Neomind

Author: Jean Carlos Brandenburg

  • Process automation facilitates a hybrid working model

    Process automation facilitates a hybrid working model

    A hybrid working model is characterized by the fact that companies give their employees the freedom to choose how, where, and when they perform their activities. This means employees can choose whether to perform their activities at their home offices, at the company’s headquarters, or in flexible spaces.

    This way of working is nothing new, and more and more trends about the future of work indicate that companies are inclined to adopt hybrid working as their standard. A study conducted by IDC and Google Cloud revealed that 43% of Brazilian companies have already defined the hybrid model as their preferred work system for the coming years.

    In this context, it’s important for companies that wish to adopt the hybrid working model to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this format. Below, we list the main topics on the theme that must be considered during the adoption process.

    Points of attention of the hybrid working model

    Although the advantages of the hybrid working model receive the greatest emphasis, there are points of attention that cannot be ignored. These points of attention act as challenges the company needs to overcome in order to take full advantage of hybrid working. Check them out:

    Advantages of hybrid working

    • Cost reduction for the company (energy, water, transportation);
    • Practicality and flexibility for employees;
    • Increase in productivity;
    • Elimination of time spent with commuting of collaborators.

    Hybrid working points of attention

    • Good control management and internal communication are needed;
    • The monitoring of activities needs to be simple;
    • The company’s data and information must be secure;
    • Good solutions for managing the company’s documents;
    • Adoption of a solution for the control of the company’s processes.

    Process automation as a driver of the hybrid working model

    To begin understanding how process automation can contribute to a hybrid working model, we have first to understand the concept of automation.

    What is process automation?

    Automation is the act of transforming manual processes and making them more independent of human interaction, using technology to improve or optimize them to make them free of human error.

    We can say that automating processes means removing bottlenecks that impose inefficiencies on business operations.

    Today, process automation is a reality in the operational routine of companies due to the potential for optimization and resolution of activities with a few clicks.

    Managing a team without using management solutions and integrated systems is practically unfeasible when looking for productivity and efficiency, especially when it comes to a hybrid scenario.

    What is the purpose of process automation?

    The main objective of process automation is to improve the workflow progress in an organization.

    With automation, it’s possible to reduce costs, time spent, and waste, increase productivity, minimize failures, and control, in real-time, all business processes.

    How does process automation contribute to the hybrid working model?

    Regardless of how a company manages its processes, one thing is for sure: they cannot be plastered or tied to physical media such as paper, for example, especially in a hybrid labor management format.

    Manual processes demand a lot of time. And that time could be spent on something more productive or strategic. In addition to time-saving, you can see increased productivity and cost reductions when processes are automated.

    Another advantage is that, in addition to increasing the quality of the work performed, once the process becomes more efficient, it is possible to standardize them. It is within this context that we list below some ways in which a process automation culture can not only contribute, but also enhance and facilitate the adherence to the hybrid working model.

    BPM

    For a company’s process automation to be able to achieve the best possible results, technological solutions called BPMS (Business Process Management Systems) are utilized.

    BPM is an ideal ally for organizations wishing to mature their process automation efforts. With it, you can define, execute, measure, analyze, evaluate, optimize, and monitor each of your company’s processes.

    Adhering to a solution that can make different processes easily accessible to employees remotely is a very important step in the implementation of the hybrid working model, figuring as a pillar for the success of this new reality.

    In our blog, you will find a complete guide about BPM and also some tips on how to implement it in your business.

    Everything in the Cloud

    Storing data in the cloud is already very much part of people’s daily lives. It is very difficult to find someone who does not use services like Google Drive, iCloud, or Onedrive on their mobile devices.

    In this sense, it’s a natural step for companies to start keeping their documents, processes, and important data in storage that can be easily shared with their employees, protected, and independent of hardware and physical spaces.

    In this phase, it’s important to use an EDM solution to manage files and documents online and securely.

    Document Management

    It’s common for companies to generate a large volume of documents every day, be it in the management of contracts, invoices, or other papers shared among teams. These materials are usually saved on internal servers at the company’s premises, or often, on the employees’ own devices.

    In a hybrid working model, accessing and organizing these documents becomes complicated, especially when inappropriate tools such as e-mail and chats are used to send and receive files. Although these tools bring agility to the transactions, they end up presenting many more problems than benefits, such as:

    • Unnecessary copies;
    • Lack of versioning control for important files;
    • Lack of information security and governance;
    • Difficulty in locating files.

    Again, Electronic Document Management (EDM) stands out as an ideal solution to manage and archive the documents of a company, being the most efficient way to access and share the materials.

    In this article we highlight some important points to be considered when adopting an EDM solution for your company.

    Information Security

    With teams decentralized and away from company premises, it is important that there is an extra layer of protection in the documents that employees use and share. Cloud solutions usually have advanced protection and encryption features, in addition, it is also important the possibility to configure within the GED solution different permissions for the contents that are archived, ensuring access only to authorized persons.

    Mobility

    With company files in the cloud, they become accessible anywhere, anytime, allowing employees greater flexibility during their publication and access. With the advance of current technologies, it’s even possible to handle information offline and synchronize it when there is a connection. All this facilitates the performance of day-to-day tasks, saving time that can be spent on more strategic activities.

