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Original Japanese version

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

It is getting colder and colder. During this season, you may have to take a day off from work due to a sudden illness such as a cold.

However, it is quite a tiresome task to make a phone call to the company when you are not feeling well. I have to call them when I am really sick and make my voice sound like I’m having a hard time…. Well, anyway, Questetra uses “Open Chat” in Questetra BPM Suite for this kind of communication.

Open Chat is an internal social networking function of Questetra BPM Suite that allows users to post messages like on a bulletin board, or to send messages to a specific person or group.

In fact, this is much easier than a phone call because you can type from your phone even when you are lying on your futon.

On the other hand, for those who manage employee attendance, it is also a time-consuming task to record and tally absenteeism, tardiness, and early departures. Especially for remote and telecommuting workers, time and attendance management is a major issue. Companies that use time cards, attendance records, or Excel to manage attendance may need to review their attendance management methods when introducing remote work.

However, by using software like workflow systems and BPM tools, tasks like reporting, recording, and keeping track of attendance can be done automatically. This makes it easier on both the applicant and the manager.

Incidentally, Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based BPM tool, and its strength is that as long as you have an Internet connection you can access the same system as in the office and perform tasks. The workflow Apps introduced here are all useful for time and attendance management in remote or telecommuting work.

Let’s take a look at Questetra BPM Suite’s four workflow Apps for time and attendance management.

Workflow Apps for Attendance Management

Part 1: Hours-worked Report Flow

First, we will introduce the most basic workflow App.

The Hours-worked Report Flow is a workflow that focuses on the reporting of arrival and departure times and the automatic calculation of work hours. The system automatically starts at 7:00 a.m. every morning, and when employees report their arrival and departure times, their work hours are automatically calculated. After that, the leader checks the work hours.

Also, if you leave the system alone for 20 hours without entering any information, it will automatically count as a vacation day, so you don’t have to run it during long vacations or other times when you do not need to.

This flow also includes innovations to reduce the input load by setting initial values and providing input support. For example, if initial values are set as clocking in at 9:00, clocking out at 17:00, and taking a one-hour break, no numerical input is required if the worker works the same hours as those set in the initial values.

Part 2: Attendance Management

Next is a workflow application that incorporates a device to prevent report leakage through email notifications.

The system automatically starts at 7:00 a.m. on weekdays and automatically calculates work hours based on arrival and departure times and break times, which is the same as the Hours-worked Report Flow described above. The difference is that a reminder email is automatically sent if the arrival or departure time has not been entered. This workflow is completed only by the reporter, and there is no process for the leader to check the work hours.

Part 3: Daily Report Application Process

As the name implies, the Daily Report Application Process is a workflow App that allows users to report attendance and submit daily reports at the same time.

In this workflow, when the attendance time is entered, the daily report and the clocking out time are assigned as tasks. The manager then confirms the work by entering and processing the break time and clock-out time in the daily report. Vacation and sick leave can also be reported through this flow.

Part 4: Attendance Reporting Process, Automatic Overtime Calculation

This is a workflow App that automatically calculates work hours and overtime hours and notifies the applicant of the receipt by email.

Employees are automatically assigned a task at 7:00 a.m. every morning (excluding company holidays) to submit their arrival and departure times as a task. The total number of hours worked and overtime hours outside of regular working hours are then automatically calculated, and the applicant is notified by email with a copy of the calculation.

When an application is submitted, the applicant’s supervisor is assigned a checking process to ensure that there are no errors or inaccuracies in the contents of the application.

Make Time and Attendance Management Easier with Questetra BPM Suite

Preventing reporting omissions and errors is an important aspect of time and attendance management.

The four workflow apps introduced here are designed to reduce the applicant’s workload with automatic startup and email notifications to prevent missed reports, as well as input support and other features. In addition, if there is a mistake in a report the supervisor can send it back to the applicant, and past data can be reviewed retroactively.

You can start using Questetra BPM Suite immediately after you apply for it, even if you don’t need to introduce a large-scale attendance management system. Why don’t you take this opportunity to review attendance management with Questetra BPM Suite? A free trial is also available.

Original Japanese version

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

The other day I saw a jazz bar near our house was looking for a new manager. The requirements for the job were:

• Must be able to cook (including making drinks and cocktails)
• Must be able to serve customers
• Must be able to operate the sound system for live music
• Must be able to manage purchases and sales
• English speaking (if possible)

A fairly high level of skill is required, and if you’re wondering about salary, it is to be subcontracted. In essence, this is the same as a commission system.

I had mixed feelings when I saw this job opening because the previous manager of this restaurant was an acquaintance of mine, and I knew that he quit because it was too hard for him to handle the one-man operation (and the commission-based salary), in which he was responsible for preparation, cooking, customer service, sound, sales management, etc. all by himself.

