Use Costpoint Workflow to define the activities in a particular business process, the staff involved, and how and when information flows from person to person. With Workflow, information and transactions are automatically routed to each person in the process. Electronic inboxes replace physical ones. Automatic routing rules replace manual copying and distribution. Processes and activities are documented and workload is automated and measured. Workflow can be applied to virtually any business process that impacts the accounting, contracts, purchasing, or HR departments of your company, such as setting up a particular type of contract, hiring an employee, approving a purchase order, and month-end close procedures.
Because you probably already have approval processes and routing procedures in place, it is simply a matter of establishing these same rules in the Workflow system. Within Costpoint Workflow, you will use the functions in the Design menu to define the case labels, filters, and roles for the workflows. You will then use the Define Workflow Models screen to describe the flow of activities. For each Workflow process, you can define the activities that play a part in the completion of the goal and you can identify the order in which users should accomplish these activities. For instance, when you hire a new employee, you must add the new employee information to Costpoint. This may involve entering information in the Basic Employee Info and Salary Info and History screens in Costpoint Employee, and then printing several reports. For each activity, you may define a Costpoint function to complete the activity, descriptive data, and routing information. The routing information includes whom to notify to complete the activity and whom to notify when the activity is completed. You can print the Workflow Definition Report to view this information.
After you have defined the Workflow, you can kick off the Workflow whenever external events require it (e.g., an employee is hired). You can do this by using the Initiate Case screen in the Initiate menu or the Maintain Case screen in the Monitor menu. Once the Workflow is in progress, users will be automatically notified when they should start and complete activities. The activity flow and routing stems from the previously entered Workflow definition. Users will be notified through the Activity and Message Inboxes screen. Within the inbox, users will be able to start activities, such as other Costpoint functions. Users may also receive messages notifying them that activities were completed.
Users can also get notification of Workflow activities and messages through their e-mail system. You can set up e-mail by completing the e-mail portion of the System Settings screen in Costpoint System Administration. In addition, you must activate e-mail on a user-by-user basis in the Maintain Users screen in Costpoint System Administration.
In previous Costpoint versions, WFMLIST.EXE, WFMLIST.LNK, or WFMLIST.BAT was attached to the workflow activity e-mail. This gave users access to the Activity and Message Inboxes screen when they double-clicked on the attachment. However, as a result of increased e-mail security in Outlook 2002, and because many office environments no longer permit e-mail attachments with .exe, .lnk, or .bat extensions, the WFMLIST attachment will no longer be sent. (For more information, see Workflow Special Topic WF-2, "Accessing Your Inbox from Outlook.") The system will still send an e-mail to the user notifying him of a new workflow activity. When the workflow activity has been completed, however, the user must go into Costpoint to activate the Activity and Message Inboxes screen.
Whenever you enter a Costpoint screen through Workflow, the Complete pushbutton will be enabled. While in the Costpoint screen, you can launch the Activity Instructions function from the Costpoint menu to help you identify the case labels and values associated with the Workflow and view the activity instructions. When you complete the activity, select the Complete pushbutton. Completion of the activity will be audited, users will be notified of the activity completion, and the next activities will be routed to users' inbox (and e-mail, if available).
The automatic routing of activities through Workflow should increase the productivity of workers and improve the quality of work. With Workflow, you can create a methodology that employees can easily follow. New employees become productive earlier. Experienced employees become more efficient because of the reduced lag time between activities. There is better communication between workers. Consistency increases because employees are automatically prompted to complete activities and procedures are not overlooked.
One of the most important aspects of Costpoint Workflow is the benefit to management. When you complete business processes using Workflow, there is a historical record of activities. The audit trail allows managers to check the status of particular Workflow cases and examine trends in work productivity. Managers can increase their control over procedures, determine bottlenecks, redesign workflows, and check employee efficiency. Several Costpoint Workflow functions deal with the management of Workflows. Use the Monitor Status screen to track individual Workflow cases and determine their status. Standard reports print Workflow case status and an audit summary. The Audit Inquiry screen provides drill-down information so that you can review system usage, event trends, user productivity and efficiency, and bottlenecks in Workflows. Use the Purge Historical Data function, which maintains Workflow routing and reporting performance, to delete obsolete data.
Definition: A logical step that contributes toward the accomplishment of a workflow.
Synonyms: Task, Step
Usage: In the Define Workflow Models screen, you can define activities involved in a workflow. Once a workflow is in process, activities are routed to inboxes (and e-mail if available), and you can assign, start, and complete activities.
Definition: Historical record of completion of workflow activity.
Usage: In Costpoint Workflow, the transfer, start, and completion of activities are recorded. You can view this audit trail in the Monitor Status, Print Workflow Status Report, Print Audit Report, and the Audit Inquiry screens.
Definition: An instance of a workflow, which is identified by a unique number and the values for the workflow's case labels.
Example: For a business process that is repeated monthly, there would be a workflow case for each month.
Usage: You can start a new workflow case in the Initiate Case and Maintain Case screens and track the status of a case's workflow activities in the Monitor Status screen.
Definition: Descriptive titles for the key fields that will help identify a workflow case.
Example: For an Add User workflow, a User ID would identify each case.
Usage: In the Define Case Labels screen, you supply a list of valid choices for case labels. In the Define Workflow Models screen, you define case labels for each workflow. Whenever a user initiates a case, the user supplies values for each label.
Definition: Criteria to limit routing of activities and messages within a role.
Example: Location, Product Line, Group
Usage: In the Define Role Filtering screen, you define filters and then apply them to roles in the Define Roles screen. In the Define Workflow Models screen, you design activity and message routing using the previously defined roles and add filters as case labels. Filters and case label values limit the users within the roles that will receive activities and messages in their inboxes (and e-mail, if available).
Definition: Notification of a completed activity.
Usage: In the Define Workflow Models screen, you define routing for messages following the completion of activities. In the Activity and Message Inboxes screen, you can read your notification messages. Also, Workflow messages can be routed through e-mail.
Definition: Alternative choices for completing a task of the business process.
Example: A "Review Timesheet" activity may have two associated options for completion: "Approve Timesheet" or "Reject Timesheet."
Usage: In the Define Workflow Models screen, you add activities and options in your business process. When starting and completing activities, you choose options when available.
Definition: Qualification of a participant who performs workflow activities, which enables the workflow system to distribute activities to the appropriate individuals for completion.
Example: Voucher Entry Clerk, Purchase Order Supervisor
Usage: In The Define Roles screen you supply the list of roles and associate users with these roles. In the Define Workflow Models screen, you apply these roles to the starting and completing of workflow activities. When a workflow is in-progress, activities and messages are routed to the inboxes (and e-mail, if available) of users within these roles.
Definition: How activities move from role to role within the workflow.
Usage: Workflow routes activities and messages to the Activity and Message Inboxes screen (and e-mail, if available) based on workflow and role definition.
Definition: Set of activities that are connected in order to achieve a common goal.
Synonyms: Process, Model
Usage: In the Define Workflow Models screen, you enter the design of your business processes.