7 signs you need better workflow efficiencies

Most workflow problems don’t start with a dramatic failure.

A CRM may still be in use, but the updates arrive late enough to affect reporting. Someone may trust the monthly spreadsheet more than the dashboard because they know how the numbers were checked. Automation can also be in place without giving people confidence, especially when the data going into it feels inconsistent.

On paper, the platform is doing its job. In practice, people are filling the gaps around it.

That’s where operational friction starts to show. The issue isn’t always the tool itself. It’s often the way work moves through CRM, ecommerce platforms, reporting and automation day to day.

Good workflow efficiencies reduce that friction. They make the right process easier to use, reduce manual checking and help teams get more value from the platforms they already have.

Where workflow friction usually starts

Operational friction is the extra effort that sits around everyday work.

You can usually see it in the small adjustments people make to get things over the line.

An ecommerce team might keep a spreadsheet because the report they need doesn’t quite exist. In CRM, a sales handover might depend on a Teams message because the next step is not obvious in the record.

These issues are easy to ignore because the work still gets done. The concern is the amount of checking, chasing and fixing that has to happen around the process.

Your platform might not be the problem. The way work moves through it might be.

Quick checks for identifying workflow friction

A useful way to spot friction is to look for the moment people leave the intended process.

In the last week, did someone:

• Export data from a dashboard to answer a question manually?
• Rebuild a report before sharing it with a manager?
• Ask for confirmation in email or chat because the platform wasn’t clear?
• Check an automation outcome before trusting it?
• Update a spreadsheet outside the CRM or ecommerce platform?
• Copy customer, order or lead data from one tool into another?
• Ask someone who owns the next step in a handover?

One of these may be harmless. If several happen regularly, the workflow probably needs attention.

1. People leave the platform to get the job done

This is one of the clearest signs of operational friction.

A CRM record may exist, but the useful update is still in someone’s inbox. In ecommerce, the platform might hold the order data while the exceptions are managed somewhere else because the team needs a view the platform doesn’t currently give them.

People don’t create workarounds because they enjoy admin. They do it because the official route is too slow, incomplete or awkward.

A workaround is useful once. When it becomes normal, it’s a warning sign.

The answer isn’t always another platform. It may be a better dashboard, cleaner CRM fields, clearer ownership, improved ecommerce reporting or a tighter handover between teams. The useful question is not only “what tool are people using?”, but “why are they leaving the main process in the first place?”

2. The same data is entered more than once

Duplicate data entry is common in growing businesses, especially where CRM, ecommerce, finance and marketing tools have been added at different times.

A customer record might begin in Salesforce, then be copied into another platform because the integration is incomplete or the receiving team cannot see what they need. Order details may also be rekeyed into finance because the current workflow has never been properly joined up.

This wastes time, but the bigger issue is trust.

When 2 platforms hold slightly different versions of the same customer, order or opportunity, teams start checking the data before they act on it. Reporting becomes harder to rely on, automation carries more risk and confidence in the process drops.

Improving workflow efficiencies often starts with a simple question. Where does the data first appear, and why is anyone entering it again?

3. Reports exist but nobody quite trusts them

Most businesses don’t need more dashboards. They need dashboards people can use without a weekly explanation.

The pattern is familiar. Before a meeting, someone exports the numbers and checks them against a spreadsheet because the CRM report doesn’t quite match the ecommerce view. The manual version becomes the safer option, and before long, it is treated as the real report.

If the dashboard needs explaining every week, it probably isn’t doing its job.

The issue may sit in data quality, field usage, reporting logic or unclear definitions between teams. It may also be that the report was built around what the platform could show easily, rather than what the business actually needs to know.

Reliable reporting depends on the workflow behind it. The data has to be captured at the right point, updated by the right people and understood in the same way across teams. Without that, a dashboard can look finished while still creating doubt.

4. Teams know the workaround better than the process

Every business has workarounds. Some are sensible short-term fixes.

The problem comes when people understand the workaround better than the intended process.

In sales, this might mean people know which CRM fields can be ignored because they don’t affect the real conversation. An ecommerce team may have its own export for order exceptions, while marketing operations might keep a note of the automation rules that need checking before a campaign goes live.

This is how friction becomes normal. It shows up in small habits, informal instructions and knowledge that sits with individuals rather than in the workflow.

Low adoption is not always a people problem. Sometimes the workflow is asking too much.

When people avoid a platform, it’s worth asking what they’re trying to avoid. The answer may point to unclear fields, poor reporting, duplicated admin or a process that no longer reflects how the team works.

5. Automations need manual checking

Automation should reduce effort. It shouldn’t create another task to supervise.

If teams check every automated step before trusting it, something needs reviewing. The trigger may be unclear, the customer data may be inconsistent, or the workflow may have too many exceptions for the automation to handle cleanly. Sometimes the automation was built before the process was properly understood.

A common example is lead routing. The rule sends leads to the right place in theory, but sales still reviews and reassigns them because territories, account ownership or lead quality rules are not reflected properly. The automation is running, but the workflow around it is not trusted.

Automation should not be used to speed up a messy process.

It works best when the workflow is clear, the data is reliable and the next step is understood. Without that foundation, automation can add uncertainty rather than remove work.

6. Ownership is unclear at handover points

Friction often appears when work moves from one team to another.