This type of solo operator work has been widely covered by the mass media as a social problem. As a result, the situation has improved at major chains, but it seems that many people are still affected by so-called “one-ops”, both at work and at home.

This paper describes the problem of solo operators, and the division of labor as a remedy for this problem.

この記事の目次

1. Problems with Solo Operators
2. The Solution: Division of Labor
3. Disadvantages of Division of Labor
4. Visualization and Transparency with Questetra BPM Suite
5. Finally

Problems with Solo Operators

The term “one-op” has the nuance of requiring a single person to do everything, even more than multitasking. The term “one-op” is short for “one-person operation”, but in any case, the biggest problem with one-ops is that

• it places too much of a burden on the person performing the task.

For example, at a restaurant chain that has been widely reported in the mass media, it was common practice for one employee to perform all the tasks, including preparing food, cooking, serving customers, and cleaning. The chain also had problems with employees working long hours and being overworked due to continuous work hours, and even late-night robberies were common due to the fact that there was only one employee in the restaurant late at night.

Incidentally, the terms “one-operator childcare” and “one-operator nursing care” were coined because the situation is similar to one-operator work at a restaurant, where everything has to be done by oneself and there is no one around to ask for help.

In any case, when the burden is concentrated on one person in such a situation, the mind and body of the person involved will be exhausted. In severe cases, it may become difficult to continue work or daily life. The only way to prevent burnout caused by such one-ops is to distribute the load.

The restaurant chain mentioned above finally decided to abolish the one-operator system after the tragic death of an employee due to overwork. As this example shows, the only way to avoid the different risks that come with a one-operator arrangement is to hire more people.

• Do everything alone
• Several people share the role and work together

Comparing the two, it is obvious which can work more efficiently. Even so, there are probably costs and other issues behind the inability to increase the number of employees. However, if one-operator businesses are built upon one employee being forced to do too much, it is inevitable that the employee retention rate will be low and that it will be difficult to secure personnel. Considering these points, one-operator systems are probably not a positive thing for a company.

The Solution: Division of Labor

On a different note, I used to work at a facility called Type B Employment Support, where I worked in support of people with disabilities.

At the facility where I worked, people with intellectual disabilities mainly did a variety of jobs for rehabilitation and social training. Most of the work was simple tasks, such as sealing envelopes for direct mail or putting disposable chopsticks into bags, but the division of labor was inevitably divided according to the abilities of the workers.

For example, in the mail sealing process each person piles up the flyers they have received, such as A flyers, B flyers, and C flyers, and passes them to the next person. After that, there is a person who is in charge of aligning the flyers and sealing them in envelopes with sellotape.

Of these tasks, piling up flyers is one that can be done by relatively anyone, so many people are assigned to this task. In contrast, the number of people who can arrange flyers and place them in envelopes is small, and when it comes to those who can seal them properly with sellotape, only two people out of several dozen can do so.

Now that I think about it, the way work is carried out at this facility seems to reveal the advantages and disadvantages of the division of labor.

The reason for the division of labor in the above facilities is the difference in the abilities of the personnel. By adopting the division of labor, those who can only perform a limited number of tasks can participate in the work, and this allows those who can perform more advanced tasks (such as sealing and taping) to concentrate on the work in question. And these things ultimately made the work more efficient and improved productivity.

This is not limited to employment support facilities for people with disabilities, but as companies and stores grow in size it becomes impossible for a solo operator to handle everything on their own. In the case of a company, it is common to divide the workload by assigning a specialized person in charge of accounting, sales, and so on. In some cases, non-core operations other than the company’s main operations may be outsourced (BPO). Such a division of labor has the following advantage.

• By separating operations into specialized areas, each person is able to focus more on their own work

This is an important point for the growth of a company

Disadvantages of Division of Labor

On the other hand, there are disadvantages that arise from the increasing division of labor.

As a matter of course, the division of labor requires the appropriate number of personnel. If you simply do not have enough staff, you may be able to solve the problem by outsourcing the work as described in the above section. If you do not have the budget to increase the number of staff, you can implement RPA tools or other tools by looking for areas in your business that can be automated.

Another disadvantage is that in an organization with an advanced division of labor and specialization, it is easier for work to become dependent on an individual. In the example of the above-mentioned mailing work, the process of sealing envelopes with sellotape can only be done by a certain person. If this happens, there is a possibility that the person in charge will not be able to proceed with the work if they are absent, so it is important to do something about it.

In addition, the following are some of the negative effects of the division of duties.

• You lose track of what the rest of the team is doing.
• It becomes difficult to get a complete picture of the business

These are the disadvantages of having operations closed to the team (or individual).

