10 Workflow Examples and Diagrams [2025]
Document All Your Workflows: This is key to keeping your project team on track, and you can use (or straight-up steal!) the examples below to create diagrams for your own workflows and processes.
What's Workflow-able?: Set up a workflow for all the processes you use on a regular basis: new client onboarding, project kickoffs, marketing campaigns, approvals, and new feature requests.
Where To Start: The easiest way to create and manage your workflows is to use tools like workflow diagram software, approval workflow software, and workflow management software, and integrate them with your project management software.
Looking for a fresh approach to designing workflows or need some good examples of workflows to help you drive your work forward this year? Here are 10 common examples of processes that benefit from clear and repeatable workflows.
I’ve also included several workflow diagrams and some other examples of what workflows can look like in your project management software tool or workflow management software.
1. New Client Onboarding Workflow
What it is: A new client or new customer onboarding workflow is one of the most critical workflows in your arsenal. It's one of the main ways you make a good first impression after the contract or sales order is signed and you start to integrate the client’s work into your team’s workflow.
How it works: There are usually two sequential parts to a client onboarding workflow. Internally, you need to make sure the project is staffed correctly and that work is scheduled appropriately.
On the client-facing side, you’ll schedule a welcome email that outlines the next steps, host a kickoff meeting, and share how you’ll communicate and check-in over the course of the project.
2. Project Kickoff Workflow
What it is: A project kickoff workflow is used to help get a project started.
It involves reviewing the statement of work or project charter with the project team (and relevant stakeholders), setting up the project management tool and time tracking software, creating a project folder in a shared drive, creating documents and templates, and holding a kickoff meeting.
How it works: The project kickoff workflow gets the project team and stakeholders ready to start working together. It includes all the necessary tasks to get set up and establish communication norms. This might include reviewing approval processes and going over the timeline and other expectations.
3. Change Request Workflow
What it is: A change request workflow is designed to facilitate change within a project.
Should scope, personnel, or timing need to be changed, both the client and the agency (or the project sponsor and the project manager) document and sign a change order.
How it works: It outlines the business process needed to execute a change, and will specify who is executing the change, the process of putting the change in writing, getting sign-off from all parties on the change, and executing the change.
Here's how this looks on a workflow diagram.
Learn about BPM vs workflows here.
4. Email Marketing Campaign Workflow
What it is: An email marketing campaign workflow outlines the tasks involved in the creation and sending of email marketing messages.
There may be parts of this workflow that you can automate (using workflow automation software) to streamline the process and provide automatic analytics on email performance to the project team (and the CRM system).
How it works: The workflow steps through the process of assigning resources to the campaign, creating the email schedule, writing and approving all of the email content, choosing dates the emails should be sent and in what order, and tracking the performance of the emails that have been sent.
This might include tracking email opens, click-throughs, and relevant conversions so that these lessons learned can be applied to future email campaigns.
5. Approval Workflow
What it is: Your approval workflow should document client or stakeholder approval on deliverables or at a milestone.
For example, if you’re redesigning a website, your client or internal stakeholder will need to approve the design of the homepage, as well as all other critical pages and design elements. This involves a specific workflow for sharing the design assets and documenting their approval.
How it works: This workflow involves sharing an asset or information and then requesting approval. Add steps for applying feedback or changes (see change request workflow) and resubmitting the asset for review and approval.
Your workflow also needs a place to document the date the asset was approved on. Approval workflow software can be a helpful tool for centralizing documentation and mapping workflows.
6. Risk & Issue Tracking Workflow
What it is: A risk and issue tracking workflow creates a process for documenting known risks or issues that may come up or have arisen during the course of a project.
This allows the project manager or other stakeholders to follow up and ensure risks are mitigated and issues are resolved in a timely manner.
How it works: This project management workflow is used to log issues or create a risk register so that risks and issues can be followed up on and monitored accordingly. Document workflow software is also useful here for centralizing documentation, automating updates, and providing version control to ensure accurate and consistent tracking of risks and issues.
7. New Feature Request Workflow
What it is: Over the course of a project, a need might arise for a feature that wasn’t originally scoped. This could be a client or stakeholder request or simply a requirement that didn’t come out in discovery for whatever reason.
A new feature request workflow helps define the feature’s requirements, estimate completion time, identify who needs to work on the feature, and work through any approvals or change orders before the work is kicked off. Project workflow software can streamline this process by centralizing requests, automating approval steps, and ensuring all changes are documented.
How it works: This workflow lays out the steps after the feature has been identified. The team will get more granular on requirements and staffing needs and present the scope of the change for approval. If approved, the next step is to execute a formal change order and update the project plan and schedule.
8. Staffing Change Workflow
What it is: Over the course of a project, especially a longer project, staffing changes may need to take place. This could be because someone is leaving the organization, someone has joined the organization, or someone on the project has a specialized skill that is needed on another project.
Whatever the reason, it’s good to have a workflow, potentially supported by a workflow app, for onboarding the new employee onto the project and welcoming them to the team.
How it works: This process may require more steps for a brand new hire, but for existing employees transitioning onto a new project team, it's quite straightforward.
In either case, it's important for the new team member to review critical project documents like the statement of work or project charter, project strategy, and recent status updates.
You will also need to add them to key meetings and assign them tasks. Having them shadow a current team member for a short period of time can also help them get up to speed.
9. Website Down Workflow
What it is: What happens when a website you manage goes down? You need an efficient workflow that will allow you and members of your team to act quickly and restore it.
How it works: This workflow outlines the process for getting a website back up and running quickly. It usually involves contacting the web host or IT professional to troubleshoot or restore the last working copy of the site in order to avoid unnecessary downtime.
10. Project Closeout Workflow
What it is: This workflow sets up processes for closing out any remaining tasks, archiving assets and deliverables, analyzing any data, and documenting lessons learned after a project. It can also involve handing over the relationship for maintenance or other ongoing customer support, depending on the nature of the project.
How it works: This workflow lays out the steps needed for project closure. Start by checking to ensure all tasks have been completed and that contractual obligations have been met. The next steps include making sure the final invoice has been sent, closing out the project budget, and reassigning resources.
Take all of the project artifacts and ensure they are properly archived. If you work in an agency setting, you might also send clients a post-project survey to get feedback on your process and how it was to work with you. Process workflow software can be useful in centralizing artifact storage and automating the distribution of surveys.
As part of ramping the project down, you might also host a retrospective to make sure the team has had a chance to share any lessons they learned and want to carry into future projects.
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If implementing and documenting new workflows (using workflow diagram software) is on your list of goals this year, I hope these examples can become workflow templates that are easy to tailor to your needs.
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