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THE ACTION WORKFLOW APPROACH TOWORKFLOW MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGYRaul Medina-Mora, Terry Winograd, Rodrigo Flores, Fernando FloresAction Technologies, Inc.1301 Marina Village ParkwayAlameda, CA 94501(510)521-6190 rmm@ati.mhs.CompuServe.com

ABSTRACTThis paper describes ActionWorkflowTM approach to work-flow management technology: a design methodology andassociated computer software for the support of work inorganizations. The approach is based on theories of com-municative activity as language faction and has been devel-oped in a series of systems for coordination among users ofnetworked computers. This paper describes the approach,gives an example of its application, and shows the architec-ture of a workflow management system based on it.KEYWORDSWorkflow, ActionWorkflow, Coordination, Coordinator,Business process.INTRODUCTIONIn introducing new technologies into a workplace we arenot simply augmenting the work, but are in effect reorga-nizing it. Technological innovation offers an opportunityfor organizational innovation. In providing computer sup-port for cooperative work, we are directly concerned with itspotential for business process redesign.For the past ten years we and our colleagues at ActionTechnologies have been developing computer software fororganizational communication and action, based on a theoryof work structure as language action. Previous publications[2] [3][10][12] have described the basic elements of thetheory and explained its application to computer-supportedcooperative work. Language acts, classified according to a speech-act

taxonomy. Conversations, which are coherent sequences of languageacts with a regular structure of expectations andcompletions.Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material isgranted provided that the copies are not made or distributed fordirect commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and thetitle of the publication and its date appear, and notice is givlenthat copying is by permission of the Association for ComputingMachinery. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requiras a feeand/or specific permission.e 1992 ACM 0-89791-543-7/92/001 0/0281 . .. 1.50

9 Time tokens for completions in conversations. Explicit mutually-visible representations of acts, conver-sations, and times, as a way of facil itating communicationin an organization.This has led us to a new way of characterizing workflow,based on the identification and construction of atomicloops of action in which a performer completes an actionto the satisfaction of a customer (internal or external). Theoverall workflow in any organization is an interweaving ofthese action workflow loops, some of which are highly re-current (done in a structured way time after time) and othersare ad hoc (unique to a situation). Our experience withworkflow management technology has demonstrated theeffectiveness of action workflow analysis in redesigning theaction structure in an organization to improve the work-flow, along with providing computer support.BUSINESS PROCESSESWe distinguish three different domains in which to describeactivities of an organizationMateriel processes.Human activities are rooted in the physical world, Nothinghappens without physical things moving and changingstate. If we ask What is happening? the obvious answeris a description of physical activity.In the tradition of factory automation this was the relevantdomain, in which physical components were transformedand assembled into product unities. Materiel process re-design and technologies have been used to move and pro-cess objects more efficiently, from the early analyses ofTaylor and the production innovations of Ford, through thesophisticated techniques of modern industrial engineering.Information processesWith the twentieth-century shift to information work, themateriel process domain fails to capture what is importantabout everyday activity. With computer workstations, allof the physical work becomes indistinguishable-talking topeople and tapping keys in front of display screens. Whatis relevant is the nature of what the talk and tapping isabout.

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Theorists and information technology providers have devel- Although our approach also includes capacities for generat-oped sophisticated ways to analyze and facilitate the flow of ing and managing forms, these are grounded in the dimen-information. Current techniques of data flow analysis, sion of business process structure, which is constituted ofdatabase storage and retrieval, transaction processing, net- action workflow loops. This provides the basis for allow-work communication, and many more have provided a ing individuals to deal directly with the consequences ofstructure of effective information processing. This is the their work for completion and satisfaction.heart of the applications offered by the computer industrytoday. r ProposalBusiness processesWhat is lost in the information perspective is the recogni-tion that information in itself is uninteresting. Information

Agreement

is only useful because someone can do something with it, I Customer Satisfaction Performerand we cant define do something circularly as just the k /handling of more information. W-hat do people do thatmatters?