Visualization and Transparency with Questetra BPM Suite

One solution to the disadvantages mentioned in the section above is to open up operations and their processes.

This is where software such as workflow systems and BPM tools come in handy.

Questetra BPM Suite is a BPM tool that makes it easy to visualize and open business processes. You can easily create workflow diagrams (i.e. visualization of business processes) on your PC, and automatically proceed with your business according to the diagrams.

The disadvantages of the division of labor can be greatly reduced if the flow of work and procedures can be opened up, and who is doing what, when, and how they are doing it can be seen at a glance. Another feature of Questetra BPM Suite is that it is easy to change and share business processes, as well as to integrate with other software such as RPA tools.

Finally

Recently, the opening of an AI-based unmanned convenience store in Japan has been in the news, and the evolution of AI and RPA is likely to lead to the automation of not only one-operator businesses, but also a wide range of unmanned operations. For now, however, the shortcut to greater operational efficiency is to review business processes and personnel assignments, and steadily improve wasteful and unnecessary systems in your business operations.

Why don’t you take this opportunity to visualize your business processes with Questetra BPM Suite and review the waste and inefficiency in your business? Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based system that can be used immediately after application. A free trial is also available.

Original Japanese version

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department

As a matter of course, companies perform many tasks on a daily basis. Some of these tasks, however, may leave you wondering, “Is that really necessary?”

Are you bothered by formal processes and procedures that have no value, but are done because you have always done things that way or because it’s too much trouble to change?

In this issue, we will explain how workflow can be used to remove these meaningless tasks from business operations and refocus on efficient, productive business processes.

Value vs Waste Part 1: Going Paperless

In recent years, an increasing number of companies have been streamlining and going paperless in order to improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

However, it is not uncommon for many people to feel that paper-based communication is inefficient and frustrating, but they cannot stop their bosses from rubber stamping and circulating documents.

Why Can’t We Go Paperless?

At my former company, all product proposals and advertising designs had to be checked by the president.

So the president said,

“I’ll look over all the documents!”

And then, for some reason, even the managing director said,

“I’ll look over all the documents too!”

and eventually it became a rule that all documents were circulated to the president and the managing director.

The company was a mail-order manufacturer with about 300 employees, but the number of documents circulated to the president and managing director was quite large. Even a small rough draft of an advertisement had to be circulated from the leader to the managing director to the president, and it took about a week before it was returned. However, the president had ordered this ineffective circulation process, so no one could do anything to stop it.

Well, this is an extreme example, but I think there are many cases where people simply cannot change their long-standing habits (i.e. it is troublesome to change them).

Successfully Going Paperless…

On the other hand, many companies have found that going paperless has helped them improve operational efficiency and cut costs.

For example, in the case of Sanshin Electronics Co., Ltd, which has introduced Questetra BPM Suite, it is reported that they have reduced their administrative costs by 50% by making their ordering and application processes paperless. Similarly, Vital Information, Inc. also reported a reduction of 20 hours per month of work time in their administration department by using Questetra BPM Suite to make their order approval process paperless.

In addition, according to a survey conducted by the Japan Management Association in 2021, more than 80% of the respondents indicated that going paperless in the workplace is beneficial (from the 2021 Survey of 1,000 Businesspersons [Status of Paperless Implementation] by the Japan Management Association).

Read more about going paperless here.

Value vs Waste Part 2: Is This Meeting Really Necessary?

Speaking of pointless work, conferences and meetings are another example.

Of course, there will be meetings and conferences that are absolutely necessary for business purposes. In addition, now that remote work has become commonplace, there are times when face-to-face communication is important. However, if the number of meetings and the preparation of materials for meetings are becoming too burdensome, it may be necessary to rethink the way things are done.

Young Employees Burnt Out on Documentation

This is a different company from the one I mentioned in Part 1, but at a publishing company I used to work for it was common to see young employees staying up all night preparing materials for meetings. After the meeting was over, the employees, exhausted from preparing the materials, would lie down on their desks and sleep. It is not uncommon to find employees burdened with the task of preparing materials for meetings.

But is there any other way to share information without having to go through all that trouble? Or rather, is it necessary to hold a meeting just to share information?

Even for small-group meetings, if the content of the meeting cannot be conveyed in writing via email or internal social networking services, but the purpose of the meeting is to share information or to listen to the boss, it may simply be a waste of time.

Use Open Chat for Smooth Information Sharing

Speaking of information sharing, Questetra BPM Suite has an internal chat function called “Open Chat”.

A major advantage of chat tools is the ability to share information in real time. In Open Chat it is possible to attach files and send mentions to specific people. In addition, you can check business details from the Open Chat screen with simple operations, post messages from the workflow task processing screen, and link to the business processes you have established in a variety of ways.

