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the Free CMSWire NewsletterThe rise of knowledge work is making it more important to have a strategy addressing improvements for untamed manual processes in paper-intensive environments. In this second article in my series on Adaptive Case Management (read the first one: How Adaptive Case Management Helps Businesses Overcome Challenges and Improve Performance), I discuss the role that adaptive case management technology can play in that strategy.
The Challenge of Knowledge Work
In the recent McKinsey article “Rethinking Knowledge Work: A Strategic Approach,” Tom Davenport issues a challenge:
In the half-century since Peter Drucker coined the term “knowledge workers,” their share of the workforce has steadily grown — and so has the range of technology tools aimed at boosting their productivity. Yet there’s little evidence that massive spending on personal computing, productivity software, knowledge-management systems and much else has moved the needle… It’s time for companies to develop a strategy for knowledge work — one that not only provides a clearer view of the types of information that workers need to do their jobs but also recognizes that the application of technology across the organization must vary considerably, according to the tasks different knowledge workers perform.”
Applying case management for business improvement can help address this challenge by focusing on better ways to accomplish the continuum of knowledge work, dealing with complex problem areas that can provide differentiation. Examples of the breadth and adaptability of case management include activities surrounding a patient record, a lawsuit, an insurance claim, a disputed order, a citizen service request or a contract. Throughout all of these examples, the common theme is the need for human involvement in the process.
Human Judgment is the Common Theme
There is always human judgment involved with case management, though the amount depends on the degree of structure for the case type or pattern. The case management approach seeks to amplify rather than replace human knowledge and collaboration in those case patterns to improve productivity and business outcomes.
With a case management strategy, organizations have achieved 20% to 35% current year productivity gains in their respective industries, and have sustained those results through permanent changes that eliminate paper, innovate and extend services through online channels, and create improved collaborative decision making environments.
The Role of Technology
As organizations pursue a strategy to use case management for transformative change, technology can help guide and accelerate time to value. Forward-thinking organizations are wielding technology in several creative ways:
- Invest in knowledge work
- Design for user adoption
- Use fit-for-purpose tools
Invest in Tools for Knowledge Work
There is a central tenet in case management of enabling knowledge work and workers. Further, there is an understanding that driving effective human interaction — by enabling “smarter workers” — has an enormous ability to positively affect business outcomes.
There is a balancing act between “free-access” and more “structured” approaches (as Davenport calls them), but the desired outcome should be the same in my opinion — autonomy for the knowledge worker to accomplish their goals using their best judgment. It is our responsibility to provide the environment, technology and information to enable that to happen in a productive fashion. Traditional BPM process automation techniques are effective when the process is predictable and repeatable. According to the Workflow Management Coalition (WfMC),
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