This feature is a useful troubleshooting and process examination tool. It allows for quick handovers of blocs to other people and could even be used to simply design a process.
This currently can be done for each bloc. Coming soon will be the ability to map out your entire system to see how modules, pages and blocs link together.
This will allow people to have an auto-generated sitemap of their software with the click of a button.
Enterprises in all industries can gain a competitive advantage when they use no-code platforms. Here are some of the most useful benefits of no-code development.
No-code development essentially shifts how enterprises build applications, allowing users to build complex workflows without writing a single line of code. It’s a customisable, reliable, and cost-effective solution that’s driven by thoughts, not technical expertise.
Blocworx no code platform, for instance, enables technical or non-technical workers to quickly and inexpensively create custom apps that solve everyday business challenges. Nowadays, no code platforms are being used to build apps that do everything from creating and tracking daily workflows to streamlining accounting and finances – and everything in between. No-code is transforming industries and creating chances for businesses to develop applications in ways they didn’t think were achievable. Below are the top five benefits of using no-code platforms in enterprises.
Developers often end up sacrificing function for speed when it comes to enterprise app development. In today’s saturated app market, consumers expect quick delivery and seamless product experiences. In order to keep up with demand, developers often do everything they can to get their products into the hands of consumers as quickly as possible to keep their competitive edge.
No code offers rich functionality and the ability to turn projects around in a fraction of the time it would take if built using traditional or low-code methods. No-code’s visual interfaces connect the gap between idea and workable application, helping developers get products to market faster with less headaches.
Developing custom applications is a complex undertaking as you are writing code and building from scratch. With a no-code application development platform, enterprises have the opportunity to jump right into building.
In traditional app development, there’s usually some degree of disconnect between business leaders and the software teams that support them. Business teams will often outline orders, then give them on to software teams who work to build projects that might or might not make the cut.
Traditional and low-code solutions magnify this split between software and business teams, keeping things siloed. No-code changes this with platforms that encourage transparency and cross-team collaboration. No-code allows business teams to see what’s being built by software teams in real-time, ensuring that nothing gets lost in translation. Moreover, since no-code platforms need zero coding experience, business analysts and engineers equally can get involved to help bring a product to life.
IT work has been traditionally inaccessible to those without specialised knowledge. Business teams bring ideas to the table and the software teams bring their visions to life. This framework creates bottlenecks and project backlogs, as business teams forget to weigh the effects of giving increasingly complex projects over to often under-resourced software teams.
No-code changes this model, making everybody a part of the app development process, regardless of experience. By increasing the number of people who are able to contribute to applications builds, businesses can begin tackling down their project backlogs, saving time and money along the process.
Business flexibility enables enterprises to adapt and respond to market changes and new opportunities using innovative, digital solutions that solve business problems. No code helps enterprises pivot to new digital initiatives caused by sudden market changes and new consumer and customer needs. For example, you can deliver cloud applications that integrate with some legacy systems, so you are better able to meet the changing needs of customers. You can deliver applications across more platforms so your customers can interact with your business however they wish.
Traditional software development is rooted in legacy code and rigid data models. Developers must define all entities (e.g., which third-party apps need to be integrated) from the start, which can make it difficult to start a project. This creates a need for modifications, updates, more labour-intensive processes later down the line.
No-code platforms and schema-free databases give you the flexibility to start building instantly, with full flexibility to adjust on the fly and completely redirect when needed.
Complex coding projects can take a toll on an enterprise’s return on investment, not just regarding hiring specialised engineers, but also in regard to future legacy maintenance.
Legacy maintenance can be a huge drain on a software engineering department’s resources and company funds. Altering or fixing an engineer’s work involves in-depth investigation into code to carry out time-consuming reverse engineering. Over the years, this means that enterprises are paying for highly expensive developers simply to maintain a state of status quo.
With no-code development, there is no requirement to maintain legacy code. Platforms like Blocworx allow you to build custom applications without coding. They can also operate alongside existing legacy systems, allowing your developers to keep what works and change what doesn’t. This results in faster builds with zero maintenance costs and more time for business and software teams to focus on what really matters.
Rather than requiring app developers to have formal coding skills, businesses can now take advantage of the tech talent business users or citizen developers who are willing and eager to put to work–saving time, money, and energy on hiring professional developers.