1id

Here we find the domain of business processes, in which satisfaction Performance -people enter into language actions tha{have consequencesfor their future activities. When a customer hands a supplieran order form, there is a physical activity (transferring apiece of paper) and an information dimension(communicating a form with information about a particularset of goods, delivery instructions, etc.). But the true sig-nificance is in the business process dimension: It is a re-quest for the supplier to perform some particular actions, inreturn for which the customer is committed to performother actions (e.g., payment).Our theoretical work has been identifying the basic structureof the business process dimension: workflows, roles, actsand the incompletions they lead to, which constitute expec-tations for further behavior by the participants. It is impor-tant to note that business processes are implemented in in-formation processes, just as information processes are im-plemented in materiel processes. In moving to a focus onthe language/action structure of workflow, rather than onthe forms or database transact ions used when acting, we arerevealing a higher existing level of organization.WORKFLOWMost current approaches to workflow management arestructured around the domain of information processes [9].They begin with a class of information objects, such asforms or stored images, and define workflow as a sequenceof actions to be done on those objects. The primary orga-nizing structure is the routing of information objectsamong users, and the specification of automatic actions tobe taken in that routing. In a way, this is very much likethe materiel process view, in which parts are passed alongfrom one station to another in a factory for processing,and some of the component tasks are taken over by auto-mated machinery.Traditional work management is well suited to highly struc-tured heads-down paper processing, but is not adequate forsupporting the realities of work in the 90s, with its empha-sis on better educated workers who combine structured workwith opportunity-based initiative and individual responsibi l-i ty for quality and customer satisfaction.

Figure 1. ActionWorkflow LoopFigure 1 shows the basic sequence of actions in the actionworkflow loop. There is always an identified customer anda performer, and the loop deals with a particular action thatthe performer agrees to complete to the satisfaction of thecustomer.The loop proceeds in four phases:1) ProposalThe customer requests (or the performer offers) completionof a particular action according to some stated conditions ofsatisfaction.2) AgreementThe two parties come to mutual agreement on the condi-tions of satisfaction, including the times by which furthersteps will be taken. This agreement is only partially ex-plicit in the negotiations, resting on a shared background ofassumptions and standard practices.3) PerformanceThe performer declares to the customer that the action iscomplete.4) SatisfactionThe customer declares to the performer that the completionis satisfactory.At any phase there may be additional actions, such asclarifications, further negotiations about the conditions, andchanges of commitments by the participants. (For a moredetailed analysis of these possibilities, see [12], p. 65).The structure is defined by the tanguage acts through whichpeople coordinate, not the actions done by individuals tomeet the conditions of satisfaction. The key difference inour approach is this shift from the task structure to the co-ordination structure. In a more traditional workflowapproach, actions of coordination are seen as one kind oftask or as a flow of information between tasks. In our per-spective, tasks are defined by the requests and commitmentsexpressed in the loops, This shift is analogous to moving

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0 r / >still set & positionInterv iewers by when+@ I .,.., Cl>@Men.~.rInterview date, time, and mtefviewersEvaluation formDecE.ion. Active file, no match, reschedule -~..>~

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Figure 3. Core structure of the candidate review process. Giving managers an overview of the status of workflow

in the organization, both on demand and through generat-ing regular reports and measures based on workflowstructure.

. Automating standard procedures and individualized re-sponses, on the basis of the action workflow structure.

Our methodology for providing workflow support is basedon creating a unified conceptual structure and data represen-tation that ties these functions into a coherent whole basedon the explicit representation of workflow loops and theirinterconnections.AN EXAMPLEWe will illustrate business process analysis and supportwith an application that was developed for managing there-view of job candidates. This process is part of a largerbusiness process for staffing, which is based on severaldozen interconnected workflows, including advertising forpositions, receiving and evacuating resumes, etc.The process centers on four central loops, as shown inFigure 3. Each loop stands for a recurrent workflow, withthe customer identified on the left and the performer on theright. Lines connecting workflow loops indicate triggeringand dependency relationships between them. Numberedcircles indicate forms and other external representations thatplay a role in the process.The candidate review process starts when the director of per-sonnel makes a request to a personnel manager to managethe review of a particular candidate. The manager starts theprocess by filling in an on-line form with information such

as the interviewers, positions sought for the candidate, re-quired skills, etc., as shown in Figure 4.

