How the process of task assignment can be automated
Task Assignment Process Automation
This application is about “task assignment in a company.“ The application requires automating the “procedure“ of “task assignment and completion.“ That means the successive “steps“ of the procedure are automatically forwarded from one employee to another without any “manager“ intervention. At any time, the manager can see what tasks (steps) the employees are assigned. After a certain period, the manager has a complete report on the employees‘ tasks. Additionally, when they have started and when they have finished the tasks.
The requirements put on the application from the coordination of “task assignment and completion“ are the following:
“Every employee can assign a task to another employee. He does so by using his name or his role. The task contains a title, possibly a final date, and the employee‘s name or role to assigned-to and a description. Then the tasks reach the Assignees. There, the assignee is working on the task. He does so by writing more notes on the available memo. After he finishes, the task returns to the assigner. Here, the assigner can accept the task as completed and put it in a finished state. Otherwise, the task returns to the same assignee or another. The above cycle continues until the task is in a finished state.“
We place all of the above requirements on a coordinator agent. The action_code of the agent is the following:
start_action
call bpm_setprocedureowner(“JOHN“) {.....set the procedure owner}
callwait bpm_assign_job ( “new task“ , __activation_user , ““ , 0) {....start the new task}
task_id = bpm_getrecid(1,__au_step) {......subactivity, activity}
comm = LookUp(“TASK“,“TASK“,task_id,“DESCR“,““)
call bpm_setprocedurecomment(comm) {.....set the procedures comment}
for i = 1 to 1000
user = LookUp(“TASK“,“TASK“,task_id,“TOUSER“,““)
pos = LookUp(“TASK“,“TASK“,task_id,“TOPOSITION“,““)
finished = LookUp(“TASK“,“TASK“,task_id,“FINISHED“,““)
if (finished = 1) then
i = 1000
else
if (user <> ““) then {...the user works on the task}
callwait bpm_assign_job ( “working on task“ , user , ““ , 0 , task_id
endif
if (pos <> ““) then {...the users with position works on the task}
callwait bpm_assign_job ( “working on task“ , ““ , pos , 0 , task_id )
endif
{ the task issuer examines if the task is completed, or reassigned it again (to the same or different person}
callwait bpm_assign_job ( “check the task work“ , __activation_user , ““ , 0 , task_id )
endif
next
end_action
We can see the callwait (or split_in_branch) keywords. Those keywords allow the agent to wait (until the user has finished a job) or are at parallel code execution. Those are capabilities that are not presented every day in a programming language (ok, script!). Notice that the callwait “calls“ the user‘s activity as it would be a “program‘s subroutine.“ Notice also that we have a flow of procedures defined by our conditions in the code. That is a case of ad hoc control flow (not known in advance to the programmer!)
We have to admit that the effect (coordination and historical data collection of the procedure) is far too significant for the lines of code that the application programmer writes. To be precise, the code is a little bigger (the agent contains the code that “describes“ the task (activities) assigned to employees).
We can view the agent (agent prototype precisely) from right-mouse Click on Application‘s Background->Developer->Resources->Agent Prototypes. For every “service“ requested, the system creates a new “alive“ agent that starts to execute his action_code.
Where do we define users and roles?
Another issue is the jobs are assigned to users (employees) by name. But mainly by their roles in the company. The users and roles as we have defined them in the application are at Menu->System->Users/Positions.
How do we activate the agent?
We can activate a “new task“ from the “New Action“ button left on the application window. Then, the users see the activities (jobs) assigned to them, exit the demo application, and log in as the user in question.
How can the user see the incoming jobs?
Every user has the incoming activities window defined as “Tasks“ in the menu. Notice that the system sends the same activity to all users who have the same role in the company or organization. When the users “complete“ the activity required, they “forward“ the completed activity to the next step. Then the activity disappears from the window.
To see activities assigned to him for today or uncompleted from yesterday, he must activate “Finished Tasks.“
How does the manager can see the current jobs?
By activating Menu->CPO Control Panel->Active Tasks, we see every activity (job) that is assigned at the time and is in the phase of completion, i.e., presented to users “incoming activities.“
How do we can evaluate our employees?
When we activate Menu->System->Associates, we can see a button captioned “Has Done.“ We get all the activities that the user (employee) has finished and by which role by activating it. The time of starting and completing each activity is also available—this way, the actual effort that the user has given to the company can be estimated.
How do we can improve the demo application?
The demo application comes with “Developer“ capabilities. That means we have the opportunity to change the database schema (Right Click->Developer->Resources->Database Manager->Edit Schema). We can also change the forms (Right Click over a form->Designing).
