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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

Episode Final: Appreciation for Readers, and the Future



Thank you very much for reading this blog for many years.

Although this blog that has been on since 2010, we decided to continue on 2 sites below with a little change.


Regarding Business templates, we are planning to organize them on the page below.

We look forward to your continued support in the future.
We wish everyone to have a good year!

Monday, July 16, 2018

Episode 596: Improve Workflow Diagram into Easy-to-see by Integrating Multiple Steps into One

In the previous article, "Episode 595: Alternate Method of Setting Expiration on Questionnaire", I have introduced "A method of setting a timer with Data setting formula".

In the article, I described a measure to enhance the visibility of the Workflow diagram by reducing the number of Steps, such as;

...In addition, "Service Task (Data assignment)" is capable of assigning a value to multiple Data Items at single Step. In case if multiple "Service Task (Data assignment)" are arranged consecutively, please consider consolidating them into one...

In the article, I described a measure to enhance the visibility of the Workflow diagram by reducing the number of Steps, such as;

...In addition, "Service Task (Data assignment)" is capable of assigning a value to multiple Data Items at single Step. In case if multiple "Service Task (Data assignment)" are arranged consecutively, please consider consolidating them into one...

As I might be asked by someone saying "So, how can I concretely do?", so let's try to rewrite the Workflow diagram of the past together actually.

[Billing-Payment Confirmation flow 1]


[Billing-Payment Confirmation flow 1 (Integrated Steps)]


Sunday, July 8, 2018

Episode 595: Alternate Method of Setting Expiration on Questionnaire

In the previous article, "Set Expiration to Post-Event Questionnaire", I have set "expiration to after 7 days" utilizing a Service Task. By setting a deadline for the questionnaire, it is possible to prevent the business process from staying stuck, even if it is not yet answered.

[Event_Acceptance-Questionnaire (Expiration)]

For the setting of "after 7 days, "data setting formula is used.
By writing "# now.addDays (7)", you can set "after 7 days" to "Expirtion (Date)" from the time (#now) when the token arrived in the "Expiration set" Step.

<"Expiration set" setting screen>


Other than that, in addition to the data setting formula expressing the date and time, there are;
  1. 2 hours 30 minutes later: #now.addHours(2).addMinutes(30),
  2. the end of the month: #now.getLastTimeInMonth(),
  3. 5th of the following month: #today.getFirstTimeInMonth().addDays(4), and so on.
("Data setting formula" can also be used in other data items. For details, refer to "M227: Set to combine business data and arithmetic operations automatically")

Sunday, July 1, 2018

Episode 594: Set Expiration to Post-Event Questionnaire


In the previous article, we added a mechanism for conducting a post-event questionnaire, to a Workflow for accepting participation in events such as "small group seminars". Impressions and feedback about an event from participants obtained by answering a questionnaire, they are hints to change the next event to a better one.

However, with the Workflow in the previous article, you had to "wait until the questionnaire was answered". If all the participants answered the questionnaire immediately, your work would proceed smoothly. But unfortunately, it wouldn't go that way easier. Sometimes you wouldn't answer a questionnaire. (Neither do I...)

Thus, I am going to improve the Workflow by setting the expiration. If there is no answer even it comes to the expiration, the Issue is to be automatically terminated.

[Event_Acceptance-Questionnaire (Expiration)]

Sunday, June 24, 2018

Episode 593: Questionnaire Surveillance after Event


In the previous article, I introduced a Workflow for event participation reception of such as "Seminar by a small group".
It is desirable to be rid of correspondence in emails by a person in charge and to make the mechanism of reception into Workflow, also in the aspect of A: Data Management, and B: Flow Improvement.

After the event has been successfully held, you would like to hear from the participants for their impressions and feedback on the event. By listening to the participant's voices and reflecting them on the next event, "Event holding work" itself can also be improved. In case the event is a seminar, it will also lead to reviewing of the contents of the seminar.

Although there is a method that to prepare a Workflow for collecting "Post-event Questionnaire" and to transmit the answering URL (Form Start) to the event participants collectively, I will introduce a method that to standby for entries to the questionnaire (Form Standby) in the post-step of "Event acceptance flow", this time.