MANAGE HIRING PROCESSpi:; plllme Lisa. PowellTelephonenumbec 313-353-8250Position: t

o TeamLeader IOf%aject Manager IOSenior SOftwaraEngineer IOSOftwre Engineer IOBenior Teat Enttinear IOTaat EnginaarInterviewer(s)

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skillsnBudgetresponsibilityn Businaaaprocessanalysis~ Staffing mponsibility~ Project nmagernentR Prwammintl eXpariellCeR c LmgusgsD Networks

Comments:

Figure 4. Form for init iat ing candidate review

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This application was developed using the Lotus Notes ver-sion of the workflow management system, so the formwas defined using the standard facilities for designing Notesforms, Other implementations differ, as described below.The structure of the review process has been defined by theanalyst, working with the participants, and is stored in thedefinitions database maintained by the Workflow Manage-ment Server (see below). The server instantiates instancesof all the workflows of the process and starts the Scheduleinterviews workflow automatically.The Schedule interviews workflow corresponds to thesecond phase (agreement) of the main workflow: the man-ager agrees to do the work as requested by the director oncethe interviews have been scheduled. By including thisscheduling in the agreement phase, a specific completiontime can be promised.Once the review process reaches agreement, thePerformance phase starts and the Submit evaluationforms workflows are automatically started, one for each ofthe selected interviewers. Again, forms are defined for eachof the participants and used in making actions in theworkflow.Once an interview has been scheduled for a particular date,all the workflows for submitting evaluation reports are ini-tiated and directed to the selected interviewers to be com-pleted on the specified date.Each interviewer can use the workflow database to identifythe set of workflows in progress. Figure 5 shows the sta-tus of interviews organized by interviewer. The lines show-ing next actions and times are generated from the actionworkflow database, using names defined specifically for thisworkflow.

Edward%hM~d:naRaul Scheduleanintswiw date 03il 3/92Eiush.George @eck stms ofweluations oJames.Hany ChB&statusofevaluations o%ftlsoll Dck Check s ta tus o f wefue tions oFrankTeddy Thmkycwlor submittingevaluaf o 02j29/92

HarryddwinJames, tfany Recommtttowvatuate oWilso n Pew Remmmit lo evafuti 02/29/92

Jamoe lawWJsw Peter f%mmmitta wduate 02J29P2Bush George Remmmif to evafuafe oJames, HFIny RammmNa evaluate oM.4ud QmmmWllsm.Paw Rwammit10ewduate 02/29/92

Figure 5. Status display of interviewsBy selecting one item, the interviewer brings up the on-lineevaluation form for the candidate, which can be filled inl in-crementally and submitted when completed (this submiss-ion of a completed form constitutes a declaration ofcompletion action in the workflow action structure). If theinterviewer does not submit the evaluation report by a dayafter the agreed-upon completion date, the definition has

been structured to cause the system to send a follow-upreminder to submit the report.The definition of a workflow structure includes definitionsof the forms that are used by customers, performers and ob-servers of each workflow at each phase. When an inter-viewer accesses the document for the interview, it shows upas an evaluation form to be completed, since the interview-ers are the performers of the workflow Submit evaluationform. Other participants would see the forms relevant tothe actions they are able to take, with fields available orprotected from editing as suited to their roles.Once all of the interview workflows have been completed,the system automatically declares the main workflow com-plete and moves to the fourth phase, where the personneldirector declares (or not) satisfaction with the process. Thesystem sends a mail message to the personnel director, as aprompt to act on the workflow for final assessment of thecandidate.At any time the manager can get an overview of the statusby examining the workflow database through an appropriateview, as illustrated in Figure 6.

Rewnlnlend.xfOwom By whom By WhereNot I n p

Hank MbCommenca intetiew process Msnager.SohufuloImwvlwaMed iw , RaJSchedule m mfenmw date Wug& 03/f3/32CanPkto Ewluations

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C wck status of evahations Manager o(%6* status of wafuafmns Umlegw o

D eeb im F wKt il qJones, TomDecide on candidate ntreebr 02i29i92

Figure 6. Status overview of workflowsARCHITECTUREWe have defined a general Workflow Management Systemarchitecture for interoperability among different applicationsand across diverse platforms, integrating the coordination ofspecific applications along with system enhancements andutilities from users and third-party developers. This archi-tecture has been the basis for several implementations, in-cluding a DOS based Business Process Managementsystem (BPM1) [2], an extended version of The Coordinatorin the Windows environment, and a workflow applicationdevelopment environment in Lotus Notes (from which ourexample was drawn).The overall architecture consists of one or more client ap-plications (called workj70w-enabled applications), and thestructures and components that enable them to interact withthe workflow management server and receive services from

