From chaos to cohesion: How internal software improves workflow efficiency

Workflows are essential for any organisation, regardless of size.

Finding ways to make those workflows more efficient enhances how work gets done. Investing in workflow efficiency isn’t just about saving time and money, it can also boost employee productivity and customer satisfaction.

So, how do you optimise workflows?

One way to sharpen up organisational workflows is through the internal software solutions you use. By implementing and updating internal solutions, you give your employees the tools they need to get work done faster, better, and with fewer frustrations. From automating tasks to eliminating unnecessary processes, internal software allows your business to deliver a higher quality service.

What is internal software?

Internal software refers to the solutions your company and internal employees use in their day-to-day work. Examples of internal software include database interfaces, CRM platforms, employee intranet, or an informational Wiki pages — to give you a few ideas.

You might have internal systems in place created using spreadsheets, customisable SaaS products, built in bespoke programmes, or coded by an in-house developer. However they’re built, the main purpose of internal software is to streamline organisational processes.

This type of software isn’t customer-facing — and with that comes a number of unique challenges. Most businesses are concerned with perfecting customer-facing processes and software to improve the customer experience.

While it’s important to prioritise customer-facing solutions, neglecting internal software can cause problems further down the line. We’ve seen many cases where businesses have built internal software as a quick fix, leading to inefficient processes or outdated and limited systems that are difficult to scale. These challenges can stack up and hinder your team’s ability to work efficiently, increasing the time and cost of getting things done.

Building internal software is an investment in your business. By tightening up your internal software solutions, you can improve workflows and positively impact business performance.

How internal software unlocks the full potential of your team

Implementing internal software, or updating legacy systems, can boost team productivity and workflow efficiency.

And if you’ve spent time building internal software, you understand that creating internal software and systems will add value to your team, saving time and simplifying workflows.

Powerful internal software should be able to scale as your business grows. Organisations need software solutions that can be easily updated to accommodate new business processes, allowing your team to perform new functions with ease.

Unfortunately, it’s all to common for internal tooling once considered valuable to become outdated or confusing to use without proper care. If, or when, that happens it’s going to limit your team’s potential to productively achieve their objectives and overall company performance will be impacted.

Let’s explore just some of the ways internal software can unlock the full potential of your team.

Centralised information

Nobody wants to sift through various documents, notebooks, or emails to find the information they need. That’s where a well-optimised internal software solution comes into play — it can serve as a central hub for all your company information.

By developing a cohesive system that houses all of the relevant and up-to-date company information, your employees can quickly and easily access the information or documents they need. This not only saves time, but it also prevents employees from using outdated company documents or processes when performing tasks.

This could be used to document systems and workflows your team needs, streamline data input, viewing and amending customer orders, or many other things. When working with data, the sky is the limit.

Streamlined workflows

Modern internal software solutions are fast and flexible. Designed with performance in mind, modern internal software makes it much easier for employees to perform tasks.

We recently helped Blackwood streamline their internal software. We started by analysing the current user journey, looking for ways to optimise stages of the journey in the updated software. This involved eliminating unnecessary steps, making information easier to find, and automating repeat tasks.

By making their internal systems more dynamic and streamlining their workflows, we were able to help Blackwood reduce how much time it took to complete tasks, which significantly reduced resource costs for each data change.

Reduced human error

Mistakes happen. After all, we’re human. But well designed systems easily avoid mistakes by simplifying workflows, allowing users to focus on the task at hand rather than how the software works.

One way to reduce the risk of errors caused by human oversight is to automate repetitive tasks. Using your internal software to automate data input could help minimise the chance of typos, miscalculations, or other mistakes that can happen when employees have to input data manually.

Another way internal software can minimise human error is by acting as a centralised and standardised database. When all employees use the same central database, there is only one source of truth. This reduces the risk of errors caused by inconsistent or duplicated data.

Automated workflows

Automated workflows don't only reduce errors. They also free up your employees to focus on more valuable work. Modern internal software can be a powerful tool to automate repetitive tasks. Using your internal systems to streamline processes reduces the need for manual input, giving your team more time to focus on tasks that really matter.

Automating workflows also speeds up task completion. By automating certain stages of the workflow, your team can focus on the most important steps. This allows your team to spend more time on strategic tasks and less time on menial, routine work. In turn, this can lead to a more engaged workforce and positively impact productivity and efficiency.

Improved task completion

Outdated software accumulates a lot of technical debt and can be a pain to use. Technical issues can pile up, making it frustrating for employees to efficiently complete tasks.

By refining your internal software, you can eliminate redundant or unnecessary steps for employees and, in turn, improve task completion. We did this for Blackwood by observing how employees used the current software to pinpoint any missing processes, confusing workflows, or unnecessary steps. We then refined these workflows to improve the overall experience of their internal software, making it more user-friendly and easier to navigate.

Scalable software

As your business grows and evolves, you need to be able to easily add new features as and when you need them — without having to resort to quick fixes or shortcuts.

We love implementing headless software as they’re designed to solve this problem.

With a scalable headless solution in place, you won’t need to worry about the build up of technical debt or having to create “workaround” solutions to add new features. Everything will be designed to be flexible and easy to update from the get-go, so you can keep your internal software running smoothly no matter how much your business changes over time.

Final thoughts — Go from chaos to cohesion with modern internal software solutions

Investing in internal software is crucial for companies who want to maximise their workflow efficiency. Outdated and inefficient internal software can cause frustration and issues that will ultimately hurt the bottom line.

Modern internal software offers a variety of benefits, such as automated workflows, reduced human error, streamlined processes, and improved task completion — benefits that we have seen firsthand through the clients we have supported.

At Skyward, we help enterprise companies build scalable internal software solutions. We’ll work with you to assess your current system, identify areas for improvement, and develop a software solution that is tailored to your exact needs.

Get in touch to see how we can help your organisation streamline workflows, improve efficiency and focus on what matters most — growing your business.