Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
The only way of communicating via ProBis is by assigning a task to the
communication partner. This is done by filling a form as in Fig. 2. One chooses the task
from the list, assigns it to another user of the system, adds a textual description and
some parameters, for example a document that is already registered in the process
instance space. The task list is configurable and can be adjusted for each installation and
process type.
To further facilitate communication, several more advanced features were added to
ProBis. For example, there is a possibility to plan the same task to many users.
Additional users can be added from the list with the “+” button (See Fig. 2), or can be
fetched from a predefined group. Each user gets its own task in the calendar and will
need to go and complete it independently of other users. Multi-user planning gives a
possibility to easily raise attention of several people to some event that has happened
in the process instance. Another advanced feature is the “Returned receipt” check-box
which ensures that the planner gets a special “Attention” task planned as soon as the
task he/she has assigned to somebody else has been completed.
3.2 Experience of Use
Based on our experience with ProBis, collaborative planning provides a very efficient
way of communication/collaboration in the frame of business process instances. It is
especially useful for:
•
loosely structured processes, i.e. processes for which there are no predefined ways
for handling each instance.
•
processes driven by a professional team that knows how to use the system quite
well.
There are, however, two drawbacks with the approach when using it for more
structured processes that involve occasional users:
•
The dynamic aspect of business processes is poorly visualized. One needs to go
through the done-list and browse the history to get an understanding of how a
given process instance is developing in time.
•
Using the system puts some requirements on the user, as he/she needs to
understand the general ideas built in the system and get some training. This means
that the system is not very friendly for newcomers and casual users. Planning as a
way of communication causes the major problem here, as it is considered to be
counter-intuitive. Detailed planning is not as widespread in business life as one can
imagine.
4 A System with Specialized Structure of Shared Spaces
4.1 Description
In a system with a specialized structure, shared spaces are structured according to the
process map designed for a particular process type. In our case, such a map is
designed with a tool called iPB [10]. Several systems have been built with the help of
this tool. The biggest one is employed in the social office of one of the Swedish