A marketing-to-sales handover may look fine in the process map, but if sales receives a lead without enough context, the next step still depends on someone asking questions outside the platform. Similar issues appear in ecommerce when an order problem moves from customer service to fulfilment without a clear owner for the next update.

These handovers matter because they affect colleagues and customers.

The warning signs are familiar:

• People ask who owns the next step
• Updates happen in email rather than in the CRM
• Tasks are duplicated because nobody knows who picked them up
• Customers repeat information they’ve already given
• Teams chase for status updates that should already be visible

A smoother workflow makes ownership clear. It shows what has happened, what needs to happen next and who is responsible. In practice, that often means reviewing CRM workflows, ecommerce processes, reporting and team responsibilities together, rather than treating each one as a separate issue.

7. New starters learn the workaround before the workflow

This is one of the strongest signs that friction has become embedded.

If a new starter is taught the workaround before the actual process, the business has normalised the issue.

They might be shown the official platform first, then quickly told which dashboard to avoid, which spreadsheet is the real tracker and who knows how to fix the common order problem. That knowledge helps people cope, but it doesn’t scale well.

It makes training harder, reporting less consistent and the business more dependent on individual memory. It also makes future optimisation more difficult because the real process is no longer visible in one place.

When new starters need a guide to the exceptions before they can do the job, the workflow needs attention.

What workflow friction says about your current setup

These signs don’t automatically mean your ecommerce platform, CRM or automation tools need replacing.

They may still have the right foundations. The problem may sit around configuration, usability, reporting, integration or support.

Workflows change after implementation. Teams grow, sales stages evolve and ecommerce operations become more complex.

Marketing journeys get added over time, while reporting needs shift as leadership asks different questions of the business.

What made sense at launch may no longer reflect the way people work now. That’s when operational friction appears.

The optimal first step is usually to review where people leave the process, where data is duplicated, where trust breaks down and where the workflow asks too much of the user.

How smoother workflows change day-to-day work

A smoother workflow usually feels quite ordinary. People know where to go, what to update and what happens next.

The easiest route is also the right one.

In practice, this means data is entered once and used properly elsewhere. Reports answer the question people actually have, while CRM fields are understood and used consistently. Ecommerce, sales, marketing and service teams can see the information they need without building side processes around it.

It also means automation can run without constant supervision. That trust matters, because adoption improves when the platform helps people do the work. It doesn’t improve when teams are repeatedly told to use something that makes their day harder.

Start with the workflow before changing the platform

It’s tempting to jump straight to a new tool, integration or automation. Sometimes that’s needed, but it isn’t always the best place to start.

Start by looking at how work actually happens.

Not the version in the original process map. Not the ideal version from implementation. The real version people follow when they’re busy.

Ask practical questions:

• Where does the task begin?
• Who touches it?
• What gets copied and pasted?
• Where do people leave the platform?
• Which reports are rebuilt manually?
• Which automations are checked instead of trusted?

This kind of review gives you a clearer view of the problem. It may point to platform optimisation, CRM clean-up, ecommerce platform support, reporting improvements, automation review or better workflow support.

In many cases, the issue is not one large fault. It is a mix of smaller points of friction that have built up over time.

Optimise existing workflows before replacing the platform

Replacing a platform can be the expensive answer to a workflow problem.

There are times when a tool has genuinely reached its limit. But many businesses still have value in the platforms they already use. CRM, ecommerce and marketing automation tools can often be improved through better configuration, clearer reporting, simpler processes and ongoing support.

The work might involve cleaning up CRM fields, improving dashboards, reviewing automation rules or tightening handovers between teams. It may also mean making ecommerce operations easier to monitor so the team can deal with exceptions inside the platform rather than building another tracker around it.

None of this is as attention-grabbing as a new platform project. It is often more useful.

Platform optimisation works because it focuses on the gap between what the platform can do and how people actually use it.

What to remember about workflow efficiencies

A useful workflow review should help you see where everyday work has become harder than it needs to be.

• Operational friction often shows up through workarounds, duplicate data, manual checks and unclear ownership.
• Workflow efficiencies should improve trust and usability, not just speed.
• Low adoption is not always a people problem.
• Existing ecommerce, CRM, Salesforce and automation platforms often need optimisation before replacement.
• Automation works best when the workflow underneath it is clear.

FAQs we hear about workflow efficiencies

These are the questions teams often ask when platforms are in place, but the work still feels harder than expected.

What are workflow efficiencies?

Workflow efficiencies are practical improvements that reduce unnecessary effort in a process. They can include better reporting, simpler CRM processes, reduced manual admin, improved automation or more usable ecommerce workflows.

What is operational friction?

Operational friction is the unnecessary effort that slows day-to-day work. It often appears as spreadsheet workarounds, duplicate data entry, unclear ownership, poor platform adoption, manual checking or reports that people don’t fully trust.

Do workflow efficiencies always mean replacing a platform?

No. Many workflow issues can be improved by optimising the platforms already in place. A CRM, ecommerce platform or automation tool may have the right foundations but need better configuration, usability, reporting or support.

How can Sherwen help improve workflow efficiencies?

Sherwen can review how work moves through your current platforms, identify where friction is appearing and support practical improvements across CRM, Salesforce, ecommerce, automation, reporting and ongoing platform optimisation.