The Workflow icon will not only open your Workflow Folders, it will also indicate to how many items are in your own Workflow “Inbox”.
For example:
There is one item in my Workflow Inbox:
There are no items in my Workflow Inbox:
Regardless, of the number your Workflow icon is indicating, if you are a Pool member, you’ll need to open Workflow on a frequent basis, to check the documents that require processing within your Pool.