Workflow management commonly refers to streamlining and automation of business processes, operations, tasks, and transactions. In a BPO set-up, however, the term assumes sophisticated dimensions because it lies at the core of operations. Just as an ACD is central to a voice-based BPO company, a workflow management system plays a similar role in an organization focussed on data-based applications.

Workflow-management system plays a critical role in a transaction-based BPO where agents are sitting in a production line and doing multiple tasks, which get automated to the next level. The basic workflow management tool queues-up the workload, allocates it to the idle agents (according to the role definition), and enables supervisor monitoring.

A more sophisticated tool allows a lot of flexibility in mapping the rules, defining roles of different agents, and stating the exceptions. The supervisor can login and check the work randomly or in a pre-defined manner. For instance, the supervisor may want to check 10 percent of the work of each agent and 25 percent work of a few under-performing agents. For this purpose, the tool provides the supervisor with a detailed balance sheet of agent performance in terms of parameters such as the number of jobs executed and how much time was allocated to each job. This is an important feature in a workflow management tool as it helps the company to successfully manage service level agreements (SLAs).

Sophisticated versions of the tool also come with features that can escalate the problem automatically if an agent is not able to address the problem within a pre-defined time span. A workflow solution incorporates three basic phases.

• Mapping
• Modeling
• Managing
  
  These are some of the tangible benefits that accrue from a workflow management tool.
  

• Increased organizational efficiency

• Productivity gains through load balancing (between 40 and 60 percent)

• Improved customer service with close monitoring

• Enhanced process control and reporting

• Increased ability to adhere to internal and external regulations

• Enhanced competitive advantage

Technology Options
A BPO organization engages in multiple processes executing complex tasks. Therefore, it must deploy production workflow. Production workflow is a situation where:

• Processes are complex
• Many users interact with the processes
• There is a need for integration with enterprise applications