[Event Acceptance flow-Questionnaire]


Sunday, June 17, 2018

Episode 592: Event Participation Acceptance with Workflow


How do you handle acceptance of participation for events and seminars?

When you assume 100, 500, 1000 applicants, you will try very hard to build an 'Automatic Processing System'.
On the other hand, however, suppose if it is the scale of 10, 20, 50 people?

An event acceptance for a "small seminar", for example...

The quickest way is to set an Email address for accepting, and let the accepting work to be "correspondence in emails by the person in charge". That has a good aspect as well. Whatever it is for, it is very important to take action quickly.

However, if it is supposed to become "an event that will be repeatedly held", you may better get out from the manner of "correspondence in emails by the person in charge" at some occasion. That is, eliminate the situation that "only the person in charge knows" about the operations, and make it (semi-automatically as much as possible) exactly to be [recorded].

  • A. Data management
  • B. Flow improvement

Once you have made it into Workflow on the basis of the two perspectives, [taking over on replacement] of the person in charge of the acceptance becomes easier. A collaborative response will be able to be realized quickly even when [reinforcement of receptionist personnel]. And even though if it is an event of "once a year", you will not fall into the situation that 'Do you remember how we did it last year?'.

[Event Acceptance flow]


Sunday, June 10, 2018

Episode 591: Brush Up Input Screen so that Leading to Business Improvement!


For a business system that is used every day, it is very important for users whether the input interface (input screen) is easy to understand and whether it is easy to use.

Relating a Workflow system, I often hear people saying such as;

  •  "I don't know what to input."
  • "It could be easier if there were examples or templates."
  • "I entered all the way, but it ended up as an error."
  • "The way of input varies depending on individuals."

And when I look back at our day-to-day operations, such as "Report of hours worked", "Request for approval", "Report of order receipt", "Answer to inquiries", etc., many of the occurrences of delays and reworks are mostly caused by erroneous or inappropriate input at upstream Steps.

"Improvement of work" tends to be a grandiose story such as standardization of business flow and optimal placement of resources, but as the content to be tackled becomes bigger, it takes time to get the effect. On the other hand, it can be said that "devising the input screen to reduce inputs that is erroneous and inappropriate" is a small "business improvement" that can be addressed immediately in daily work. Iterating small improvements will lead to major achievements.

In this workflow sample, I would like to introduce you the devising of "input example button" on an input screen, which allows input by clicking on it.


[Test flow for Input form]



[Test flow for Input form: "1. Input Test" screen]



When designing the input screen, it is basically necessary to set a "Data Item name" that is easy to understand, and to describe sentences and examples (Input hint) that explain how to input. Furthermore, by making it possible to select by option instead of typing, or by setting the initial value of data, the burden of inputting for a user is reduced and it also leads to suppression of variations in input data.

In addition to these means, it is also a good idea to consider using scripts such as arranging buttons for input assistance or performing input checking or setting data to other Data Items.

Even though you can set arbitrary HTML/JavaScript in [Input hint] of Questetra, in some cases it may be a trouble such as "it will destroy the layout of the whole input form". It must be set by staff members who have knowledge and experiences of HTML/JavaScript at their own risk within the range of their capability of maintenance.

▼[Input Hint] Setting Example (HTML/JavaScript):"Service Item"
E.g.: <button type="button" id="btnConsultant_1">Monthly advisory fee</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnInstruct_1">Workshop instructor fee (Diem)</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnDoc_1">Documentation fee</button>

<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery('#btnConsultant_1').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[1\\].input"]').val( "Monthly advisory fee" );
});
jQuery('#btnInstruct_1').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[1\\].input"]').val( "Workshop instructor fee (Diem)" );
});
jQuery('#btnDoc_1').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[1\\].input"]').val( "Documentation fee" );
});
</script>
▼[Input Hint] Setting Example (HTML/JavaScript):"Quotation price"
E.g.: <button type="button" id="btnS_2">(15 years career) 820,000</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnA_2">(5 years career) 452,000</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnB_2">(Less than 15 years) 339,000</button>

