Using a Workflow Process for your Content

What is a workflow process?

A workflow process for your content takes a piece of content from its earliest inception to its publication. This includes all the people who contributed to the development of the piece, its editing, and the final version.

How do I set up a workflow process?

When a workflow process is efficient, it will help an organization to complete numerous pieces of high-quality content on a regular basis and experience fewer obstacles that could slow down the process. An efficient workflow is often a sign of digital marketing maturity. By creating and implementing a successful workflow, you're able to prove your team is aligned and your content is progressive. Here are a few key characteristics of a quality workflow process:

• The content production team stretches across specialty lines so that everyone from PR to customer services has the opportunity to submit ideas for content. Avoid silos as they only distance and separate team members from one another.
• Everyone involved in the content production process can easily see how a piece of content is progressing and who it will be going to next.
• It is easy for everyone on the content production team to find and review the latest version of the piece of content.
• Everyone on the team has a uniform idea about the job the content will perform and the style and tone it will have when it goes to publication. The team members must all be synced up at this point in case any of them need to make changes to the content.

How do you improve your own workflow process?

Improving your workflow requires analysis of your process current state and the reduction of repetitive steps to increase efficiency.

First, review your current workflow. You should detail every step in the creation of a piece of content, even steps that may seem insignificant, so that you get an accurate overview. For example, if the editor emails the writer with a question about the third paragraph, you should still include this point in the list.

Examine this overview and look for areas that are very repetitive or otherwise slow down the process. For example, if you are emailing copies of the article to multiple different people, it is likely that everyone involved has several copies of the material downloaded on their computers. This can lead to difficulties with version control and duplicative efforts when editing the document.

When you have identified points in the process that could be improved, devise solutions that address these inefficiencies. For example, if emailing the document is causing multiple versions to exist, consider adopting a cloud-based system, such as Google Docs. This will allow the document to be stored in a single location and everyone can edit and make notes on the same version, which makes it easier to follow the suggestions.

Finally, maintain strong communications between all team members. Create a common editorial calendar that lets everyone review the projects and their status.