Workflow in Salesforce and Salesforce Workflow Rules

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Keeping all tasks organised and synchronized is one of the benchmarks for great business. Hence, automating the routine activities will make the business efficient and also save the time of employees which can be further utilised for the company’s growth. Salesforce workflow automation is a powerful tool that can optimize these routine processes and enhance business operations. So here we bring an article that will focus on and cover all the topics required to understand Workflow in Salesforce and Salesforce Workflow Rules.

What is Workflow in Salesforce?

A workflow is a system that is created to manage repetitive processes and tasks which occur in a sequence

Workflow diagrams are made using the following steps:

1. Determine a process to map.
2. Gather information and identify stakeholders
3. Outline the workflow steps
4. Represent the workflow steps as a flowchart
5. Get Feedback
6. Finalize the flowchart

Almost any operational procedure composed of repeatable steps in any industry can be described as a workflow in salesforce. Some examples are as follows:

1. Company Purchase orders
2. E-commerce
3. New employee onboarding
4. Customer service and support
5. Bank Account sign-up
6. Healthcare Management
7. Job and flow shops in manufacturing.

What is the Salesforce Workflow Rule?

Salesforce Workflow Rules is a tool for automating a company’s internal processes so as to eliminate manual work. Workflows trigger automated actions when criteria are set. For example, when one changes a record (such as the “Date” field), an auto-notification email alert will be sent automatically to a User. 

Also Read: How will Salesforce Boost your Career in 2024?

Difference between Workflow in Salesforce  and Salesforce Workflow Rules 

There is a notable difference between Workflow in Salesforce and  Salesforce Workflow Rules. The main difference lies in the focus of both. Workflows are used to automate a wide range of business processes, while workflow rules are focused on specific field updates or record creation.

Types of Workflow Rules in Salesforce

The different types of Workflow Rules in Salesforce  are as follows:

Rule Criteria:

Rule Criteria specify conditions that are set by users and when conditions are met, it will trigger a specific action. For example, if one wants to notify his manager about a new opportunity when it is created but does not bombard him with notifications then a criteria can be set that only opportunities that are more than $10000 be sent to the manager. Whenever an opportunity meets this criteria an email alert will be sent to the manager.

Time-Based Workflow:

Time-Based Workflow triggers an action based on a specific time frame. For example, there are some cases where work is to be done in 2 hours,10 hours, 1 day,3 days etc. In such cases, a Time-Based Workflow can work. It can also be used to schedule follow-up calls, send renewal reminders, and more.

Approval Workflow:

In an approval workflow, the process stops at a specific point until a specific person or group approves the data. For example, a salesperson who would like to approve a discount on a product for a client will not be able to give a discount to his client until and unless he gets approval for the same from the manager.

Outbound Message Workflow:

Outbound Message Workflow sends data to an external system when a record is created or updated. For example, if a change is made in the customer’s name an outbound message will be sent to the external marketing system notifying the change in the name. 

Field Update Workflow:

Field Update Workflow works when certain conditions are fixed then it automatically updates a specific field on a record when the conditions are met. For example, if a  client delays the payment, and some date has been fixed as criteria then on that date the “Payment Status” field will be automatically updated to “Delayed”.

Which Elements Make up a Workflow Rule?

Workflow rules in Salesforce have two main components.

1. Criteria: the “if” part of the “if/then” statement. In other words, the conditions that need to be true so that the action is executed
2. Actions: the “then” part of the “if/then” statement. In other words, when the condition is true perform the action as specified.

There are many elements that play a major part in Workflow rules in Salesforce. They are as follows

1. Evaluation Criteria: In this, the action will be triggered only when the criteria are met during the evaluation. 
2. Rule Criteria: Rule Criteria specify conditions that are set by users and when conditions are met, it will trigger a specific action
3. Immediate Actions: These actions are taken immediately after the rule is triggered. 
4. Time-Dependent Actions: This triggers an action based on a specific time frame
5. Rule Description: This describes the workflow rule, to help administrators understand its purpose.
6. Activation: This tells if the rule is active or inactive. Inactive rules will not be triggered in any case, even if they meet the evaluation criteria.

All these elements come  together  for automating  business processes in Salesforce

How to Create a Workflow Rule

Demo: https://salesforce.vidyard.com/watch/IqZIFLtEx9rY7AD8QLFE3Q

Create Workflow Rules

Rule Criteria

1. Add Workflow Criteria

1. Select Workflow Rules.
2. Click on New Rule.
3. Choose the object to which one wants this workflow rule to apply.
4. Click Next.
5. Give the rule a name and description.
6. Set the evaluation criteria.
7. Enter your rule criteria.
8. Click Save & Next.

2. Add Workflow Action

Add an Immediate Action

Immediate Action

Add Time-Dependent Action

Add time Trigger

Define Time Trigger

Time-Dependent Workflow

Click Done.

Activate Workflow Rule

Make sure to Active a workflow Rule before starting unit testing.

Limitations

Some of the critical limits related to the Salesforce workflow rules  are  as follows:

1. One can create up to 500 active or inactive workflow rules per object.
2. 50 immediate and 10 time-dependent actions per workflow rule.
3. 10-time triggers per object per workflow rule
4. 1 million time-dependent actions can be scheduled. 
5. Only up to 1,000 workflow time triggers can be executed per hour per organization.

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The Final Words

Therefore it is evident that  Workflow in Salesforce is crucial for the automation of any business processes of the organization thus increasing their productivity However, it is crucial to remember the various limits and best practices associated with workflow rules to apply Salesforce Workflow rules. 

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