<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery('#btnS_2').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[2\\].input"]').val( "820000" );
});
jQuery('#btnA_2').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[2\\].input"]').val( "452000" );
});
jQuery('#btnB_2').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[2\\].input"]').val( "339000" );
});
jQuery('input[name="data\\[2\\].input"]').parent().parent().css("background-color","#FFC0CB");
</script>
▼[Input Hint] Setting Example (HTML/JavaScript):"Reason for Leave"
E.g.: <button type="button" id="btn1_5">Leisure and Home matter: Private</button>、
<button type="button" id="btn2_5">Local volunteer: Private (Local volunteer)</button>、
<button type="button" id="btn3_5">Got abdominal pain in the morning: Illness (abdominal pain)</button>、
<button type="button" id="btn4_5">Child's fever: Child care</button>

<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery('#btn1_5').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[5\\].input"]').val( "Private" );
});
jQuery('#btn2_5').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[5\\].input"]').val( "Private (Local volunteer)" );
});
jQuery('#btn3_5').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[5\\].input"]').val( "Illness (abdominal pain)" );
});
jQuery('#btn4_5').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[5\\].input"]').val( "Child care" );
});
</script>
▼[Input Hint] Setting Example (HTML/JavaScript):"Approval request overview" "Budget classification"
Frequent: <button type="button" id="btnExhibit_78">(Exhibitions within budget)</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnProcurement_78">(Unexpected procurement)</button>

<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery('#btnExhibit_78').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[7\\].input"]').val( "Outsourcing related to the Cloud Expo" );
jQuery('input[name="data\\[8\\].selects"][value="1"]').prop('checked', true);
});
jQuery('#btnProcurement_78').on('click',function(){
jQuery('input[name="data\\[7\\].input"]').val( "Purchase of personal computers due to breakdown" );
jQuery('input[name="data\\[8\\].selects"][value="3"]').prop('checked', true);
});
</script>
▼[Input Hint] Setting Example (HTML/JavaScript):"Reason of request"
<span style='color:#ff0000;'>* Brief in Bullet</span><br>
E.g.: <button type="button" id="btnReasonA_9">(P.C. breakdown)</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnReasonB_9">(Abrupt procurement due to the increase of personnel)</button>、
<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery('#btnReasonA_9').on('click',function(){
var myReason = "";
myReason += "External Monitor output is corrupted by the dropping in transportation (Dec. 2015)\n";
myReason += "Hindrance to the operation of the latest OS, past more than three years since the purchase of January 2013.\n";
myReason += "Choose a familiar conventional series machine, even though D Company is not the lowest price, but the difference is small.";
jQuery('textarea[name="data\\[9\\].input"]').val( myReason );
});

jQuery('#btnReasonB_9').on('click',function(){
var myReason = "";
myReason += "Increase 30 part-timers to correspond due to receiving order of more than assumed.\n";
myReason += "20 spare PC. Need 10 more.\n";
myReason += "(D company is the cheapest and fastest.)";
jQuery('textarea[name="data\\[9\\].input"]').val( myReason );
});
</script>
▼[Input Hint] Setting Example (HTML/JavaScript):"Service start"
<button type="button" id="btnThisMon_11">This month</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnNextMon_11">Next month</button>

<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery('#btnThisMon_11').on('click',function(){
var myToday = new Date();
var y = myToday.getFullYear();
var m = myToday.getMonth() + 1; // Jan: 0
if (m < 10) { m = '0' + m; }
jQuery('input[name="data\\[11\\].input"]').val( y + "-" + m );
});
jQuery('#btnNextMon_11').on('click',function(){
var myToday2 = new Date();
myToday2.setDate(1);
myToday2.setMonth(myToday2.getMonth() + 1);
var y2 = myToday2.getFullYear();
var m2 = myToday2.getMonth() + 1; // Jan: 0
if (m2 < 10) { m2 = '0' + m2; }
jQuery('input[name="data\\[11\\].input"]').val( y2 + "-" + m2 );
});
</script>
▼[Input Hint] Setting Example (HTML/JavaScript):"Service end"
<button type="button" id="btnOneYear_12">→1 year cintract</button>、
<button type="button" id="btnTwoYear_12">→2 years contract</button>

