Design business processes for typical cases and isolate exceptional cases from the normal flow
Reijers, H., & Liman Mansar, S. (2005). Best practices in business process redesign: an overview and qualitative evaluation of successful redesign heuristics. Omega, 33(4)
The pattern focuses on the recognition that exceptions in a workflow can disrupt normal operations and cause inefficiencies. To address this, the pattern suggests separating exceptions from the regular flow of work to improve overall process performance.
By isolating exceptions, organizations can assign dedicated workers or teams who specialize in handling these unique cases. This enables the development of specialized expertise and knowledge, leading to more effective and efficient resolution of exceptions. Additionally, by filtering out exceptions, organizations can streamline their processes, potentially implementing Straight-Through-Processing where applicable, reducing manual intervention, and increasing operational efficiency.
However, it's important to consider the trade-off between the benefits and the associated costs and complexities. Isolating exceptions can add complexity to the workflow, potentially decreasing its flexibility. It may require additional resources to train and develop specialized knowledge among workers. Without investing in specialized expertise, the desired improvements in handling exceptions may not be realized.
An illustrative example of this pattern can be found in a healthcare setting. In a hospital, the triage process serves as a practical application of isolating exceptions. Patients arriving at the emergency department are initially assessed by triage nurses who quickly identify urgent cases that require immediate attention, such as critical injuries or life-threatening conditions. These cases are isolated and given priority, ensuring they receive specialized care promptly. Meanwhile, the regular flow of patients is handled separately, improving the overall efficiency of patient care delivery in the hospital.
By separating exceptions, normal case handling becomes more efficient as workers can focus on regular cases without being disrupted by unfamiliar or complex situations. This reduces setup times wasted on dealing with exceptions that workers may not be adequately equipped to handle.
The specialization of workers or teams in handling exceptions leads to the development of expertise, resulting in more effective and timely resolution of these unique cases. This can lead to improved customer satisfaction, streamlined processes, and reduced operational costs. Additionally, by filtering out exceptions and implementing Straight-Through-Processing, organizations can automate routine tasks, reducing manual effort and increasing process efficiency.
However, it's crucial to carefully manage the added complexity that comes with isolating exceptions. The workflow may become more intricate, requiring proper coordination and communication between teams. Furthermore, organizations need to consider the investment required in developing specialized knowledge among workers handling exceptions, as it may involve training, resources, and ongoing support.
Foundational free Patterns
Eliminate unnecessary activities
Establish a case-based mindset
Remove batch-processing and periodic activities from your business process
Consider whether activities may be executed in parallel
Avoid shared responsibilities for tasks by people from different functional units
Offer a green alternative with the same outcome, utilizing different steps, resources, or partners, while retaining the previous existing process
Automate for environmental impact
Implement automation in a sustainable way
Expertise-based task assignment
Match tasks to experts' specialized skills for efficiency
Assign tasks based on resources' roles in the organisation
Allocate task based on past feedback or quality metrics
Consider the division of a general activity into two or more alternative activities
Order knock-outs by least effort and highest termination probability first.