Workflow examples and templates for any team

A workflow example is a step-by-step map showing exactly how work moves from person to person until it’s done. If you don’t have one, you’re relying on memory and good intentions - and that’s how things fall apart. Here’s how we approach workflow management at Tallyfy.

Why bother with workflow examples?

Here’s what I keep hearing in conversations we’ve had with operations teams: “We know what we’re doing, we just don’t write it down.” That’s fine until someone’s on vacation, or quits, or you’re trying to onboard the fifth new hire this quarter.

AI agents are everywhere right now. AI agents don’t need more intelligence. They need a map. And that’s the gap. An AI agent without a defined workflow is just a chatbot with ambition.

Workflow management and automation can benefit just about any business - the benefits are well documented. The question we get asked most often onboarding alone appear in over 860 of our conversations and employee onboarding in another 300. The hard part? Figuring out which of your business processes can actually be turned into repeatable workflows. So here are the most common workflow examples to get you started.

The 4 types every business needs

While each business has its own quirks, there are functions that show up everywhere. These are always standardized and can be turned into digital workflows without much fuss.

• Onboarding - This applies to new accounts, suppliers, employees, partners, and more. Onboarding is inherently repeatable - you’re explaining the same things every time
• Requests and approvals - Organizational approvals (company travel, expense claims) or document approvals (getting management to sign a contract). Simple, but messy without a system
• Forms management - Signups, research surveys, intake forms. In many cases, workflow management software is far more useful than standalone survey tools because you can tie forms directly into existing workflows
• Incident response - When something goes wrong, you need to react fast. Without a predefined response workflow, you lose time figuring out who does what while the problem gets worse

Let me walk through several workflow examples for each of these.

Onboarding workflows

Onboarding - regardless of the exact type - is always high stakes. I learned this the hard way at Tallyfy, if you miss a step with employee onboarding, they might not gel with the team. That often ends with them quitting, and you’re stuck eating the replacement costs. Something we learned the hard way is that strong onboarding workflows typically span 15-20 steps covering everything from background checks through 90-day check-ins.

The same goes for bringing on new accounts. Unless you’re transparent about operations from day one, miscommunication creeps in fast.

Using workflows makes any kind of onboarding dramatically more efficient. Period.

How account onboarding works

Account onboarding is the process of welcoming new accounts to your business - addressing their needs, giving them access to tools, setting expectations.

This varies by industry, but here’s a generic template that works as a starting point:

1. Collect information through a registration form
2. Approval check - is this account a good fit?
3. If approved, send the welcome package - email, welcome gift, etc.
4. Send service options with pricing
5. Setup initial meeting and decide on agenda
6. Conduct kickoff meeting
7. Create and send project charter document (deliverables, conditions, scope)
8. If needed, revise the charter until both sides agree

How employee onboarding works

Employee onboarding matters for just about any organization. Done right, it’s extremely beneficial - boosting both engagement and retention. Done wrong? You’ll feel the pain for months.

1. New employee signs all documents and legalities
2. Company management signs and stamps documents
3. HR sends email to supervisor and team members about the new hire
4. Office manager or IT prepares supplies:
   1. Tech - access to company software, personal computer, email
   2. Company swag - t-shirt, welcome gift
   3. Brochures and onboarding materials
   4. Office entrance key or ID

How partner onboarding works

Partnerships come in many forms - distribution channels, resellers, local distributors. Distributors especially need a lot of attention during onboarding to make sure they represent your product correctly.

Partner onboarding is repeatable. If you’re using partnerships as a growth channel, you’ll run through this process over and over. So it’s worth getting the process right.

1. Partner fills in registration form
2. Approved or disapproved
3. Setup and conduct the onboarding meeting
4. Send contract, NDA, and other legal documents
5. Approve or ask for revision
6. IT provides access to partner portal (if available)
7. Schedule partner training and monthly check-ins

Requests and approvals

Requests and approvals are some of the simplest workflow examples. With onboarding, you’ve got long processes involving multiple departments. Approvals? They’re a simple one-off - meant to cut through bureaucracy for both employees and management.

Instead of tracking down HR, filling in a paper form, and waiting days for a response, you’d just log into your workflow software and submit the form. Done.