In Ireland, when people think of “Digital”, they may associated this with Automation, IOT, Industry 4.0, 5G and smart teapots.
However, more and more people are seeing Digital Transformation as another tool to assist their organisation and their operations to be more efficient.
In 2020, we partnered with Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) to provide more manufacturers the right digital tools to thrive. Since then, we have adopted the IMR mantra ‘Demystify, De-risk and Deliver’. In Blocworx, our approach to Digitalisation is very similar.
We are meeting more and more CEOs, Owners, Engineering Managers, and Quality Managers that recognise that “Digital Transformation” is similar to implementing a new process or a new service.
It takes subject expert, planning, stakeholder buy-in, a flexible, easy to use and secure robust Enterprise No Code Platform (Blocworx) to achieve this process.
We believe that every company can benefit from digitalisation. By assessing each and every process and looking for opportunities to digitalise, we will assist any company in finding savings and efficiencies. The entire company or organisation does not need to be digitalised at the same time. The smallest of projects utilising Blocworx can be the catalysts that organisations need, and as we mentioned above, can demystify digitalisation. As a result, stakeholders can see what innovative digital transformation can look like.
In an article published in the Harvard Business Review – “Digital Doesn’t Have to Be Disruptive”, Nathan Furr and Andrew Shipilov discuss the myths around Digitalisation. In the review, a senior vice president of a leading global company advised “we are going full steam on digital transformation…but no one can explain to me what it actually means”.
Our inspirational Leader, Adrian de Cléir, recently suggested “At Blocworx, we succeed when we start small. In this way, we understand the process and we can then use digitalisation to maximum advantage”.
“In addition, teaching the end-user how to use Blocworx’s no code tools has been the most successful approach for us to date” Adrian added.
In October 2020, Plutoshift surveyed 500 industrial professionals.
Taking a Bottom Up approach can help companies manage change more efficiently and realise ROI sooner. Directors, Managers, and Operators are proving that they should be the ones in charge of initiating change. The most effective executives are empowering professionals across the organization with the tools that can transform their day-to-day operations and generate positive outcomes.
It is clear from the above survey, and our own digitalisation experience how to avoid failure and succeed using a Bottom-Up approach.
Blocworx is a no code solution. It allows for Agile implementation where the business can build fast, fail fast and succeed fast.
We can easily show our customers how to use it as part of their Agile Digital Transformation Project team. These individuals become the implementation team for every Blocworx/Digital Transformation project. They consist of a project leader, a topic expert, and an internal No coder (Citizen Developer).
It is this recipe for success that we are sharing across Ireland & Europe.
Blocworx is committed to ensuring that every user has a great experience using Blocworx, whether your are a No coder / Citizen Developer or the end user. Every no code or low code solution has to give the user a great experience and this is why we have a team of UI and UX experts dedicated to finding ways to continually improve software. Today we’re excited to announce our new UI that has transformed the look of Blocworx.
First, we’ve updated the look and feel of the system with new colours based on our new brand. These colours are not only pleasing to the eye, but are designed to streamline the system. For example, modules are no longer a single colour which can make it difficult to identify specific tasks, new colours make it easier to group the data, and new button styles highlight modules to draw your eye to the data that matters most.
Furthermore, we’ve simplified the system by introducing module icons. In the classic UI, there were often multiple lists of modules. These paths were named but did not contain visual cues to help users quickly recognised the modules and click through to the next step. In the new UI, we’ve simplified the process of identifying users’ workflows. For example, a Calendar icon is available to symbolise the Calendar module for scheduling tasks. This is one example of a principle you’ll see applied throughout the new UI – simplifying the experience for every user.
Next, we created a new sidebar menu that centralises user’s workflow and allows a customer logo to be visible on the interface. The customer logo offers platform personalisation for the end-user. Additionally, the sidebar includes new paths such as ‘Account’, ‘Manage Data’ and ‘Alerts’. These new paths provide users a simpler way to quickly access their controls to manage their system.