    Therefore, joining solutions that include mobile applications in your ecosystem of tools is an important factor to be considered.

    The role of IT in the migration to the hybrid working model

    Analysing the points cited above, we realize that investing in technology to automate processes will be a fundamental aspect for the success of hybrid working models, because it enables collaboration in the cloud, ensures data security and corrects communication failures.

    So much so that around 66% of Brazilian companies have revamped their IT infrastructure to meet the new requirements, increasing their technology budgets to accelerate digital transformation.

    Data like this show a clear trend for the post-pandemic work: it will be hybrid, flexible and connected, with the adoption of digital platforms and resources to improve collaboration and assertiveness in communication.

    Therefore, it is essential to include the IT team in the search for these practical solutions that will be used in the company’s day-to-day, since they will have great responsibility for the success of the cultural transformation of your business.

    Conclusion

    Is process automation important in helping the digital transformation of labor relations? Yes, but it’s not the only significant factor: culture has great relevance too. Companies need to have cooperation imbued in their values and rely on solutions that also value it.

    Fusion Platform

    Fusion Platform is a powerful ECM platform, which stands out as a low-code solution for the management of processes, documents, and indicators. Integrating robust BPM and GED modules, Fusion Platform manages the entire life cycle of your documents and processes, ensuring agility and productivity in your company’s activities, besides bringing other benefits such as native electronic and digital signatures, a powerful Analytics module, and also has mobile applications that allow access to processes and documents at any time and place.

    Test Fusion Platform for free for 15 days or schedule a demonstration with our consultants to answer all your questions.

  • Electronic signature: definition, use, and advantages

    Electronic signature: definition, use, and advantages

    What is it? How is it used? What are the advantages for my company?

    An electronic signature is a tool used for its holder to confirm that he or she agrees with the content of an electronic document. If you have ever needed to sign an online document, you have probably encountered some form of electronic signature.

    Due to the constant advance of technology, in which the use of computers and mobile devices becomes more and more widespread, the need for solutions that can replace actions previously exclusive to the real world, for the virtual world, has become stronger.

    Therefore, many companies have adopted electronic signatures as a way to speed up their processes and reduce the bureaucracy inherent to their activities.

    What is an electronic signature?

    Basically, an electronic signature refers to any electronic means, not necessarily cryptographic, used to identify someone, whether by scanning a manual signature, fingerprint identification, or simply writing the full name to identify the sender of an electronic message.

    Unlike a physical signature, which requires a trip to a notary’s office for recognition, the electronic signature receives its authenticity through the set of data collected as evidence that becomes associated with it, and thus ensures the integrity that the document was not fraudulent or tampered with. In other words, it is a combination of incontestable factors that certify the validity of an electronic signature.

    How is the electronic signature used?

    Signatures are present on many documents, from reports and ID cards to sales and purchase contracts. But signing documents by hand is no longer a practical solution in a world where both personal and professional relationships often take place digitally.

    From this perspective, the electronic signature becomes an important instrument for modernizing the process of signing documents in public and private organizations. With it, companies don’t have to manage their agreements and contracts in paper form, nor require one or more individuals to travel to sign documents in person.

    Thus, the electronic signature is the ideal solution to be used in several types of documents, such as:

    • Contracts in general;
    • Terms of adhesion;
    • Home Office Agreements;
    • Confidentiality Agreements;
    • Pay stubs;
    • Payrolls;
    • Overtime approvals;
    • Privacy Policies;

    The advantages

    One of the main advantages of using electronic signatures for documents is the significant reduction in the use of paper, and the associated savings in financial resources. As the documents become electronically signed, their entire life cycle can also be done this way, making printing, maintenance, and archiving expenses unnecessary.

    Although having a paperless company is a big step towards streamlining your activities, since it’s possible to further increase the operational efficiency of your processes by adopting a management platform, which itself provides the following benefits:

    • Streamlined access to documents with filters and advanced queries;
    • Document organization with permissions and governance;
    • Automated document and process management (EDM and BPM);
    • Ability to access your documents from anywhere with mobile apps;
    • Easy document publishing and e-signature request;

    In addition, there are other benefits that can be gained by implementing the electronic signature in your company:

    • Convenience: can be done from anywhere and at any time;
    • Time savings: sign a document in a few seconds;
    • Security: the entire process is encrypted and stored in history;
    • Legal validity: the electronic signature has the same validity as the physical document;
    • Environmental benefits: eliminates the need for printing;
    • Less bureaucracy: electronically managed documents are stored and tracked more easily;

    Native Electronic Signature on Fusion Platform

    With all these benefits, the first step for an organization planning to optimize its processes with the electronic signature is to adopt a platform that offers this functionality.

    Fusion Platform stands out in this regard because it is an ECM platform that natively contemplates electronic and digital signatures, and even allows document management and process automation through a robust BPM system.

    With Fusion’s Electronic Document Management module, it is possible to configure the signatories during the document publication process, and also request the signature of people who do not have access to the platform, without the need to hire new licenses.

    Moreover, with Fusion Platform, there is no need to worry about investments or integrations with third-party tools, and you can manage the entire lifecycle of your documents on a single platform.

    Try Fusion Platform for free, or schedule a demo with our consultants to answer all your questions.

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