Vacation requests

1. Employee submits vacation request form
2. HR approves on time period and duration
3. Supervisor or management approves timing
4. Vacation request approved

Expense claims

1. Expense claim form submitted
2. Management approves
3. Finance pays the bill

Document approvals

1. Document submitted
2. If disapproved, revise and resubmit
3. If approved, store in relevant folder
4. Send automatic email to document owner

Forms management workflows

Forms are a supplementary tool that plugs into the rest of your workflow management. The real power? You can tie form results and approvals directly into your other workflows.

New account intake

This usually sits alongside the onboarding workflow. Before you start working with a new account, you need to figure out if you’re a good match. This workflow covers that pre-onboarding evaluation.

1. Application form submission
2. Check application
3. If disapproved, send rejection letter
   1. If approved, run document checklist
4. Is Document A present?
5. Is Document B present?
6. If not, ask for revision. If accepted, details go to CRM
7. Create account ID, email to account holder
8. Send welcome package

Incident response workflows

Things go wrong. Even with the best planning, threats slip through. And unless you can react quickly with a predefined process, you’re going to take a serious hit.

You can prepare for these events by setting up incident alert management workflows. Here’s a real example that comes up more often than you’d think.

IT security threats

Cyber attacks are a bigger threat than ever. Most companies, though, aren’t prepared to respond. Having incident response workflows set up can make all the difference - letting you act before real damage is done.

Here’s a workflow for responding to an unauthorized USB device on a company laptop:

1. Incident reported by employee or cybersecurity team
2. Threat evaluated. If false alarm, end workflow
3. Emergency email sent to management or cybersecurity head
4. Emergency response meeting scheduled and held
5. Solution proposed and applied
6. If it didn’t work, back to step 4

Automate workflows with the right software

The best way to manage your workflows is through software. Rather than manually routing tasks between people, the software handles it for you.

You get a top-down view of all workflows happening at any given time, plus information on missed deadlines and bottlenecks. This is where Tallyfy shines - it gives you visibility without the overhead. We’ve observed that operations teams who switch from spreadsheets and email to proper workflow software typically cut their process management time in half.

Workflow management software is free to try - give it a go and see the difference firsthand.

Can ad-hoc work really scale? Probably not. Here’s a calculator to prove it:

Ready-to-use workflow templates

Example Procedure

Client Onboarding

1Gather Basic Information

2Send Welcome E-Mail

3Conduct a Kick-Off Call

4Conduct a 1 month check-in Call

5Request Feedback

+1 more steps

View template

Example Procedure

Employee Onboarding

1HR - Set up payroll and send welcome email

2IT - Order equipment and set up workstation

3Office Manager - Prepare physical workspace

4IT - Create accounts and system access

5HR - Welcome meeting and company orientation

+3 more steps

View template

Example Procedure

Partner Onboarding

1Determine channel of inquiry

2Send partner application form

3Review application

4Schedule meeting to determine fit for partnership

5Approve application

+9 more steps

View template

Related questions

What are the 5 steps of a workflow?

Think of it like a recipe. First, you figure out what needs to get done. Then you decide who’s doing what. Third, you set up the resources and tools. Fourth - you actually do the work. And finally, you look back at how it went and tweak things for next time.

That’s it. Five steps. Not rocket science, but most teams skip step five entirely. They never look back to improve. That’s where the real value lives.

How do you write a workflow?

Start with the end goal. What are you trying to accomplish? Then list every single step it takes to get there - and I mean every step, even the ones that feel obvious. Assign who does what and when.

Keep it simple enough that someone brand new could follow it on day one. I think the best workflows feel like a helpful guide, not a compliance manual. If people dread opening it, you’ve written it wrong.

What are the different types of workflows?

You’ve got linear workflows - one thing after another, like dominoes. Then there are parallel workflows where multiple things happen at the same time. State machine workflows are more interesting - they branch based on conditions, like a choose-your-own-adventure book.

There are also case workflows for handling unique situations and process workflows for standardizing repeated work. My honest take? Most teams only need linear and parallel. Don’t overcomplicate it.

What does a basic workflow look like?

A basic workflow is stripped down to essentials. No bells and whistles. Something like: receive order, make product, quality check, ship. Four steps.

That’s your foundation. You build on it, add branching logic, assign different teams - but you start simple. The teams that try to map every possible scenario on day one usually end up with a diagram nobody can read and nobody follows.