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Thursday, May 12, 2011

Implement BPM Cycle in Telecommuting Systems!

Japan is facing a serious power shortage. Authorities are saying that at the summer peak, only 80% will be supplied to the Tokyo area. In addition to using stored electricity and withholding air conditioning, the country will have to take drastic measures such as "reducing human transportation" and "suspending plant operations." This month, more companies will be eagerly considering telecommuting systems for the imminent summer months (July–).

Of course, it's almost impossible to design a perfect telecommuting system. We recommend applying the concept of the BPM cycle to application flows and reporting flows, which means endeavoring to "gradually bring them closer to the ideal flow."The important point is real-time visualization of telecommuting progress. (BPM: Business Process Management)

In the below workflow definition, the user can easily record whether he/she decided to cancel telecommuting, in Smooth Reporting by Telecommuters. This enables accurate recording to changed and canceled schedules.

Reference: Of course! Approving Request of Telecommuting Should Be Through Cloud Computing

<Tasks>
1. Report Work, 1b. Report Work, 2.Confirm, 3. Inquiries


[Telecommuting-Report/Cancel: "2.Confirm" screen]

<Process Data Items>
  • title (string) <<Ex: May 16 Ichiro Sato (name will be added automatically)>>
<<Telecommuting info>>
  • Telecommuting employee (user)
  • Telecommuting on [deadline of task 1] (date)
  • Supervisor (user)
  • Intend to: (select: telecommute as scheduled / cancel telecommuting)
<<Control>>
  • Inquiries? (select: Yes / No inquiries)
  • Correspondence (discussion)

By the way, managing processes with the "Intend to (telecommute as scheduled / cancel telecommuting)" will let managers monitor real-time performance, i.e., "number of telecommuters in the previous week" or "total number of days telecommuted." On the assumption that this information does not have to be hidden, you may want to consider giving all employees process data viewer authorization.

If the supervisor is the primary one in charge of the telecommuting system, you can add a task specifically for confirming cancellations, to acquire more explicit data on canceled schedules (below).

<Tasks>
1. Report Work, 1b. Report Work, 2.Confirm, 2b. Confirm Cancellation, 3. Inquiries