Let’s explain to you what is a workflow or work flowan increasingly popular type of automation. This is something that has been possible for some time with specialized tools, but they have taken a new step with the inclusion of artificial intelligence.
These workflows allow you to create quite interesting and advanced automations. We have already taught you some, such as when you receive an email in Gmail the AI processes it and You will receive a summary by Telegram so you don’t need to open or read the email.
What is a workflow or work flow?
A workflow is the term we use to define a structured sequence of steps, tasks, or processes programmed to achieve a specific objective. This process may have more or fewer steps depending on the goal you want to achieve.
In essence, it is like a chain of tasks that you can configure. That is why it is a workflow, because to reach the objective you have to carry out one task after another in the order that you have configured, using the results of each of the steps for the next.
The term workflow or workflow can be used in various contexts. In the business world it can be something as simple as a sequence of actions that employees perform, such as me requesting vacation days, the boss reviewing and approving them, and then human resources being notified to record it in the system.
But at Xataka Basics we are going to talk to you about them especially in a context of software and tools for automate the completion of tasks through several steps. With them, you can increase productivity and reduce the time it takes to do various tasks, whether focusing on domestic actions or for the business world.
There are several types of workflow
There are several types of workflow, such as the sequential oneswhich are a chain in which the task is completed in each of the steps before jumping to the next. They are also the parallelsin which multiple tasks run at the same time and then converge to save time.
You also have the workflows conditionalsin which there are certain rules. If one thing happens, then this task is performed, and if it does not happen or something else happens, it goes to different steps.
And then there are automated workflows that are carried out using software, and that serve to reduce human errors and improve the speed at which tasks are completed. These They can use or not use artificial intelligence depending on the task you want to perform.
These automated workflows are typically performed with digital tools, such as Zapier either Make.com. Depending on the volume of actions and complexity, you will then be able to use free accounts or you will have to pay a subscription to use them.
How automated workflows work
The tools to create automated workflows are like blank canvases on which you build the steps of your automation, although They also have template systems to help you with the processes and give you ideas of things you can do.
You can use these linking the tool to the online services you want to usewhich can be anything from your email service to an artificial intelligence system to process information.
When linking these services, depending on the tool, you will need to simply log in and grant access, or configure access using the API key of this service. It all depends on the goal you want to achieve and the steps you want to take or the method you want to use.
When you are going to create a workflow Using these tools, the service you use will allow you to choose what you want to do at each step. Depending on the linked services, you can decide how to manage the information and what type of information to process. If you add an AI you can customize the prompt, and then decide what happens at the end of the chain.
The first step of a workflow is a trigger or “trigger”, is the action that launches the process. This can be manual, you click on the launch button and it does the tasks, or automatic, such as receiving an email or a message with certain characteristics.
And then from there you build each of the steps until you reach the end, where you can make decisions such as sending yourself an email with the result, linking a service like Google Drive so that the result generates or edits a text document or data sheet, or setting up a bot in apps like Telegram to send you a message.
Be careful with privacy
When you are going to use automated workflows You should be aware that you may put your privacy at risk. For example, if you add Gmail you must keep in mind that all the emails that the workflow uses will be obtained by the website or service you are using, so be careful about using sensitive content.
Additionally, if you are using an AI to process content or Telegram to notify you, please note that messages and content are They will also be stored on the companies’ servers who manage them. This is the same thing that will happen to you with AI or with many private tools that you use, and I am not saying this to discourage you from using them, but so that you are aware of it when choosing whether or not you need a workflow for that task.
In Xataka Basics | What is Claude Cowork, how it works, and what things you can do with this AI assistant on your computer
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