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Workflow applications: the screen is a view of the state

In a workflow application, every item is in exactly one state, and the state decides what the screen offers: who can act, what must be filled in, and which button moves it on. So we draw the states and the moves between them first. The screens follow, and nobody can skip a step they didn't know existed.
Discuss your processSee the rules for each move ↓
draftsubmittedapprovedcreditedneeds infoclaim WC-118 · J-488draftcan act: T3serial · 4471-B ✓nameplate photo ✓Submitsubmittedcan act: office managersent to Manufacturer A · Sep 3Record replyneeds infocan act: T3Manufacturer A asks: failure datefailure date · Sep 2Resubmitsubmittedcan act: office managerresubmitted to Manufacturer A · Sep 6Record replyapprovedcan act: office managercredit expected · $214Match to statementcreditedcan act: no onematched · statement Sep 30 · $214nothing left to doone state at a time · every move recorded

Every move has a rule

Written before any screen. The screens only offer the moves the rules allow.
draft → submittedtechnicianserial and nameplate photo attachedManufacturer A is sent the claim
submitted → needs infooffice managerthe manufacturer asks a questionthe technician is told exactly what's missing
needs info → submittedtechnicianthe answer is filled inthe claim goes back to the manufacturer
submitted → approvedoffice managerthe manufacturer's approval is recordeda credit is expected
approved → creditedoffice managerthe credit is matched to a statement linethe claim closes

A status field, and a workflow application

A form with a status field

  1. 01Anyone can set the status to anything.
  2. 02Every field is shown at every step.
  3. 03Waiting is invisible until someone asks.
  4. 04The history is whatever people remembered to write.

Steps get skipped, items stall without anyone noticing, and nobody can say where the time went.

A workflow application

  1. 01Only the allowed moves are offered, to the people allowed to make them.
  2. 02Each state asks for what it needs, and nothing else.
  3. 03Every wait has an owner and a clock.
  4. 04Every move is recorded with who, when and why.

The process runs the same way every time, and its delays are a report, not a guess.

What we decide before any screen

Five questions, answered with the people who do the work.

  1. 01

    States

    A short list everyone agrees on

    Each one means one thing. If people argue about what “in progress” means, it's two states.

  2. 02

    Moves

    Who, and when

    Each move between states names who may make it and what must be true first.

  3. 03

    Required data

    Asked for at the step that needs it

    The serial is required to submit, not to start a draft. Asking too early slows everyone down.

  4. 04

    Waiting

    Every wait has an owner

    When an item waits on someone, the application knows who, and for how long.

  5. 05

    Ways out

    Named, not improvised

    Cancelled, withdrawn and rejected are states too, with their own rules.

What a workflow application hands off

In

Items
claims, packets, requests
Rules
states and allowed moves
People
who may act, and when
Workflow application
one state at a time

Out

Next state
with the next owner
Waits
with an owner and a clock
History
every move, who and why

Worth building when a process has steps people skip

Good fit

  • Items wait on different people at different steps.
  • A skipped step causes rework or lost money.
  • The rules differ by customer, place or type of job.

Not the right fit

  • One person does the whole job from start to finish. A checklist is enough.
  • The process changes every week. Settle it first.

Where workflow applications are used

Next to workflow applications

Questions about workflow applications

Isn't this what workflow automation does?

Automation runs steps without people. A workflow application is where people do their part while the software keeps the state. Most use automation for the steps in between.

What happens when the process changes?

States and rules are defined in one place, so a new step or rule is a change to that definition, not to every screen.

Can an item be in two states at once?

No. If two things happen in parallel, such as a permit and a parts order, each is tracked as its own item and the two are linked.

Can we see where things get stuck?

Yes. Every move is recorded with a time, so waits by state and by person are a report.