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Are there decisions being made based on the data, or business rules to follow?

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Does the data determine the outcome of any decisions?

  • At the conclusion of this activity in the process, is a decision being made? Is there a way that the solution can make the decision automatically based on the data?

  • Is this decision communicated to anyone? How is it communicated?

  • Does this decision determine whether the next step of the process will be executed? How is that communicated?

  • Do you have any "if/then" logic? For example, if a meal cost $75 or more, then employees need to attach receipts for meals; and if the total amount is greater than $500, then our expense reports need an extra level of approval.

Does the decision require approvals?

  • Are approvals needed before the next step of the process begins? How are those approvals captured? Is there a specific user or role that can approve the next step in the process? Should this person have access to the app or can another method be used (such as an email sent to the user to get approval to move forward)?

  • How is the next person in the process alerted about the response, so they can move forward (or not) with their next step of the process? Is there a particular way that the next person in the process is alerted

  • Is there a way for a user to be made aware when a work item is going to be escalated because it hasn't been worked in the allotted timeframe?

Tip

As you consider these different aspects, always look for the most optimal method to help reduce the time to respond to an approval.

Are escalations required?

  • Does this business process require escalations?

  • Should items automatically be escalated under certain conditions? Are there timeframes that this solution must be completed within? If a worker who uses the solution missed an approval, how long do you wait before the activity moves to another worker? Or do you send another notice?

  • Should users be able to escalate an issue?

  • If an escalation is required, how will it be presented? Do work items that are overdue float to the top to be worked on? Does the solution change color to let a worker know that some activities are behind schedule?

  • Do any alerts or notifications need to be generated?

Example: Expense report approvals

The expense report process requires approvals. All salespeople must have the expense report approved by Nick, their manager. When an employee submits a report, an alert needs to be sent to Nick to review and approve the expense report.

We know that Nick is a busy manager, so we should consider escalation for expense reports that wait for Nick's approval longer than five days. We can consider several escalation methods:

  • We can send another alert to Nick—perhaps rather than email, we consider sending a text message.

  • If Nick still hasn't responded, perhaps we send the report to Nick's manager—or even to Abhay—to review and approve.

Next step: Moving to the next task in the process

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