Adapting to Case Management Tom Shepherd Director, Case Management

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 2 » Current Role: Director, Case Management » 15 Years in software focused on platforms » “Solving the same problems since 1995” Of Backgrounds and Perception Biases Today Product Lifecycle Management Rules / Configuration Enterprise Content Management Business Process and Case Management

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 3 Adaptive Case Management Defined “Adaptive Case Management enables non-technical business users in virtual organizations to seamlessly create/consolidate structured and unstructured processes from basic predefined business entities, content, social interactions, and business rules.” “ACM differs from business process management (BPM) in that the case information is the focus and the thing around which the other artifacts are organized. And it is the case information that persists for the long term.”

Adaptive Case Management isn’t simply about enabling technology, it represents a fundamental shift in approaching knowledge work

Challenge #1 Predicting and predefining how knowledge work happens

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 6 Process Modeling Starts Here

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 7 Gets More Complex

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 8 And Ends Up Here

And that’s for a reasonably simple, well-defined process

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 10 » “Does Unpredictable Work Exist?” – kswenson.wordpress.com ‣ Great conversation between Keith Swenson and Jean-Jacques Dubray » Can you really know all possible “states and transitions” associated with how work is done? » Is this a practical approach? » What would this look like? Predictability and Practicality

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 11 Pre-defining all states and transitions

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 12 Real World Limitations “We modeled the process as best as we could, but it seemed like there were about 1300 use cases possible.” “Trying to model the process for the BPMS implementation so explicitly created a proliferation of tasks and UI implementations, most of which were run by the same participant.” “We’ve now temporarily abandoned it…” “There is growing consensus that our biggest miss was that we didn’t recognize … for the more complex use cases … a case management pattern/approach would have probably worked best.”1

Challenge #1 Predicting and predefining how knowledge work happens Challenge #1 Predicting and predefining how knowledge work happens Adaptation #1 Predefine only what is necessary and repeatable and give users guidance when needed or wanted

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 14 From Predefined to Adaptive Define states and goals Incorporate rules where appropriate Enable ad-hoc addition of tasks and documents Link in structured processes and services to eliminate repeatable steps Knowledge work doesn’t happen the same way every time Don’t lay down iron track Allow participants to use their judgment and experience

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 15 Coordination through Case Folder

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 16 Tools and Guidelines Provide only the tools a user needs - Notes - Discussions - Dashboards - Reports Give participants control over user experience – personalization Communications and mentoring are key Incorporate rules to enforce task order or state changes - Minimizes “not in good order” scenarios

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 17 Collaboration Cases are by nature collaborative Who did what, when and why is auditable Individuals and groups can be assigned tasks or work within the case The case folder should deal with the complexity of multi-access automatically Work may involve activities outside of the system, e.g. researchers, underwriters. Work from cases shows up in personal work queues as needed Multiple people work on a case simultaneously

Challenge #2 Dealing with constant change in business

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 19 » Regulatory requirements » Market conditions » Competitive Pressures » Government mandated programs and service levels The Only Constant is Change

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 20 Typical Process Lifecycle Model Execute ControlMeasure Optimize STOP Many variations of this model exist Modeling is synonymous with creating process maps Time between model and execute is often longer than desired What happens when change is needed?

Challenge #2 Dealing with constant change in business Challenge #2 Dealing with constant change in business Adaptation #2 Give users tools to deal with ad-hoc work and empower them to adjust the solution in place

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 22 Tools for Dealing with Ad-hoc work » Configurable template that serves as the starting point or best practice ‣ Expected elements of a case folder can be setup in advance » Dynamic creation and assignment of tasks or documents ‣ Select from tasks previously used ‣ Create new tasks on the go ‣ Include placeholders for expected documents ‣ Access to library of standard documents » Ability to incorporate snippets of work, processes and services » Modification of the template by authorized users while in production

Challenge #3 Force fitting business into a process model

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 24 Process Centric Approach Human Resources On-boarding People Job Applicants Hiring Manager HR Specialist Business Process Requisitioning Talent Acquisition Interviewing Hiring Orientation Documents Job Description Resume(s) Application I9 Form Identification Benefit Summary

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 25 » Finding the process structure is hard ‣ Some problems have a lot of variability ‣ Temptation to force process change to simplify ‣ Exception cases typically not well understood » Everything must be in the workitem ‣ Cramming everything into one place makes it complex ‣ Alters the designer’s conceptualization of the problem » The workitem is transient ‣ The process updates a system of record ‣ Loss in fidelity ‣ Can’t mine history for process improvement ideas Process Centric Challenges

Challenge #3 Force fitting business into a process model Challenge #3 Force fitting business into a process model Adaptation #3 Stop thinking about process maps and start thinking about the business entities you deal with

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 27 » Identify the business entities » Describe their relationships » Fill in the details » Specify tasks to be done » Create a template library Data Centric Solution ManagerPositions CandidatesRecruiters InterviewsReferences

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 28 » People understand correspondence, contracts, employees and invoices and can easily describe these entities » Provides a foundation for other solutions through reusable “objects” » Potential for use of ACM platform as a system of record How is this different?

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 29 So Where Does that Lead Us?

Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 30 Adopting Adaptive Case Management strategies can be successful where because it centers on describing your business in your terms You don’t have to change how you think about your business or agency, the tool adapts to fit what you do Conclusion

31 Copyright 2009 © All rights reserved. Global 360 Inc. 31 Questions? Tom Shepherd Director, Case on Twitter Blogging at