Digitize a check sheet process in under 1 hour

Conor McGrath00:03

Thanks for joining us for another FlowForma virtual workshop, where you'll once again see a significant business process digitized in under an hour. I'm Conor McGrath, Digital Marketing Executive at FlowForma, and I'm joined by my colleagues David Shanley, Product Specialist, and Stewart Miller, Territory Manager.

Conor McGrath00:47

We want to show how easy FlowForma is to use, and how it lets you digitize processes quickly, gain rapid adoption and get an early return on your investment. Please be as interactive as possible: answer the polls and send your questions through the chat while David and Stewart build today's process.

Conor McGrath02:13

Before today, we asked you which process you'd like to see digitized, and it's a landslide: 41% of registrants want to see a check sheet process automated.

Stewart Miller02:46

I'm surprised. I'd have thought an approval or expenses process. This is something new for you, Dave.

Conor McGrath03:05

Next poll, and you can pick more than one: what are your process challenges? 50% say the process is currently paper-based, 70% have a lack of mobile accessibility, 40% have poor communication with third parties, and 40% say information isn't submitted correctly or gets lost.

Stewart Miller04:42

These workshops are back by popular demand. Last time Dave did a purchase order request, and before that HR onboarding, each within an hour. A check sheet is new, so how are you feeling?

David Shanley05:11

We should get it done. It'll be tight, but we'll get it done. It's an interesting choice, especially given the feedback around offline capabilities, because check sheets are used a lot for on-site inspections.

Stewart Miller05:35

If you chose another process, don't be disappointed. There's a lot of the expenses, approval and travel request functionality in this one. After the session we can also arrange a one-to-one on your own processes, and there's an assisted 14-day free trial.

Stewart Miller07:27

FlowForma is an award-winning process automation provider, and what makes us different is that everything Dave will show you is 100% no code. You don't need IT or coding skills, so business process owners can digitize their own processes. We sit firmly in digital process automation, which involves people, rather than robotic process automation.

Stewart Miller09:43

Our customers range from enterprises such as Aon, with 80 processes, to organizations like the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, which has digitized over 200 processes and has a paperless finance department. Rather than listening to us, read what customers say on G2.

David Shanley12:13

The check sheet won, but people who chose the approval process will recognize a lot here: there's an approval step, and we'll use tables, which are key to building check sheets efficiently. This is the FlowForma dashboard. FlowForma sits on SharePoint Online, and that's where process builders create forms.

David Shanley13:15

End users don't come here. They work from a SharePoint team site, where tiles start processes and list views show the forms awaiting their attention. You can push data to SharePoint lists, SQL Server and other systems, and embed reports such as a Power BI dashboard.

David Shanley14:14

There's mobile enablement too, with offline capabilities. You don't build anything separately for mobile: the process renders automatically for iOS and Android.

David Shanley15:02

The form has a customizable header and a step bar. This is a two-step process, and a step is a block of content you assign to a person or group. We're using native SharePoint lists, which are very easy to work with: one maps each project to its supervisor, another maps projects to sites.

David Shanley16:13

Choose a project and a cascading lookup shows only that project's sites, with an Other option that reveals a free-text field. A get list data rule pulls through the project's supervisor. Every rule is built with no code. There are custom question types too, such as geolocation, which is very popular in construction for pinpointing a location.

David Shanley17:41

There are two table types. With a dynamic table the user adds and removes rows as they see fit. A fixed table pulls in a list, with a set number of rows the user can't change, which is useful when every row must be checked.

David Shanley18:24

In the dynamic table, choose a category and a cascading lookup filters the items, and a rule pulls through each item's description. You can take a photo on site with your tablet, annotate over it and add comments. Tables are notoriously hard to work with in a lot of tools. In FlowForma it's a lot easier.

David Shanley19:59

There's a wet signature, so you can sign on the device with a finger or stylus. On a site inspection, not everyone may be a FlowForma user, so FlowForma Engage lets you bring in third parties, anonymously or securely. A crew could share a tablet, and each person signs the section that applies to them.

David Shanley20:55

When I submit this step, the supervisor is assigned the review and gets an email. We also use FlowForma's generate document capability to fill a Word template with content from the form. I put this one together in about 10 minutes.

David Shanley21:50

On the second step the supervisor approves or requests an amendment. If they request one, a comments field appears, and on submit the process passes back to the first step with those comments embedded for the person who started the check sheet.

Stewart Miller22:56

A question from Audrey: she's proficient in Microsoft 365 and SharePoint, with no coding experience. How long would it take a business user like her to get up and running?

David Shanley23:20

Two days of training will get you up and running. It's 100% no code, and you work in a single build interface, so forms and workflow don't need to be knitted together. Our SureStart program also lets you build your first process together with FlowForma's customer success team, putting the training straight into practice.