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to interpret and initiate acts. It comprises a number of inter-acting components:a) Definitions DatabaseThis database describes the workflow of the organization,The definitions include several basic structures. The core isthe set of loop types and act names, with associated formsFor example, the loop type Manage candidate reviewwould have an associated form as shown in Figure 4, artcianaccept candidate act as one of its ways of reaching com-pletion. The definitions database also specifies the Iink.ingrelationships connecting the different loops, and the actionsto be taken automatically by the agent processor.The linking relationships are used to generate the appropri-ate sets of next actions for each participant as the work-flow proceeds, and for automation. They can be of severalkindx Subordinate workflow loops:In order to complete a part of one workflow it is necesmryto initiate and complete a subsidiary one. For example, inorder to do the review it is necessary to schedule interviews.2. Independent triggered workflow loops:An action in one workflow triggers the initiation of an-other, which proceeds independently. For example, in asales workflow the selling of an item from stock may trig-ger reordering, but the reordering is not a part of completingthe sale that triggered it.3. Resolving workflow loops:The decision as to which action to take in one workflow re-quires the initiation and completion of another workflow.For example, a credit approval must be received beforeaccepting or rejecting an order.In each of these cases, there maybe several triggered lC)OPSof a given kind instead of just one, with concurrency rela-tionships among them. In the candidate review example allworkflow loops for interviews are started in parallel at themoment the agreement is reached in the main loop. Thedefinition of the process indicates that the performancephase of the main loop is completed once all the interviewloops are complete.b) Transactions Database.This database contains the history of completed workflowloops and workflows-in-progress. It is accessed both forcarrying out transactions and for providing status reportsand overviews.c) Workflow Language InterpreterThe Workflow Language Interpreter receives service requestsfrom STF Processors in the form of workflow languageconstructs: workflow declarations, workflow actions, andrequests for workflow management services. It instructs theworkflow processor to calculate workflow states and nextactions based on specified criteria (such as the current stateof the workflow and the role of the person taking anaction), It takes actions and makes reports based on the cal-

culations of the workflow processor and the logic of theworkflow definitions.d) Workflow ProcessorThe workflow processor generates and manages transactionrecords in the transactions database, which keep track of thecurrent state and history of the workflow, organized accord-ing to the component loops and associated completiontimes.e) Agent ProcessorThe agent processor maintains a queue of events and timesto trigger workflow actions that have been specified in thedefinition. We have taken the approach of incrementalautomation, initially assuming human action at each point,and then introducing a program-determined action at anypoint where rules can be effectively specified. Agent codeis written in the workflow definition language and initiatedon the basis of the workflow type and act that triggers it. Itcan take actions both within the workflow structure(making acts and initiating new workflows) and in otherfunctions (printing reports, sending email messages, rttn-ning other applications, etc.).There are three ways in which agents are triggered1. Triggering act.For example, a cancellation in a particular workflowinitiates a request to a manager to deal with problemscaused by cancellation.2. Status changes in a workflow.For example, a workflow moving to the state completedmay trigger actions to cancel all of the subsidiary work-flows in progress, whether or not the termination resulttxlfrom a cancellation, success, failure, etc.3. Incompletion times.For example, a follow-up request to a performer may be ini-tiated when the time for completion of a loop has beenreached without a declaration of completion.Design WorkstationThe design workstation is a separate application that is usedto generate, modify, and maintain the definitions. We havedeveloped a graphical notation for high-level workflowmaps, and have implemented interactive structured drawingtools for creating and manipulating those maps, which canused for business process redesign, both with and withoutworkflow management system development.CONCLUSIONSThe approach and architecture described here have been de-veloped in a number of prototypes and products. In additionto the development of computer support systems, thetheory and analysis methodology has been used as the basisfor consulting about redesign of business processes in anumber of organizations (For a general discussion of busi-ness process redesign, see [5] [6], Kukla [8] describes a casestudy in a chemical plant, using earlier versions of ourapproach).

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