<script type="text/javascript">
jQuery('#btnOneYear_12').on('click',function(){
var myDateStr = jQuery('input[name="data\\[11\\].input"]').val();
var myStartMon = new Date( myDateStr + "-01");
var myEndMon = new Date();
myEndMon.setMonth( myStartMon.getMonth() + 11 );
var y = myEndMon.getFullYear();
var m = myEndMon.getMonth() + 1; // Jan: 0
if (m < 10) { m = '0' + m; }
jQuery('input[name="data\\[12\\].input"]').val( y + "-" + m );
});
jQuery('#btnTwoYear_12').on('click',function(){
var myDateStr = jQuery('input[name="data\\[11\\].input"]').val();
var myStartMon = new Date( myDateStr + "-01");
var myEndMon = new Date();
myEndMon.setMonth( myStartMon.getMonth() + 23 );
var y = myEndMon.getFullYear();
var m = myEndMon.getMonth() + 1; // Jan: 0
if (m < 10) { m = '0' + m; }
jQuery('input[name="data\\[12\\].input"]').val( y + "-" + m );
});
</script>
[Data Item list]

Similar Models

Related Articles


Free download Business Template : Test flow for Input form

(Japanese Entry (ε’Œζ–‡θ¨˜δΊ‹))

Sunday, June 3, 2018

Episode 590: Designation in Uneven Hierarchy, part 4

Concerning "Designation in Uneven Hierarchy", we learned methods for "Absolute designation according to the job title, "Relative designation according to organization hierarchy, and "Methods of separating business processes, designating approver".

As the last of this series, I will introduce a past article that describes "Method of separating the starting position according to job position".

Even though it is a similar idea to "Method of separating business processes", it addresses by separating the start position in one business process in this article. Although it is a "method of starting by boss" instead of "method of designating boss", please keep it in your memory as one of the methods of designing a Workflow App for an organization with variations in its hierarchy.

Sunday, May 27, 2018

Episode 589: Designation in Uneven Hierarchy, part 3

Regarding designation within an organization in which its hierarchy is uneven, we studied "method of absolute specification by job title" in Part 1, and "method of relative designation according to organization hierarchy" in Part 2.

Both methods have advantages and disadvantages, and approver/decision-makers are needed to be careful during operation. After all, in the case of "an organization with unevenness in depth", it is difficult to simply describe business rules.

The easy-to-use and easy-to-operate Workflow (setting method) will also vary depending on the size of the organization or proficiency to business rules/system of the organization members, and so on. Although we will introduce two more Workflows this time, please consider and choose "which description method is easy to operate without misunderstanding" according to the actual situation of each company including those introduced in the past articles.

One way is to separate the Workflows according to the requester.
In other words, if the approval route differs depending on the job title of who made a request, it may be good to separate into different Workflows.

[Approval flow (Separate the request of the Manager)]


Sunday, May 20, 2018

Episode 588: Designation in Uneven Hierarchy, part 2

Continuing from the last week, let's study about "Operator setting".

In the article of "Episode 587: Designation in Uneven Hierarchy, part 1", I introduced you a method of two-step approval which is to obtain an approval from "superior" then obtain from the "superior's superior". It is a form of approval flow that is common even for other than decision-making. This time, I will introduce a different way of writing about the previous Workflow diagram.

In the following Workflow diagram, the second Swimlane is set to "superior of the applicant" (relative designation), instead of "manager" (absolute designation by position).
By setting like this, "2. Approval/Decision" task will be assigned to the manager of the organization to which the applicant belongs. That is, if a "member" among "two directors, ten managers, and fifty members" makes a request then a "manager" approves on it, and if "manager" makes, "director" approves it.

[Approval flow (relative representation)]


Sunday, May 13, 2018

Episode 587: Designation in Uneven Hierarchy, part 1


Let's study about "Operator setting" from popular articles of the past.
To specify a "superior" is comparably difficult among settings of a Workflow since there are several ways to do and also it depends on the organization structure. It is better to know various ways of thinking at first.

One President, two (executive) Directors, four managers, and twelve employees.
Suppose that 4 of the "12 employees" are assigned to "directly under the Directors". More specifically,

  • 2 people are directly assigned respectively to the Departments where each of two directors supervises.
  • 2 people are assigned respectively to the Units where each of 4 managers supervises.

