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Establish a case-based mindset

Remove batch-processing and periodic activities from your business process

Reijers, H., & Liman Mansar, S. (2005). Best practices in business process redesign: an overview and qualitative evaluation of successful redesign heuristics. Omega, 33(4)

Description

This pattern recognizes that practical business processes often deviate from the ideal case-based and make-to-order concepts. It acknowledges the presence of constraints like work item batching and periodic activities that rely on specific computer system availability. These constraints can hinder the efficient handling of cases and impede process performance.

By applying this pattern, organizations can strive to remove these constraints and align their business processes more closely with the case-based approach. This entails eliminating the piling up of work items in batches and finding alternatives to periodic activities that rely on specific system availability. The ultimate goal is to create a more streamlined and efficient process where cases can be handled promptly and without unnecessary delays.

To understand how this pattern can be enacted in an example process, let's consider a customer support system in an e-commerce company. Currently, the support team receives customer queries in batches and processes them in bulk, leading to delays in response times and potential customer dissatisfaction. The periodic activities, such as generating automated reports or system updates, are performed at fixed times, causing further delays in case resolution.

By introducing the case-based work pattern, the company can transition to a more efficient and responsive process. They can implement an automated ticketing system that assigns individual cases to support agents as soon as they arrive. This eliminates the need for batch processing and ensures timely attention to each customer inquiry.

Additionally, the company can leverage technology to remove constraints related to periodic activities. For example, instead of relying on specific system availability for generating reports, they can implement real-time reporting dashboards that are accessible to agents at any time. This enables them to access up-to-date information and resolve cases promptly, without being dependent on specific processing windows.

Through the adoption of the pattern, the customer support process becomes more streamlined, cases are handled promptly, and customer satisfaction improves. The removal of constraints allows for more agility and responsiveness, resulting in a more efficient and effective support system.

Key Takeaways

1
Address Constraints The pattern aims to eliminate constraints such as work item batching and reliance on periodic activities tied to specific computer system availability.
2
Speed up Case Handling By removing these constraints, the pattern can significantly improve the efficiency and speed of case handling.
3
Consider Efficiency vs. Cost While eliminating constraints may enhance case handling, it is crucial to evaluate the trade-off between the benefits of streamlined processes and the potential costs involved.

Performance considerations

Switching to case-based work can have significant performance implications on the overall process. By eliminating work item batching, cases can be handled more swiftly, reducing delays and improving customer satisfaction. Removing reliance on specific system availability for periodic activities ensures that tasks can be performed consistently, avoiding bottlenecks caused by limited processing windows.

However, it's important to consider the trade-off between efficiency and cost. While streamlining the process and removing constraints can enhance case handling, it may require investments in infrastructure, technology, and system availability. Organizations need to assess the potential financial implications and weigh them against the benefits gained in terms of improved efficiency, customer experience, and overall process performance

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Foundational free Patterns

Distinguish case types

Determine whether activities are related to the same type of case and, if necessary, distinguish new business processes

Reduce touchpoints

Reduce the number of contacts with customers and third parties

Empower resources

Empower workers for more decision-making authority

Establish standardized interfaces

Consider a standardized interface with customers and partners

Specialist-generalist

Consider to deepen or broaden the skills of resources

Offer temporal flexibility

Let customers interact with your organization whenever they want to.

Task delegation

Reassign tasks along the organisational hierarchy

Experience-based task assignment

Delegate task according to experience: execution frequency, case involvement, interactions

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Assign cases

Let workers perform as many steps as possible for single cases

Appoint case managers

Assign a responsible individual for handling each case type

Distinguish case types

Determine whether activities are related to the same type of case and, if necessary, distinguish new business processes

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