How to Maintain Workflows

Workflows are a powerful tool that can help you automate and manage complex processes. However, as your business environment changes, your workflows need to change too. Workflow maintenance is the process of tracking the performance of your workflows and updating your workflow templates whenever workflow performance begins to decline. In this post, we’ll discuss how you can maintain your workflows to keep them running smoothly and efficiently.

Track Workflow Performance

The first step in maintaining your workflows is to track their performance. This can help you identify any issues or inefficiencies in your workflows and take action to resolve them. Some things to track include:

• The time it takes to complete a workflow
• The number of errors or problems that occur during the execution of workflows
• The frequency of manual interventions required during the execution of a workflow

By tracking these metrics, you can identify areas in which your workflows may need improvement.

Update Workflow Templates

Workflow templates serve as the blueprints for your live workflows. As your business environment changes, your workflows need to change accordingly. Workflow templates should not be viewed as if they were set in stone: sure, you don’t want to go changing them every day, but if the performance of your workflows begins to deteriorate, you should not be afraid to break things and revamp your workflows. Remember, whenever you change and re-enable a workflow template, Pneumatic will automatically update all the workflows based on that template.

When updating your workflow templates, it’s important to consider the root cause of any performance issues. You may need to add new tasks or modify the sequence of tasks to improve performance. You might realize that some steps in your workflow template only make sense in certain circumstances and add conditions to skip them. You may also need to update your workflow templates to reflect changes in your business environment or to incorporate new tools or technologies.

Purge Unused Workflow Templates

Over time, you may accumulate a large number of workflow templates in your system. However, not all of these templates may be used regularly. Zombie templates, those that are not used much anymore, can clutter your system and make it difficult to manage your live workflows. It’s important to periodically review your workflow templates and purge those that are no longer needed.

Conclusion

Maintaining your workflows is essential for keeping them running smoothly and efficiently. By tracking the performance of your workflows, updating your workflow templates, and purging unused templates, you can ensure that your workflows remain effective and relevant in a changing business environment. Remember, workflow templates should not be viewed as static entities but rather as living blueprints that need to evolve and adapt over time. With the right tools Pneumatic gives you, you can maintain your workflows and achieve maximum efficiency and productivity.