When pressed for time, and trying to get some work done, you often reach for your mobile device and scan through your email inbox for urgent messages requiring your attention. More often than not, you have to mentally filter through the messages which could range from messages from colleagues requesting information or just copying you so you are aware, to marketing promotions and other non-critical messages. Sometimes, vital messages such as requests for business approvals or assigned tasks that drive business outcomes slip through the crack. While setting up complex email filters might help, it really does not solve the problem. I would like to share with you how we are helping busy executives like you work better.

The frustration of too many emails

In a discovery session with the Chief Operations Officer of a bank a few years ago, she expressed her frustration with the long email trails that she was copied in to keep her informed of the details of a transaction that required her approval at the end. By the time the request for approval was eventually made, she had stopped paying attention to the email with that subject line. She ended up having the account manager call her mobile at odd hours to remind her that her approval was needed. Not only was this inconvenient, it negatively affected turnaround time and consequently, customer satisfaction.

Escaping the Inbox

This experience is not unique to her and is a common sentiment shared by senior executives whose time are so valuable. By implementing ProcessMaker Business Process Management Solution, she was only notified of the request or transaction, when it required her approval. In addition, she could review the history of the request in one single place, viewing everyone who had reviewed the request, their comments and all the supporting documents without having to search through long-forgotten email threads.

Focusing on what matters

An Executive Director of one of our clients, in a recent visit, made reference to the simplicity that ProcessMaker has brought to his work. By having requests requiring his approval delivered to his ProcessMaker mobile app, he can quickly act on them without having to scan his email. The interesting thing was, we wanted to know if he preferred the “Approvals by email” feature, which allows you to approve a request by simply clicking a button in the email. He was the opinion that using the mobile app was better, especially when pressed for time as it allowed him to focus on what was important without being distracted by other messages that might be in his inbox. To illustrate his point, he opened the app on his mobile, reviewed a request, asked for more information, declined it and we continued with the meeting.

I think that email is going nowhere anytime soon, despite the onslaught from tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, and will still be a major part of how the digital age worker gets things done. However, for busy executives and employees trying to be more productive without getting overwhelmed by distracting messages in crowded inboxes, having a platform like ProcessMaker to centralise approval requests and business tasks is definitely a better way to work.

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