according to the requirements of the process specification.

Advantages of digitalization in the context of collaboration

With regard to the Improving collaboration Both inside and outside the company, the digital transformation offers enormous benefits. This applies in particular to the redesign of document-related business processes, as a closer look at the workflows shows:

1. high transparency of processes

Probably the biggest advantage is the high level of transparency of the processes. An up-to-date overview of all relevant company data is available at all times. This enables the system to record all activities seamlessly, which fundamentally improves traceability and the ability to provide information.

2. clear responsibilities and roles

In addition, the questions of responsibilities and roles are clearly clarified. This also replaces conventional coordination and exchange processes.

3. time optimization

Another clear advantage is the time optimization. The long throughput and idle times are reduced thanks to parallel processing and the elimination of transportation and distribution work.

4. controlled and standardized flow of documents and information

Digitization also ensures a controlled and standardized flow of data and information, as the release path is specified by the system.

Only one disadvantage in the context of collaboration

However, care should be taken to ensure that the system is not too rigid: The User flexibility must not fall too sharply as a result of digitization.

Implementation of digitalization is the task of IT managers and management

Ultimately, those responsible for IT, together with the company management, must decide for themselves for which document-related business processes a digital transformation makes sense. The focus should be on the average and standard processes that occur in large quantities: Here in particular, it is important to fully exploit the optimization potential outlined for these business processes.

The fact is that the digitization of document-related business processes is not only changing the way they are carried out, how we work. It also significantly improves collaboration within the company.

This article was written by Professor Dr. Peter Steinhoff in collaboration with Christine Götz.

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