Next, we revised our dark & light mode skins to give users the option to switch between two inviting backgrounds. We researched preferences and found that some people find white text on backgrounds much easier to read, while others find a darker interface can reduce the glare when you’re viewing screens and using the platform after dark. If you prefer a white or dark background it’s simple to alternate between these with the ‘Switch Skin’ toggle bar.
Finally, we’ve enhanced our form design to allow better visibility of data and offer a more aesthetically appealing experience through modern rounded buttons. In addition, a toolbar has been applied to inform users when they are editing a form and the option to cancel editing. This offers users a simple and more engaging experience when entering data onto the platform.
All of these enhancements are available today to all Blocworx users. Existing customers will be updated to the new user interface automatically. New Blocworx users will land in the new user interface by default upon logging in.
We’d like to thank the design team at Copper Reed Studio for all their work in designing the new Blocworx UI.
As always, we’re eager to hear what you think. If you have feedback on these enhancements or ideas for additional enhancements you’d like to see, please submit them via email here: info@blocworx.com.
Since mid-2020, Blocworx has been working on a complete application redesign. We are super excited to announce that your favourite Blocworx interface is getting a shiny new look and wanted to share some screenshots with you today during this sneak peak. We expect the design that is shown below to be released to clients in stages late Q4 of 2020.
Blocworx new design uses ReactJS, as its front-end framework, to deliver an interface that is ultra-fresh and modern. The spirit of the new design is to deliver an easy interface to quickly work with many of the latest features that Blocworx has already delivered to clients and of which more are in development. Clients will be able to notice improvements in speed and usability. As always, we welcome your feedback and critique.
The new UI is a game-changer for Blocworx because, for the first time in almost 4 years, the front-end is being reimagined. The front-end redesign team consists of our front-end lead, front-end developers, back-end developer, QA engineer, project manager, and a product lead who are all working full time to complete this project as soon as possible. Blocworx heavy investment of time and company resources will result in the delivery of a state-of-the-art system with a powerful back end and front-end tech stack.
The first change you might notice is the refresh of our login screen and preview icons. We worked on updating the look and feel of the system with a new font and styles. These new styles are not only pleasing but are designed to make it easier and more efficient to navigate the system.
Clients can expect to see most of the current navigation bar stay in the same order but a new visually enhanced icon set will make the screen much more visible and easier to navigate. Most of the elements Switch Skin, Support, Alerts, Admin and Manage Data have not changed locations. However, these pages will become faster and come along with updates to the user experience and ease of use. We’ve reimagined navigation, added a new icon set, improved our chart UI, and added more filtering options.
We hope that you enjoy this exciting preview!
Author
Isobel Hogan, Blocworx Marketing Executive
We’re expanding our team and looking for a passionate and talented software developer to join our award-winning company.
Blocworx is an innovative software application disrupting the conventional approach to digital transformation. We are extremely passionate about our software and are always looking for creative ways to improve it. Blocworx is used by companies across many sectors including national organisations so as a company of professionals we aim to be the best in our field.
We are looking for a Junior Full Stack Developer for our ever-growing Limerick-based team. Our current stack utilises Laravel PHP and AngularJS but we are open to hiring developers with experience in different frameworks and languages who can learn quickly.
The culture within the team is geared towards having a fun, flexible, collaborative environment whilst always being focused on real innovation.
If you would like to find out more about the position please visit our LinkedIn to apply or email info@blocworx.com.
Author,
Isobel Hogan, Blocworx Marketing Executive
We are in a period of massive and irreversible transformation.
Businesses in every industry are undergoing change at unprecedented speed especially as we are now in the phase of the new normal. For companies that fall behind on digital transformation, playing catch up will feel something like running after a moving train.
Until recently, all things tech-related fell on the CIO’s shoulders. Now, every aspect of business demands greater technology capabilities. This leaves digital transformation improvements in the hands of employees, supervisors, and managers to suggest digital process improvements.
By definition, digital transformation is the “integration of digital technology into all areas of a business, fundamentally changing how you operate and deliver value to customers“. While it seems like a straight forward concept, the ‘transformation’ part is key. A full-scale digital transformation can cause major disruptions in long-standing business practices and operations, and often also requires cultural changes within a company.
While there are plenty of businesses that fail to embrace digital transformation strategy and paid the ultimate price, there are just as many successful digital transformation examples worth investigating.
