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Appoint case managers

Assign a responsible individual for handling each case type

Assign a person as a manager for a case who is responsible and accountable for all decisions taken during the process execution

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

The Case Manager plays a crucial role within the business process, serving as a central point of coordination and oversight for a specific case. This role entails managing the case from initiation to resolution, ensuring that all necessary steps and actions are carried out effectively and efficiently.

The Case Manager serves as the primary contact for the case, facilitating communication and collaboration among various stakeholders involved. They gather relevant information, analyze the case requirements, assign tasks to appropriate resources, and monitor the progress and quality of work items.

While the Case Manager takes responsibility for the case, it is important to note that they may collaborate with and delegate tasks to other resources within the process, such as subject matter experts or specialized teams. This collaborative approach ensures that the case is handled comprehensively, leveraging the expertise of different individuals while maintaining centralized oversight and accountability under the guidance of the Case Manager.

Example

An organisation assigns a new resource as a recruitment process manager responsible for decision-making related to process flow, resource allocation, data handling, and other relevant decisions.

Implementation

Involves identifying the process to be managed, selecting a suitable resource as the case manager, providing the necessary authority and resources to carry out the responsibilities, and ensuring effective communication and collaboration among the resources involved.

Key Takeaways

1
Central Coordination The Case Manager serves as the central point of coordination and oversight for a specific case within the business process.
2
Communication Hub Acting as the primary contact, the Case Manager facilitates communication and collaboration among stakeholders involved in the case.
3
Task Assignment The Case Manager assigns tasks to appropriate resources, ensuring that work items are distributed efficiently.
4
Progress Monitoring They monitor the progress and quality of work items, ensuring timely and effective resolution of the case.
5
Collaborative Approach While the Case Manager takes responsibility, they may collaborate with and delegate tasks to other resources within the process, optimizing expertise and efficiency.

Performance considerations

The primary objective of this heuristic is to enhance the external quality of a business process. By appointing a case manager as a single point of contact, the process becomes more transparent from the client's perspective, resulting in improved client satisfaction. Additionally, having someone accountable for rectifying mistakes can positively impact the internal quality of the process. It is important to note that assigning a case manager carries financial implications due to the allocation of resources for this role.

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Foundational free Patterns

Combine activities

Combine small activities into composite activities

Buffer information

Buffer external information and subscribe to updates

Outsource activities

Delegate and optimize your operations

Shift Workload

Execute tasks when the grid is powered by renewable energy

Green Variant

Offer a green alternative with the same outcome, utilizing different steps, resources, or partners, while retaining the previous existing process

Offer temporal flexibility

Let customers interact with your organization whenever they want to.

Generalize your process

Explore whether a process can easily be used for additional products or services

Role-based task assignment

Assign tasks based on resources' roles in the organisation

Cost-based task assignment

Delegate tasks according to resource cost

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Connected to

Work in customer teams

Form cross-department teams for end-to-end case handling.

Assign cases

Let workers perform as many steps as possible for single cases

Establish a case-based mindset

Remove batch-processing and periodic activities from your business process

Deploy extra resources

If capacity is insufficient, consider increasing the available number of resources

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