David Shanley24:12

Now I'll build the process from scratch. I create a new process and it opens in Flow Designer, your toolkit that combines forms, workflow and document generation in one build interface. With form preview on, the form renders on the right as I add the two steps: check sheet details and supervisor approval.

David Shanley25:41

Then I add questions to each step, starting with the requester, a person field set to the current user. There are loads of question types, though you'll use the same five or six most of the time: SharePoint list lookups, Dynamics CRM, SQL Server, repeating tables and web signatures. Visual flow designer shows the build as a diagram, which helps when stakeholders are brainstorming.

David Shanley27:30

Next come the project and site lookups. The beauty of lists is that you change the content in SharePoint, not in FlowForma, and every form reflects it, including existing ones. If you're used to Excel, they're very easy to work with. I filter the site lookup to the chosen project and add the supervisor, then a geolocation field with accuracy and altitude.

David Shanley31:31

At any moment you can create a test form to check what you've built. I'll add an Other field for the site, too. It's all about agile building: you make changes very quickly.

Stewart Miller32:18

And when you go back to it six months later, it's very easy to see what rules you put in.

David Shanley33:06

The dynamic check sheet is a repeating table. I add the sub-questions: a category lookup, an item lookup filtered by the chosen category, details, an image upload with preview and annotation, comments and a checked box. Using lists ensures users engage with the form correctly and gives you one source of truth.

Stewart Miller36:51

A question from Jane: thanks for showing the SharePoint lists, but how does FlowForma integrate with other systems?

David Shanley37:09

There are lots of ways. If a system has a connector, use our Azure Logic Apps connector. If it has a REST API, use the API connections built into FlowForma. Data can flow both ways. And because FlowForma sits on SharePoint, you get all its list and document management capabilities, such as routing a generated document to a library based on conditions, all with no code.

David Shanley38:54

The fixed table suits a check sheet because you often want specific items checked off. I use a horizontal yes/no radio button for each row and make the category, item and details read-only. Then I add the approval step with a yes/no and comments, plus approver comments, a wet signature and today's date on the first step.

David Shanley41:43

Now the business rules. A question change rule fires on its trigger question. If the site is Other, a hide/show rule shows the Other field. Hide/show rules are what you'll use 60 to 70% of the time, and there are data integration, API, Azure Logic Apps, communication and SharePoint actions too. Because it's one build interface, you can see where each rule sits and why.

David Shanley44:35

On form load, a get list data rule maps the category item list into the fixed table. If approval is no, the comments appear. A step completed rule passes the form back to the first step, shows the comments there and copies the approver's comments across. Finally, a rule in the dynamic table pulls through each item's details.

David Shanley48:14

Let's test it. A little effort on your lists really pays off, and this could equally be an expenses process with calculations and receipts. Choosing Other shows the extra field, the supervisor pulls through, the fixed table fills from the list, and when the approver says no, it passes back with the comments embedded.

David Shanley49:44

The process I showed at the start also generates a Word document and a PDF. The FlowForma add-in for Word lets you place tokens from the form wherever you want them, build custom table layouts and add rules, so the document only shows content relevant to that case and contracts to fit.

David Shanley51:20

What you learn working with tables here applies to other processes. This purchase order has list lookups and calculated questions, and a requisition over 2,500 needs level two approval: change the amount and that approval disappears. All with simple business logic and no code.

Stewart Miller52:26

Well done, that's three in a row within the hour. On pricing: it's an annual subscription with all functionality and unlimited processes, so you can digitize at will. It includes SureStart to get one process live with you, training for your business users, and support and upgrades.

Conor McGrath54:04

Do you have any tips for prioritizing which processes to automate?

Stewart Miller54:22

All our customers start with one process, then digitize at pace across the business. Choose one that's impactful, so once it's digitized the good news travels quickly. It doesn't need to be the most complex or problematic process. Pick the one where the good news will travel the furthest.

Conor McGrath54:59

I have staff in a lot of remote areas. Would FlowForma work for remote users?

David Shanley55:11

Yes. It has mobile enablement on iOS and Android, together with offline capabilities.

Conor McGrath55:31

How soon could I see an ROI from implementing FlowForma?

Stewart Miller55:45

It depends on the use case, but customers see a return once the process is live in production, and the average is six weeks. Beaumont Hospital in Dublin digitized nearly a million letters and saves close to €218,000 a year. AC Immune in Switzerland went live with HR onboarding within six weeks and spent 22 hours mapping, digitizing and releasing it. It's agile and iterative: the process doesn't have to be perfect on release.

Conor McGrath57:05

Apologies if we didn't get to your question. We did what we set out to do and digitized the process in under an hour, so thank you, David and Stewart. Our process specialists will follow up on any questions. You can book a one-to-one call with our process experts, a free personalized demo, or a free 14-day trial at flowforma.com.