Consider the division of a general activity into two or more alternative activities
Create two (or more) variants of activities
Reijers, H., & Liman Mansar, S. (2005). Best practices in business process redesign: an overview and qualitative evaluation of successful redesign heuristics. Omega, 33(4)
A special form of the triage heuristic is to divide a task into similar instead of alternative tasks for different subcategories of the case type. For example, a special cash desk may be set up for clients with an expected low processing time.
The triage heuristic is related to the task composition heuristic in the sense that it is concerned with the division and combination of tasks. Note that the heuristic differs from it in the sense that alternative tasks are considered.
When applying the pattern in its main form, it is possible to design tasks that are better aligned with the capabilities of resources and the characteristics of the case. Both of these improve the quality of the workflow.
Distinguishing alternative tasks also facilitates a better utilization of resources, with obvious cost and time advantages. On the other hand, too much specialization can make processes become less flexible, less efficient, and cause monotonous work with repercussions for quality. This is lifted by the alternative interpretation of the triage heuristic.
Foundational free Patterns
Establish standardized interfaces
Consider a standardized interface with customers and partners
Offer a green alternative with the same outcome, utilizing different steps, resources, or partners, while retaining the previous existing process
Consider whether it is eco-friendly to let humans work over machines
Let customers interact with your organization whenever they want to.
Offer customers the possibility to serve themselves
First-contact problem resolution
Establish a one-contact resolution for customer issues
Preference-based task assignment
Let people do what they love to do
Reassign tasks along the organisational hierarchy
Allocate task based on past feedback or quality metrics
Combine small activities into composite activities
Start implementing actions that can offset or counterbalance the environmental effects generated by business processes that cannot be changed.
Determine whether activities are related to the same type of case and, if necessary, distinguish new business processes
Design business processes for typical cases and isolate exceptional cases from the normal flow
Consider to deepen or broaden the skills of resources