Evidently, enterprises wanting to remain competitive in the digital age and beyond are investing heavily in process automation and workflow technology and transforming the role of the business manager in the process.
Whilst digital transformation strategy starts at the front office, the manager is where the software meets the implementation, and where the changes must be made. As the chief regulator of any organisation, executives are responsible for implementing senior leadership’s vision and adopting the company’s new digital capabilities.
From a Manager perspective, digital transformation isn’t something to be feared. Yes, it will take effort, time, and a little disruption. But it will also empower you as a manager to better manage team members, more efficiently deliver projects, and ultimately better serve your company’s customers and clients.
So how precisely is digital transformation changing the way managers perform their jobs? Let’s take a closer look!
One of the biggest areas in which modern digital technology is redesigning business management is cross-team communication.
Traditional tools like email are cumbersome when it comes to collaboration, as they are designed for real-time dialogue. Important information is easily buried within endless email chains and constant email overload reduces productivity.
Collaborative work management software, on the other hand, allows team members and co-workers across departments to engage, connect and interact in real-time, significantly cutting down on email clutter and saving hours of time in the process. But more than just increasing the efficiency of intra-work communication, these technologies are improving its effectiveness as well.
Along with simplification more efficient, strategy- focused communication, modern work management technologies are making it easier for teams to truly cooperate. With the right platform in place, directors, project managers, and team members can add comments, assign tasks, organise dashboards, proof and approves assets, and handle just about everything else related to the project all in one efficient solution.
This strong level of collaboration inevitably leads to a better sense of shared ownership from colleagues and helps foster cooperative, harmonious workplaces. Workers who feel they are part of a collective effort have been shown to have greater engagement, lower fatigue, and higher success rates than those who are isolated from peers.
As digital transformation automates workflows and organises traditional manual business tasks like scheduling, managers get more time to focus on strategy optimisation and meeting business goals. In fact, it could be said that as digital transformation continues to touch companies across every industry and sector, managers will be viewed more as strategic leaders in their organisations.
With more digital tools and automated processes at their disposal, managers are narrowing in on the best way to improve procedures and their business strategies and goals while delivering more successful outcomes in the process.
Lastly, digital transformation is providing business managers the analytical technology to make data-driven decisions, break down patterns and tendencies, and ultimately enhance management outcomes and success rates. This access to detailed data also assists executives and managers in making better-informed decisions quicker and simpler than ever before.
Strong analytics reports help managers keep tasks on track and on budget with real-time cost tracking and administrators, giving them precise insights into business impact and ROI through every project and helping them plan future initiatives and make important strategic decisions.
As technology continues to advance at exponential rates, organisations must adapt to the digital environment or risk getting left behind. Change isn’t always simple, but when it comes to the success of your tasks, your team members, and your company, a small self-imposed disruption is worth it in the long run.
Remember:
Companies that implement a digital transformation strategy have been shown to increase performance and revenues.
To learn more about how your organisation can embrace digital transformation to become more dynamic and adaptable, try out a free trial of Blocworx today.
Author
Isobel Hogan, Marketing Executive at Blocworx
The publication of the National Return to Work Safely Protocol marks an important milestone in restarting the Irish economy. This document is a result of collaborative work by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA), the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Department of Health. The document contains practical guidelines for the safety of workers and the people they serve. They must be protected as staff migrate back to workplaces after working remotely. The Protocol provides guidance that can be applied across all industry sectors, providing a framework on which to build your return to work planning.
In May this year, the Irish government also announced the ‘roadmap for reopening society and business’ setting out a phased timetable for a return to workplaces across the economy, with some specific plans in sectors like healthcare, education, libraries and cultural institutions. To re-open doors and stay operating, businesses will need to adhere to the Return to Work Safely Protocol or risk being closed.
As employers make plans to return to the workplace, they’ll also need to carefully gauge how employees feel and what would make them comfortable. Additionally, as businesses reopen, they’ll want to do the same with their customers.
If your business is in a position to resume trading or if you can begin operating from your premises, now is the time to implement plans to ensure a smooth return to the workplace.
This is a challenging and unprecedented time for companies. There is no list of correct steps on how to navigate through the Covid-19 pandemic. Employers should not hesitate to make the necessary changes to their control measures or business practices. They should continuously review and update these, noting what works for them and what does not.
