Workflow: A comprehensive guide to streamlined planning

SaiPrasanthK
SaiPrasanthK
edited September 26 in Blog

Author: Prasanth Kosuri is a Solution Architect and EPM Consultant at Deloitte.

Anaplan Workflow, introduced in September 2023, has revolutionized the way organizations approach planning. This powerful tool offers a range of enhancements designed to improve efficiency, accuracy, and collaboration. Anaplan Workflow allows businesses to automate their planning processes, notifying users automatically when their action is needed, bringing them to exactly the right place at exactly the right time. Workflow is designed to easily layer onto different business requirements, helping to remove the manual intervention required to run successful planning processes. Automated task handover and notifications drive efficiency, delivering data and insights more quickly. Direct, streamlined user journeys for stakeholders enable effortless user adoption, further democratizing the planning process.

Key enhancements in Anaplan Workflow

Anaplan Workflow has recently undergone significant enhancements, making it more powerful, efficient, and flexible. These improvements are designed to seamlessly integrate into both new and existing model builds, wherever processes require notifying users upon task completion, due tasks, and reminders. Here are the key enhancements:

  1. Automated task reminders: Ensure tasks are completed on time, preventing delays and bottlenecks by automatically notifying users when their action is needed.
  2. Intuitive template builder: Simplify the creation and management of Workflow templates, making it easier to design and implement workflows.
  3. Line item and model role-driven decision steps: Enable decision-making based on specific data points within a model and the roles of users. Configure decisions and approvals to be assigned to users based on a connected line item or a specified model role, allowing model logic to determine who should approve at each stage of the process and ensuring that everyone holding that role is notified when approval is required.
    Workflow_Builder.png
  4. Skippable decisions and approvals: Streamline workflows by allowing users to skip certain steps based on specific conditions. Decisions and approvals can be optionally skipped if the line item used to define the approvers is blank, adding more flexibility in handling approval steps.
  5. Workflow scheduling: When creating a Workflow template, builders have the option to "start immediately" or "start based on a schedule," including options for start and end dates, times of day, and workflow repetition. This allows for greater flexibility in managing workflows.
    Scheduler.png
  6. Trigger workflows from a UX page: Workflow templates can now be linked to buttons on UX pages and made available for end users to use, allowing for greater flexibility and ensuring business continuity without delays.
  7. Hierarchy-based task customization: Tailor tasks to specific roles and responsibilities within the organizational hierarchy, ensuring that the right people are assigned to the right tasks.
  8. Clear context labels: Reduce errors by providing users with a better understanding of the data they are working with through clear context labels.

Practical use cases

  • Capital expenditure (Capex) project approval: Create a workflow to guide Capex projects through a multi-step approval process, ensuring that all necessary approvals are obtained and documentation is complete.
  • Promotions in trade promotion model: Implement a workflow to manage the promotion planning process, including steps for identifying eligible products, determining promotional terms, and obtaining approvals from relevant stakeholders.
  • Supply chain demand planning: Develop a workflow to streamline the demand planning process, ensuring that demand forecasts are accurate and aligned with supply capabilities.
  • Inventory management: Create a workflow to optimize inventory levels, automating tasks such as reorder point calculations and stock replenishment.
  • Financial reporting: Automate the financial reporting process, ensuring that reports are generated accurately and on time.

Tips for building effective workflows

  • Define clear objectives: Clearly articulate the goals of your workflow.
  • Identify key tasks: Break down your workflow into smaller, manageable tasks.
  • Leverage automation: Identify opportunities to automate repetitive tasks.
  • Optimize data flow: Ensure data flows seamlessly between different modules.
  • Test and iterate: Thoroughly test your workflows and make adjustments as needed.
  • Provide clear instructions: Ensure users understand how to complete tasks and navigate the workflow.
  • Monitor and analyze: Regularly monitor the performance of your workflows and identify areas for improvement.

Additional considerations

  • Security and access control: Implement appropriate security measures to protect sensitive data and ensure that only authorized users have access to relevant workflows.
  • User adoption: Develop a plan to encourage user adoption of Anaplan Workflow, providing training and support as needed.
  • Integration with ADO: Consider integrating the Workflow with Anaplan Data Orchestrator to streamline data flow and improve efficiency. (Which is due for upcoming releases.)

Benefits of Workflow

The power of automation

By automating routine tasks, you can free up your team's time to focus on more strategic initiatives. This not only increases efficiency but also reduces the risk of human error.

Improved collaboration and visibility

Centralized workflows foster better communication and coordination among team members. Real-time tracking of task progress provides a clear overview of the planning process.

Enhanced data quality

Consistent workflows help ensure data accuracy and integrity, reducing the risk of errors and improving the reliability of your planning outputs.

Conclusion

Anaplan Workflow is a valuable tool for organizations seeking to streamline their planning processes, improve collaboration, and enhance data quality. By leveraging its powerful enhancements, including automated task reminders, intuitive template builder, hierarchy-based task customization, clearer context labels, line item and model role-driven decision steps, skippable decisions and approvals, workflow scheduling, and the ability to trigger workflows from a UX page, organizations can achieve even greater efficiency, accuracy, and agility in their planning efforts.

Specifically, the ability to automate task reminders and approvals ensures that projects stay on track and that the right stakeholders are involved at the right times. The intuitive template builder and hierarchy-based task customization simplify the creation and management of workflows, making it easier to tailor processes to the unique needs of the organization. Clear context labels and enhanced decision steps reduce errors and improve decision-making, while the flexibility to schedule workflows and trigger them from UX pages ensures that workflows can be seamlessly integrated into daily operations.

By adopting these enhancements, organizations can streamline their planning processes and foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement. The result is a more agile, responsive, and data-driven organization that is well-equipped to navigate the complexities of modern business environments.

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