Capture material practice efficiency through workflows, which can be created and modified with ease through drop and drag configuration. Our workflow capabilities have been designed to ensure that you have full control.
- How do I create a Workflow?
- Workflow Design - Illustrated Guide
- Workflow Design - Video Overview
- Workflow Roles
- Servicing Roles
- Pipeline Reporting
How do I create a Workflow?
- Navigate to Menu > Practice Management > Workflow Design
- Select on Create Workflow
- This will launch the Workflow Editor and you will need to complete some basic information about your process:
Name: The name of your workflow as other users will see it
Description: A brief summary of what this process is used for
Time Estimate: A rough indication of how long this process should take to complete
Workflow Type: Client Related = Client processes or client interaction / Process Orientated = internal processes conducted on mass
Priority: Set the importance of this workflow (this helps when filtering for tasks)
Summarise Workflow in File Note on Completion: ticking this box will cause Client Manager to create a file note against the client summarising the workflow once complete
Workflow Design
The design screen allows you to build out the overall flow of the process, including participants, tasks, decision points and milestones.
- Initially you will drag/drop a Workflow Role onto the design screen, and select the role that you want to assign that swim-lane to
- The next step is to drag/drop the green Start dot into the swim-lane as well
- The third step is to drag/drop your first Activity into the swim-lane and begin outlining the process that will take shape
- As soon as you drop the Activity onto the swim-lane, it will pop open onto Task Details
Can be assigned to: you have three options for assigning responsibility for tasks
1. All users within the role: this allows all users who are part of a role to be assigned this task, one user will then interact with the task and take responsibility for the task
2. Specific User: allows the creator of the workflow to specify an individual, who is a member of the role, to look after that task
3. Servicing Role: A specific individual can be assigned to a role for a specific client. For example, a practice may have two admin staff who support Adviser A and Adviser B. Rather than creating two workflows to cater for this, a Servicing Role can be set to automatically read who the admin staffer is/which adviser and direct the workflow accordingly.
Activity Template: Allows pre-set templates to be pulled into a workflow build - if you are not using this, then leave it blank
Name: This is the name of the Task that will be displayed when it is live
Description: Tasks are designed to be outcome based and this description is what we are trying to 'achieve' at this particular step
Due In: This allows you to control how long a user will have to complete the task; it is set in Days and Hours which is then tied to either 'After commencement of workflow', 'After completion of previous task' or 'Prior to due date of workflow'
Notify 'Assigned to' user by email: This will trigger a notification email to the user/s who are responsible for looking after the task
Notify 'Assigned by' user by email when task it completed/skipped: This will trigger a notification email to the user who assigned the workflow/tasks when it is completed or skipped
Exercise caution when using the notification options as it can quickly fill your inbox when multiple tasks/workflows are in progress - we recommend using your Dashboard to track work.
Actions
The ‘Actions’ within a task are the secret to the power of Workflows; they launch Client Manager features, ready to go for the client and content.
Available ‘Actions’ for a task include:
- Access/Customise Client Portal - if a client does not already have access to the Portal, this action will trigger the activation process to commence, in addition to this it will also give you the option to customise the Portal for existing clients.
- Add a service - a standalone service (outside of a Service Package) that forms part of Fee for Service (FFS)/FDS
- Add File Note - a file note can be created as part of a workflow; either with a template or blank file note
- Add insurance - allows an insurance policy entry to be created
- Add loan - create a new liability entry against the client record
- Add service package - assigns a Package against the client, which is made up of multiple Services; this forms part of Fee for Service (FFS)/FDS
- Add a tool to Portal - if a client has access to the Portal, this allows a user to turn on the Risk Profile Questionnaire, Insurance Needs Analysis tool, or both if desired
- Add URL - this action allows you to build in a link to an external site, such as a platform or provider
- Commence Time Ticker - this starts the time ticker to record how much time has been spent on the task, you must remember to turn off the ticker once you are done on a task to ensure the tracking is accurate
- Create Calendar Entry - if you have your Outlook Calendar synced with Client Manager, creating a calendar entry will push that event into your calendar, as well as sending details of the event to your end client
- Create investment - allows for the new entry of a portfolio investment
- Custom Field - you can link in Custom Screens that enable the user to interact with fields, such as contact details, while still inside a workflow
- Generate document - you can set a specific document to be generated at a specific time, such as a Review Checklist as part of the Review Process
- Launch new workflow - this action allows you to link workflows together which can be particularly useful when wanting to link processes such as linking the SOA Production to Implementation
- Modify due date of workflow - if you have set tasks to be tied to the due date of a workflow, adjusting the due date will see the due date of tasks be adjust as well if they have not yet commenced
- Open advice wizard - you can set the scenario type that a user will jump into from the workflow, such as 'SOA Generation"
- Open client investment - this action will take you to the Client's investment portfolio screen in either a new tab or window depending on your browser
- Open client summary - this action will take you to the Client's summary page in either a new tab or window depending on your browser
- Open document vault - this action will take you to the 'Document Vault' which is a centralised depository for practice documents such as a Privacy Policy or FSG
- Open service status - launches the user to the 'Service Status' screen (Menu > Practice Management > Service Status) which allows for the review/management of services/service packages against clients
- Open template management - this action will launch the 'Template Management' (Meun > Practice Management > Template Management) where a user can create or adjust templates
- Remove tool from Client Portal - if an end client is utilising the Portal, the Insurance Needs Analysis, Risk Profile Questionnaire, or both can be turned off
- Run portfolio reports - this enables you to run the original Portfolio Reports, whereas the newer iteration of reports can be run through 'Document Generation'
- Run user report - if User Reports have been created, these can be run through workflows if needed
- Send email - either a pre-templated or blank email can be tied into workflows; these can set to be sent automatically or with user intervention as desired
- Send SMS - when sending an SMS to a client through a workflow, this can be done with a template pre-set or written on an ad hoc basis; the SMS can also be scheduled to be sent at a specific time (for example if your client prefers to be contacted outside of business hours) or set in real time - you can see more information on SMS here
- Update field - where appropriate and if you are not utilising a custom screen, you can update fields for a client; for example if you have completed their review, you may wish to update the 'Next Review Date'
If what you are wanting to do with Actions is not available in the above list, you can usually achieve the desired outcome with a 'Custom Screen' - check out additional design time-saving tips HERE for Workflow Creation.