Every "Units" are belonging to either of the "Departments", of course. Specifically, It is a case of where the sales manager himself directly directs five sales staff members besides Units under the umbrella of the sales department. And while there are many Units under the affiliation of the manufacturing department, the manufacturing department manager himself is directly supervising five people as quality control staff.


The characteristic of this organizational structure is that there is "variation in depth". It is a common story.

Now, in the case of such "organization having variations in depth", what kind of business flow diagram should be to express the path of escalation in the approval flow? Let's consider how to write according to international standard notation BPMN. The point where to be controversial is how to draw an in-house rule that is "In principle, after the manager approval, the director will make a decision". That is, those five people in each department in this organization have no Manager.


[Approval flow (absolute representation 1)]


Sunday, May 6, 2018

Episode 586: Let's Draw Workflow Diagram in BPMN! (sequel)

Continuing from last week, I will introduce the past articles of "Workflow Sample" concerning the method of Workflow definition using BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation).

BPMN stands for "Model" and "Notation". The Workflow definition written in BPMN can be run as Workflow system on a BPM system. Would you like to learn BPMN and try systemizing your work?

For information on how to write BPMN, please also refer to BPMN Introduction.


Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Episode 585: Let's Draw Workflow Diagram in BPMN! (prequel)


In this blog, "Workflow Sample", we introduce you various Workflow definitions of businesses. Since a Workflow definition is drawn using BPMN (Business Process Model and Notation), so it is not only the flow of the business to comprehensible at a glance but also sharing the contents of the business to be easy.

We are going into Golden Week, so I will re-introduce the articles of the past concerning "how to draw BPMN" for the next two weeks. I hope you take those as an opportunity to learn about BPMN which is a notation system for Workflow diagram and how to draw with them.

Sunday, April 22, 2018

Episode 584: "Leave Application", be Sure and in Advance!


In the "Hours Worked Report flow" which I showed the other day, it has been designed that the working status becomes "Vacation" when the deadline passed without reporting one's attendance. Does it mean that it is possible for the person him/herself or the boss or the management to confirm the days when the vacations were taken just by looking at the processing record of the "Attendance Report flow", which is actually the attendance record?

No, Wait a minute... There could be a possibility of a case where it has been recorded as vacation despite worked, because forgotten reporting. In the first place, a "vacation" should be given only after you apply in advance and your boss approves it.

The management department checks the monthly service record by matching "Leave application" and "Attendance record (record of Hours-worked reports)". In case if an employee is recorded as on vacation on the attendance record, but the corresponding application has not been submitted, you need a correction of attendance record (reapplication) or to ask submission of leave application (Post-application). In order to reduce the extra labor in the management department, it is desirable to correctly make attendance reports and leave applications, and to confirm oneself whether there are omissions at the end of the month.


[Leave Request Flow]


Sunday, April 15, 2018

Episode 583: Process Improvement by Integrating Similar Workflows

In Japan, half a month has passed since a new fiscal year started, so I guess the new hires are getting used to their new environment.

In the past two weeks, we introduced workflows for "Attendance report flow" and "Daily report flow" oriented (not necessarily) for new employees. If you've "reported" properly every day, I suppose you thoroughly got used to operations of the Workflow platform.
When you compare these two Workflows, you will recognize that they are very similar
  • It is automatically started and appears in [My Tasks] of all employees every morning
  • An employee reports, the boss (a leader) confirms.
  • The deadline has been set and if it is not finished until, it automatically terminates

Even though the contents to be reported are different as "work time" and "work contents" depending on the Workflows, their outlines are almost the same. Then, why don't you put these together?

[Attendance-Work Report]

Sunday, April 8, 2018

Episode 582: Look Back on the Day with a Daily Business Report!


In the previous post, I introduced you the "Hours-worked report" which even new hires make every day. It has been designed considering input effort to be reduced by devising of initial value and input screen so that reports are made properly every day. Speaking everyday report, the daily report is one of them. Whether it is during the training period or after being assigned, it is an important task for new recruits to report the "works done" and "matters learned" to the superiors or to seniors.

