Altitude on Small Business Tools

Good processes and procedures back every sound and good business structure, but for small businesses the thought of processes and workflow systems may feel too corporate and are often overlooked and thus, underutilized. The truth is good processes go hand and hand with good business and better management. But developing and designing processes can be a complex, time intensive task that too many business owners would soon neglect. But when it comes to collaboration and team management, good processes can take you a long way, particularly with teams that are not based in the same location. Previous solutions have looked to answer the question of how to become more efficient and productive, keep teams on the same page, and have good project clarity from the top, down. Further strategies would ultimately seek for online solutions. The effort to maintain consistent, progressive work patterns is the key to documenting solutions, keeping teams focused and on-task, and for tracking results.WorkFlowPerfect seems destined to help small businesses get themselves in order. Whether work processes are designed for a team of one or more, the ability to systematically create the processes, outcomes, and track results is now available via this new online medium.What is WorkflowPerfect? According to their website: WorkflowPerfect is a FREE web-based business process tool that enables you to enforce your business process, track the status of work items and collaborate work among team members through electronic form routing and the concept of workflow — all from the convenience of your web browser.Users can set up and manage business workflows, create and manage forms, and assign work items to individuals and groups. It’s the organized business owner’s dream, for others, possibly a nightmare. Why? Because the system forces you to think about your business, regular tasks that are performed and the individual steps for implementation. As you begin to configure your workflow, even the system warns (disguised as tips) that configuring your workflow can be time consuming, you may need to save your work and come back to finish, and you should have given this some thought before starting. Oh yeah, and a flowchart might be nice. If nothing else, it’s somewhat intimidating.For the standard project manager, it’s probably a breeze, but for the average small business owner, it’ll take some getting used to. Some time should be set aside to create your workflows and understand the software.All in all, Workflowperfect, looks to be just the right tool for creating next to perfect workflow.