To help businesses and employers return to work and get back to business, Blocworx created the Return to Work Protocol system, a digital tracking solution that allows businesses to track workplace and employee activity in accordance with health and safety requirements.
The Return To Work Protocol is designed to address the extensive list of guidelines outlined above in the Return To Work Safely Protocol, so you can run your business with confidence. Track on mobile, tablet or desktop Temperature Checking, Employee Activity, Escalations & Contact Policies, Cleaning Checks, Inventory Supplies of hygiene products and Self-Assessment by employees. Collect your workplace data by simply answering pre-populated questions to achieve compliance with the latest health and safety standards. In the event of a business inspection or audit you can easily generate reports of your data directly from the system.
If you’d like try out the platform, sign up for your free 14-day trial today. If you’d like to speak directly with Blocworx sales team for more information email info@blocworx.com. A member of our team will be happy to answer your questions.
Author
Isobel Hogan, Marketing Executive at Blocworx
Care teams across Ireland are in crisis mode. The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) report that Nursing homes account for 50% of coronavirus deaths in Ireland. Additionally, residential care settings account for 4,363 cases of coronavirus, of which 3,457 are in nursing homes. In nursing homes alone, there have been 593 deaths. There is a range of residents in nursing homes, from those that are relatively independent to those that require full support and care with all activities of daily living. Depending on their dependency levels, chronic illness, and for some dementia and frailty, these residents can be more vulnerable should they contract any viral or bacterial infection. There is no doubt that the challenges and stresses care providers are facing will force the sector to think and act quickly to safeguard those they care for and employ.
The toll this pandemic will take on the residential care sector is not apparent yet. It is imperative that, where possible, owners and managers write up and execute action plans. Furthermore, they should record their decision-making processes throughout the crisis. They will need to show why they took the actions they did, under what circumstances and with what guidance.
The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) and the Chief Inspector of Social Services have recognised that Ireland’s health and social care services are facing unprecedented challenges in their response to Covid-19. All inspections will be announced by telephone the day before visits during this time. Inspectors will cancel inspections where any suspected or confirmed incidence of Covid-19 has occurred. However, they will eventually be carrying out their routine work again. When it is safe and appropriate, they will be looking to find how each nursing home has responded to this crisis. How are you going to confirm that you have kept staff and residents safe? Are you able to demonstrate that you were effective in your planning, responsiveness and your leadership? How will you show that you were forward-thinking in terms of managing your team and residents?
Now more than ever, implementing a Covid-19 digital care management system is a necessary step in the right direction.
In times like these, ‘one day at a time’ is the mentality we hold. It is difficult to focus on the future when the present demands all of our attention. However, it is important to be mindful of the following:
The decisions you make now, and in the weeks ahead will have one of two outcomes. They will either help or hinder your ability to operate and grow beyond the crisis.
For many care providers, the need to make services more efficient, less paperwork heavy and more data-driven has always been there. The coronavirus pandemic has simply put a spotlight on it.
Sign up today for your free-14 day trial of the HIQA Covid-19 Nursing Home Protocol system. If you’d like to speak with Blocworx sales team email info@blocworx or call +353(86)3850363. A member of our team will be happy to answer your questions.
Author,
Isobel Hogan, Marketing Executive at Blocworx
You have a clear documented process, but it’s not running smoothly. There is always something that gets stuck somewhere taking a toll on process efficiency. What is possibly setting things off-track?
Business processes are designed to streamline the way that you and your team work. A process is more than just documentation. If you don’t have a well-designed process and a strategy to constantly monitor and optimise it, you can never steer your business to success.
Process efficiency is a measure of how smooth a process is executed, factoring-in the time and the resources spent. It either has a direct or indirect impact on profitability. Processes are often the repeatable aspects of a business that can be heavily optimised to improve efficiency.
Your teams are faster at getting to the finish line because everything operates smoothly.
There are virtually no errors due to mistakes by individuals or due to the system you have in place. Even if problems occur, they are fixed quickly without chaos.
Your company incurs less expenses due to minimised errors and quick recovery time.