Through the daily report, new hires can learn business etiquette and how to work, and also help them communicate with their boss, seniors or other employees. Above all, the opportunity to look back on the day and organize what you learned or noticed is particularly important to be in the new environment.

[Daily Report]

Sunday, April 1, 2018

Episode 581: Rookies, Get Used to Workflow in Attendance Report!

In Japan, spring is the season of cherry blossom and the starting of a new life.

Another new fiscal year begins today, so an employment ceremony is held in many companies. Once a new employee is assigned, the superiors, senior employees, or HR staffs will instruct this and that of company life. Among them, it supposedly includes "how to make work report".

Recently, "Workstyle reformation" and "Discretionary working time system (Exempt employee)" are topics frequently discussed, so it is very important to be able to record and to recognize the hours worked properly. (Attendance management)
Reporting and recording of attendance and leave time has been managed in various ways, such as by filling in paper or stamping on time cards when it used to be, or now with IC cards or in a dedicated system, etc. Also, to use a general-purpose Workflow system is one of the ways.

Sometimes "Attendance report flow" is referred to as "the four major Workflow Apps", together with "Work request flow", "Procurement request flow" and "Out-of-pocket expenses claim flow" which I introduced you before as "the Starter templates pack". By managing attendance using cloud-based Workflow, you can take advantages of the following.
  • Teleworkers/Remote workers or staffs with frequent outings can also be recorded in the workplace or on the go
  • Daily processing allows new members to become accustomed to Workflow operations
  • Possible to improve ease-of-use for the organization continuously (would lead to reform of work style)

[Hours Worked Report]

Sunday, March 25, 2018

Episode 580: Starter Template (3) Out-of-pocket Expenses Claim

Continuing the past two weeks, I will introduce you the operation of "Starter Template" which has been pre-installed in the cloud-based Workflow, "Questetra BPM Suite".

The third one is "Out-of-pocket Expenses reimbursement claim".
Episode 464: Out-of-pocket Expenses Reimbursement Claim (Starter Template) (2016-01-04)

It is a business flow to make an application for claiming with email attachment of images of receipts taken with a mobile camera. And there is a focus on making it easier to manage receipt images by applying sequentially. Therefore, this will be a business process which is on the premise that "regulation that allows discarding the original paper receipt by taking a receipt image with a mobile camera".

[Out-of-pocket Expenses claim]


Sunday, March 18, 2018

Episode 579: Starter Template (2) Procurement Request flow

Continuing from the last week, I will introduce you the operation of "Starter Template" which has been pre-installed in the cloud-based Workflow, "Questetra BPM Suite".

The second one is "Procurement Request".
Episode 463: Procurement Request (Starter Template) (2015-12-28)

It is a business flow that allows anyone to make requests for purchasing from consumables to equipment as long as they are employees. Since status management such as "Decision pending " or "Delivery waiting" is automated, you can check progress at any time.

[Procurement Request flow]

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Episode 578: Starter Template (1) Planning-Approval flow


In the article of "Episode 577: Work Request Flow is the Basic of Workflow", I introduced you the "Work Request flow" as an operation that I can recommend for any organization. It is one of the business flows (applications) pre-installed in the cloud-based Workflow "Questetra BPM Suite", and there three other business flows are pre-installed. I will introduce you the operation of "Starter Template pack" in three articles in series from this one.

The first installment is "Approval flow".
Episode 462: Planning - Approval (Starter Template) (2015-12-21)

It is a simple business flow in which an employee "applies" a request for approval and the superior of the applicant "approves" it. The flow has been configured that if the external payment amount is 1 million JPY or more, it goes also to the "Approval" by the officer. (Automatically be approved after neglected for 24 hours)


[Planning-Approval flow] 


Sunday, March 4, 2018

Episode 577: Work Request Flow is the Basic of Workflow


"What kind of work do you recommend for trying out a Workflow?"

That is a question that frequently asked, and my answer to any kind of organization is always "Work Request flow". "To ask someone to do a (small) job", I suppose it is usually made by email, telephone, verbally, but I tell you that a simple request ought to be made in using Workflow.

