Buffer external information and subscribe to updates
Instead of requesting information from an external source, buffer it and subscribe to updates
Reijers, H., & Liman Mansar, S. (2005). Best practices in business process redesign: an overview and qualitative evaluation of successful redesign heuristics. Omega, 33(4)
Obtaining information from other parties is a major, time consuming part in many workflows. By having information directly available when it is required, throughput times may be substantially reduced. Note that this buffering is a weak form of the integration pattern. Instead of direct access to the original source of information in the integration alternative a copy is maintained.
This pattern can be compared to the caching principle microprocessors apply. Of course, the subscription fee for information updates may be rather costly. This is especially so when we consider the situation that an information source may contain far more information than is ever used. Substantial cost may also be involved with storing all the information.
Foundational free Patterns
Let workers perform as many steps as possible for single cases
Assign a responsible individual for handling each case type
Reduce the number of contacts with customers and third parties
Form cross-department teams for end-to-end case handling.
Automate for environmental impact
Implement automation in a sustainable way
Let customers interact with the company wherever they want to
Preference-based task assignment
Let people do what they love to do
Workload-based task assignment
Allocate tasks based on individuals' incomplete workload
Constraint-based task assignment
Allocate tasks considering business process execution constraints