Employees have a powerful grasp of how processes are run, making teams flexible to any adjustments in the business climate.
Here is a step-by-step work plan to increase the efficiency of any process.
When you implemented a process for the first time, people might have followed it perfectly. But if the steps in the process are dysfunctional, it may be due to faults in the system or the people responsible. Gather data on where these discrepancies occur and how the process deviated from the documentation. You need to collect data on where the differences occur and how the process deviated from the original documentation.
Here are some plausible circumstances that could have led to inconsistency:
The employee does not have the skill needed to complete a specific task to a high degree.
Employees keep contemplating the task at hand and ask for more information or ask for the same set of instructions/data at every occasion.
“I’ve done this numerous times, it’s okay to not notify that person this once”, “I’ll fix it later on”, “The system is down so I’ll note it down for now”. These are common shadow processes that invite errors.
Some steps in the process consume time and add no value to the overall task.
No awareness amongst employees of the scope of the process and the goal you are trying to achieve with it.
Lack of a standard business terminology for the process often leads to confusion.
Lastly, make sure to question individuals and find out the reasons that prompted them to go out of line. Write down all data and go to the next step.
What are the goals you’re looking at right now? To increase your revenue by 50% by next year? Increase your CSAT (customer satisfaction) score to 85% in the coming quarter? Increase the number of manufactured products by 25%? Be clear on these goals. Once your business goals are in place, derive KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) that serve as checkpoints to achieve your goals.
For example, if you want to increase your customer satisfaction score to 85% in the next quarter, you have to provide a better customer experience. If you want to increase the number of deals closed, you have to be faster in reaching out and following up.
Generally, processes should always align with your current business goals and cascade down to individual steps through KPIs.
Now that you have insights from your existing process and the goals and KPIs of your business, link these two by designing a new process that will increase process efficiency.
In the process redesign, your first step is to identify a stakeholder for each KPI. These individuals are responsible for monitoring and optimising for the metric that measures their respective KPIs.
After you assign stakeholders, start redesigning the workflow. Take the existing steps and start fixing them one by one. Does it begin with the right person? What information does the next person need from the first to take necessary action? List them out and include them.
After you design the workflow, consider circumstances when the steps in your process need to break the designed workflow. You have many of these in your old process. Why did it occur? Did the person forget about it? Does it need more information from the previous step? Did an unexpected situation arise that needed a unique resolution? Document all these exceptions in your process redesign and decide what happens in those situations.
Now that you have a solid process ready to go, it’s time to implement it. But it’s not as simple as handing out the new process manuals to everyone.
It’s one thing to get process cycle efficiency with a team of four. I’ts quite another to have a streamlined process with a team of four thousand. In other words, your process efficiency will only improve when you and your colleagues take action, once you have built out a more efficient process, you need to document and share your process for others to follow.
To implement the process successfully, the first stage is to communicate changes to your stakeholders of the process. You have to explain why you redesigned the process in the first place, and how the new process is going to help everyone achieve their goals faster.
The second stage is to implement the process in multiple stages. People need time to understand, adjust, and adapt. If they need to acquire a new skill set, make sure you help them learn. By the end of the last stage of implementation, your new process is operating fully.
Your job doesn’t stop at implementation. Efficient processes require constant monitoring and optimisation to observe an increase.
Keep an eye on all your KPIs throughout the duration of a live process. This doesn’t mean you should run behind every task all the time. You can generate reports at constant intervals to analyse them in small pieces. Collect feedback from the stakeholders and see where they face challenges. Straighten and iron them out.
After the completion of an adequate number of tasks, analyse the reports and see where improvements can be made. There’s a simpler way to monitor processes. Continue to the next section to see how.
According to a study, SMEs are spending over 120 hours per year on admin tasks because their employer is still reliant on manual administration processes. This lack of investment in technology leads to a lack of trust in data amongst employees which results in business decisions taking longer.
With the right process optimisation tool like Blocworx Process Builder, you can design, implement, and manage a business process with ease. Blocworx allows you to easily monitor multiple processes, track and optimise your performance. You can get consistent feedback with live reports saving your business time, costs and valuable resources. Try Blocworx and see your process efficiency go through the roof.
Author,
Isobel Hogan, Marketing Executive at Blocworx