Attachments
If you would like to include any attachments for a specific task, such as a form to fill out with an end client, this can be added under the Attachments tab, which will then appear within the Task.
Checklists
The Checklist function allows you create option or mandatory items that can be marked as complete before a user can move to the next task in the workflow, an example:
When creating the checklist items, you simply need to enter the free text of how the checklist item should appear and whether the item is Mandatory:
Connect the Workflow
Once you have created your first activity, we need to connect the green Start dot to the first Activity - simple click and drag to connect the orange squares.
Decision Point
While a lot of workflows may track along in a linear design, you may wish to create a variety of outcomes for a task, which is where we will use a decision point. It allows us to configure a 'Question' that a user must answer to dictate how a workflow will proceed.
For example, if we want to book in an appointment with a client, our decision point might be: "Could you contact the client?"
- Drag/drop the decision point into the swim lane
- Double click on the decision to change the text
- Join the Activity to the Decision:
Options
If a Decision is a 'Question', then the Options are the possible 'Answers' to the question. They allow us to set the potential outcomes that a user might encounter during a workflow.
If we continue with the example of attempting to contact a client, our relevant options might include:
1. unable to contact the client
2. appointment booked
- Drag/drop the Options onto the swim lane
- Double click on the Option to change the text
- Connect the Decision to both of the options
There is a maximum of 10 Options being connected to the same Decision point.
Milestones
There might be key moments in your process that you wish to 'Track' - including a Milestone in your workflow will act as a silent checkpoint for users to pass through; this then drives Pipeline Reporting.
Using the ongoing example of booking a client meeting, it may be that we are wanting to track how many client meetings we are booking in. To do this, we would include a Milestone AFTER that specific option.
- Drag/drop the Milestone into the swim lane
- Double click to update the text
- Connect the Milestone to the process
You can connect both Activities and Options -into-> Milestones, but you can only connect a Milestone to an Activity -moving forward->
Workflow Design - Video Overview
Workflow Roles
A Workflow Role allows you to set user/s who are going to be responsible for different aspects of the process. You will then have flexibility when creating your task on how you wish to interact with the roles - this is covered under Workflow Design.
- Workflow Roles are created through Settings > Workflow Settings > Roles
- Create a new role (with a unique name) and add the relevant users to that role
Servicing Roles
You will notice that once you create a new workflow role, this will also create a new role on the Client Record under Basic Info > Servicing.
This feature allows you to set specific individuals against specific clients. When creating a workflow, you can then indicate that the Activity is assigned to a 'Servicing Role'. This will automatically assign the task to the relevant user who is listed for that specific Servicing Role.
Pipeline Reporting
Pipeline Reporting allows any user to view the overall status of Workflows that have Milestones inbuilt. The functionality facilitates oversight on where different clients are up to within a process; which makes it easier to see where there might be bottle necks in your practice.
- Navigate to Menu > Practice Management > Pipeline Reporting
- Filter by the relevant drop down boxes to refine what clients you are wishing to target:
View: Allows you to select previous searches that have been 'saved'
Assigned Adviser: filter by which user is the Adviser against the client record
Client Class: gives flexibility if you are wishing to target a specific status of client, such as Platinum
Date Started: this refers to the date the workflow was commenced, for example you could target workflows commenced within the last 7 days to see what is still outstanding
Pipeline by total milestone: using this radio button inline with the above filters allows you to identify ALL clients that have completed a relevant milestone, and then produces a graph inline with the number of matching records
Pipeline by last milestone: using this radio button inline with the above filters allows you to identify clients based on the last milestone that was completed, and then produces a graph inline with the number of matching records
- Once you have set your filters, you may wish to click on 'Save' to enable you to run the same set of filters again at a later date if needed; or you can reset the filters if desired - but you will then see a list of Milestones that you can include in your overall list
Click on the different columns to produce a list of clients at that stage of the workflow