Redesigning Workflows for the Digital Age: Key Considerations

If You Digitise a Broken Process, You Still Have a Broken Process

One of the most common mistakes I see in digital transformation is this: 

We automate what exists - without asking whether it should exist in the first place.

We take workflows built for email, or worse, built for paper and we wrap them in platforms, apps and APIs. Then we wonder why adoption is slow, or outcomes still miss the mark. 

Digital transformation isn’t about speeding up the past. It’s about reimagining how work happens, from first principles.

Here’s what I’ve learnt about designing workflows that fit the modern age - and the humans who power it. 

1. Start With the User, Not the Org Chart 

Too many workflows mirror hierarchy, not logic. 

• Approvals go up the ladder when they should move sideways.
• Data gets input twice because two departments don’t speak.
• Steps are added to please a legacy policy, rather than solve a real problem.

Modern workflows start from the user and the outcome. Be prepared to ask: 

• What’s the user trying to do?
• Where’s the friction?
• What decisions actually need human involvement?
• What can be automated without compromising judgment or care?

When you build around needs, not titles, you create speed and satisfaction. 

2. Know When to Automate, and When to Humanise  

The promise of digital is often framed as “do more with less.” But more isn’t always better. 

Some moments call for automation: 

• Repetitive approvals
• Notifications
• Data handoffs
• System integrations

Others call for human touch: 

• Exception handling
• Emotional conversations
• Strategic decisions
• Coaching and mentoring

The best workflow redesigns don’t eliminate people.  They elevate them so they can focus where they add the most value. 

3. Let Governance Enable, Not Delay 

Governance is often seen as a blocker to innovation. In reality, it should be the opposite. Good governance means: 

• Clear escalation paths
• Defined roles and responsibilities
• Boundaries for experimentation
• Visibility without micromanagement

When governance is embedded into the workflow, not on top of it, it speeds things up. Teams know what’s expected. Decisions don’t stall. And accountability becomes a shared asset, not a fear. 

4. Integrate Across, Not Just Within 

Modern digital teams don’t sit in neat boxes. Marketing and IT overlap. Sales and service co-create. Ops feeds insight into product. Workflows should reflect that. 

That means: 

• Designing cross-functional journeys, not just departmental ones
• Using shared data models
• Avoiding duplicative systems that break context

When people have visibility into the full journey, not just their slice of it, they make better decisions. And they waste less time finding answers. 

Final Thought: Workflow = Experience 

Your internal processes don’t just affect your team.  They affect your customer. Your culture. Your reputation.

The way you move information, make decisions, and resolve issues says everything about your organisation’s agility and intent. 

So the next time you’re handed a workflow to “digitise”, stop.

Ask if it’s the right process in the first place. 

Because digital transformation isn’t just about speed. It’s about sense.