Combine small activities into composite activities
A technique for combining smaller tasks into larger ones to reduce setup times and improve the quality of work.
Reijers, H., & Liman Mansar, S. (2005). Best practices in business process redesign: an overview and qualitative evaluation of successful redesign heuristics. Omega, 33(4)
Task Combination is a process optimization technique that involves combining smaller tasks into larger ones. This technique reduces setup times, which are the time that resources need to become familiar with the specifics of a case, and can improve the quality of work. However, it is important to strike a balance between the size of the tasks and their workability. Tasks that are too large can result in smaller run-time flexibility and lower quality. Smaller tasks, on the other hand, can result in longer setup times.
By finding the optimal balance, organizations can achieve the best of both worlds: shorter setup times, higher quality, and greater flexibility.
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
Consider the division of a general activity into two or more alternative activities
Collect similar work items and work in batches