One of the great benefits of mortgage workflow automation is how it can accelerate the loan life cycle by systematically processing many of the steps in the traditional mortgage workflow. But automation on its own is not sufficient to gain maximum efficiency and replace generic, linear workflow. Task-based workflow with concurrent, connected, prioritized tasks triggered at the right time and delivered to the right people is what helps take workflow automation to an entirely different level of operational efficiency.
Think of linear workflow – also known as queue-based workflow – as a defined process in which the loan file is handled one step at a time. In a linear workflow, the loan process is consistent, and the loan is checked at various tollgates to make sure it’s ready to move to the next step. Some of these steps can be automated and processed without human intervention, but many still require a person to at least check to see if anything is needed.
This single-threaded path can cause loans to slow down in bottlenecks as busy loan officers might not have the bandwidth to immediately handle a task in their queue, or when they need to reassign the work to someone with a more suitable skill set. This high-touch method can result in longer overall turn times, and greater cost to lenders and frustration for borrowers.
With automated task-based workflows on the other hand, lenders can move through multiple steps of the loan process in parallel. Automation is used to systematically process as much of the loan as possible, and that same system also monitors the loan for changes which need human intervention. At this point, task management steps in to determine what task is needed, what skills are needed to complete the task, and which resource currently has the appropriate skills and capacity – then it delivers the task to that individual for work.
If more than one task is needed, task management can identify which tasks have dependencies and which can move in parallel, allowing multiple tasks to be sent to multiple resources at the same time to remove costly wait times in the process. When there is a dependency and something is needed on the loan before it can move on to the next step on the process, task management systems can keep the loan out of the hands of busy resources until the dependency is cleared and the loan is truly ready to be worked. This increases efficiency, reduces rework and allows entire processes which may be unnecessary on a given loan to be skipped entirely.
Since task-based workflows don’t have to adhere to a linear loan process, items such as compliance checks or fraud reviews can be triggered automatically as data changes. That creates new efficiencies for lenders because, as with resolving borrower issues, these checks and reviews can happen concurrently with other processing tasks and do not rely on clearing prior tollgates.
Task-based workflows break from the linear pathing that queue-based systems provide. They allow for a higher degree of automation, and because issues can be resolved as they arise (and don’t rely on other issues being solved first), more loans get back to the happy path faster, improving the borrower experience. If there’s something borrowers need to know, tasking can make sure they receive an email, text or a call in a timely fashion. Since task management keeps track of what’s needed and assigns the appropriate task to the appropriate resource, duplication of effort is greatly reduced, helping to eliminate needless or repetitive calls to borrowers which can dampen the borrower experience.
At the end of the day, proper utilization of automation and knowing when to contact the borrower with human touch are critical to the optimizing borrower delight. Task management helps ensure you can strike the right balance.