"Workflow" literally means "flow of work", "flow (sequence) of requests for work". In other words, it is the basic (essence) of workflow that "someone requests work from someone" which is the simplest act of doing work in an organization.

In the cloud-based workflow "Questetra BPM Suite", the following "Work Request flow" is preinstalled and you can try it immediately if you apply for a Free Edition.

[Work Request flow]

Monday, February 26, 2018

Episode 576: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 3)

Operation: Creation of Icons, Production of Posters, etc.

With the new Business Process definition, "requests" from internal company are now managed centrally.

Those requests of designing from such as the marketing department, the product development department, the sales department, ... are now efficiently handled as a "team". In addition, I suppose that the designers have become interested in each other's work so that contribute to the skill improvement of each designer.

Reference:Episode 574: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 1)Episode 575: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 2)

Challenge: Cases where Not In Time for Delivery Schedule

However, there are still cases where it will not be in time for the "delivery date".

For example, when a request of "in a haste" comes, "regular requests" are affected. Particularly when large projects such as "release of new service" or "preparation of new campaign" become in action, various "requests in hurry" will occur. As a result, "regular projects that are flexible to deadlines" will not be in time for the due date.

It should be "a design team that can keep up production schedules" even by utilizing external resources.


[Designing request-Outsourcing] 



Monday, February 19, 2018

Episode 575: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 2)

Business: Design Production

A design team where "requests" from in-house come in one after another.

By improving the "Request form" (Starting step) of design creation, it has become possible to handle requests more stably than before. (Reference: "Episode 574: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 1)")

As we also prepared an automatic start event (Message Start Event), cases where the Process of "Designing request" is used as "sub-process" have increased as well. In other words, cooperation between business processes has been automated with API POST communication, by placing "call event" and "standby event" in the Business Process diagram (main process) of Sales department or Manufacturing department. (In short, the Process is started with data such as "title of requested item" or "details of requested work", and data such as "design report text" and "deliverable file" is returned at the same time when the work is completed.)

Furthermore, as we also opened to in-house the sample of the main Process to call out the "sub-process", designing work in various departments are to be integrated into the Process of "Designing request" in the future.

Challenge: Skills do not Improved

"Number of Issues been in charge" and "total amount" have been visualized for each designer. In addition, since veteran designers now control on work progress of "designers" as "receptionist", young designers will not commit "no-check delivery" (delivered without checked by anyone).

However, intrinsic? measure of value in designing is "quality".

With this Business Process as it is, I feel worry that the degree of satisfaction for designs in-house will be going down.

Is it impossible to become a Business Process capable of improving skills of the team as a whole a little more? Since we are improving its independency as a "Design request handling process", we would like to think about a mechanism that leads to skill improvement, not just a Business Process for simply to handle numbers of work.



Example of Business Process to call out [Designing request]

[Designing request-Reviewing]

Tuesday, February 13, 2018

Episode 574: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 1)


Operation: Design work

The work of a design team is extensive.

There may be small projects such as "changing icons in SaaS products" and adding them, and there may be also major projects such as "interface development of new SaaS functions".

However... in addition to those, there may be a case where they are requested publishing of a "Customer story article" written by the sales team on the Website, and furthermore, to create a flyer containing the story. Moreover, for an exhibition planned by marketing team, there might occur project of Web contents production, and creation of posters , and so on...

After all, it can be said that it is "a team that continuously being asked for helping hands?" from the entire company.

Challenge: Efficiency Improve on Work that Occurred Passively

It is true that the design team is certainly demanded by everybody.

However, it is inevitable to be said that what they are doing is unobtrusive compared to the fact that the direct division "product development division" and "sales and marketing department" are acting on a daily basis. For example, it is like gift wrapping service counter in a department store. They are keep on giving decorations on outputs of the store as they are asked to do so. And when they notice, "passive attitude" has ingrained on themselves.

Even if they grumbled that if it was the architectural industry, rather, the "designers will move actively, and the engineering group such as "structural" or "environmental" would be passive, "demands from internal company" won't be gone... First of all, I'd like to consider a way to do this passive job in a handsome manner. (Since, even in accounting, human resource department, or IT department, they are handling these "passive job" brilliantly...)

Business Template: [Designing Request]