Open Chat will facilitate the sharing of information and reduce wasteful meetings and conferences.

Also, with Questetra BPM Suite, business processes can be easily changed and shared. This eliminates the need for meetings and conferences due to changes in business procedures.

Questetra BPM Suite Enables Business Processes with Real Value

Reviewing the business process by examining the tasks that are not really necessary is essential for improving business efficiency and productivity, and for reducing costs. If the burden of waste is reduced, employees will be able to focus more on their primary tasks.

So, what should we do to abandon worthless work habits and build beneficial business processes?

This is a long preface, but if you utilize Questetra BPM Suite it will be easier to construct business processes that have genuine value. Questetra BPM Suite is a BPM tool that automatically executes the business process according to the business process diagram created on a PC.

Questetra BPM Suite shows business processes in the form of a diagram. This makes it easier to find redundant parts of a process and makes it easier to validate, change, and share processes.

In addition, Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based software, so you can access the same system as in your office wherever you are, as long as you have an Internet connection, and perform the necessary tasks at the necessary time. Another advantage of Questetra BPM Suite is that you can start using it immediately without any troublesome procedures after applying.

Why don’t you take the first step toward building beneficial business processes with Questetra BPM Suite by taking this opportunity to start with a free trial?

Original Japanese version

Hi there, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department

Progress management is an essential part of production-related work. As the name implies, this position manages the progress of work, and is necessary for everything from the production of flyers in small areas to national-scale projects in larger areas.

No matter what type of business you are in, the person in charge of progress management is responsible for keeping track of the progress of the work and adjusting schedules and other details as needed. To put it bluntly, it is a tough job. At least, everyone I have seen in charge of progress management has had a hard time.

So this time, we have come up with a way to streamline the work of such progress managers with workflow.

What is the Function of Progress Management?

I have never worked in progress management. However, I have had many opportunities to work with progress managers in my work as a writer and editor, and I have seen what they do up close.

I have often written about this, but I used to work as a copywriter for a mail-order manufacturer, and although it was about 15 years ago and things may have improved since then, I found the catalog production progress management work there to be truly grueling.

To begin with, the schedule rarely goes as planned at these production sites. For example, it is an everyday occurrence that product samples do not arrive, product photos cannot be taken, and designs cannot be created. Each time this happened, the production manager would revise the schedule created in Excel, print it out, and distribute it to the team.

Even so, the director would yell at them and ask what was going on, the sales staff would look at me disapprovingly when I made a request, and the writers and designers would fail to meet deadlines. For this reason, the company I worked for did not attract any personnel to the position of progress control.

Save the Progress Manager with Workflow!

It is true that not all progress management in the world is as demanding as described above. However, a friend of mine who worked at a game app production company as a progress manager also used to come home late at night and stay overnight at the company before a deadline, so it is not unusual for progress management to be overburdened with excessive workload. It is a fact that at least in the company I worked for, there were inefficient parts of the business in need of progress management.

We have selected workflow templates that may be useful in improving the efficiency of workflow management operations from the free workflow templates that Questetra has made available to the public, using catalog production as an example. We hope that these workflows will help the frustrated progress managers all over the country, if only a little!

Workflow #1: Work Request Flow

The process of requesting work is fundamental to workflow.

This “Work Request Flow” is a simple but effective workflow that allows the project manager to communicate with various people inside and outside the team.

This flow not only allows the work to proceed automatically, but also allows the person receiving the request to ask questions of the requester and to send the request back to the requester if there are any deficiencies in the content. This will at least greatly reduce the burden of email and telephone communication.

Also, if the director uses this workflow, it may save the time and effort of the progress manager in coordinating between the two.

※ Click here for a description and download of the Work Request Flow.

Workflow #2: Progress Report Process

The Progress Report Process is a workflow that designates one to four reporters and requests progress reports as of a specified date.

If you require designers, writers, photographers, etc. to report in, you can check early on whether the work is progressing according to schedule. If there are many people, it is also a good idea to require chiefs and leaders to complete reports.

After receiving the report the reported values are also tabulated, which is useful in understanding the overall progress of the project.

※ Click here for an explanation and download of the Progress Report Process.

Workflow #3: Manga Production Flow

The Manga Production Flow is a template that can be used for more than just making manga.

In this flow, the process progresses through repeated exchanges of production, submission, and confirmation. As the work progresses, the status is automatically updated and displayed on the input screen, such as “Meeting completed,” “Rough draft being checked,” and “Draft completed”.

This template may be more suitable for directors, but if the progress manager has permission to view the flow, it will be easier to keep track of the progress.

※ Click here for an explanation and download of the Manga Production Flow.

Workflow #4: Entrusted-Delivery Flow

The key point of the “Entrusted-Delivery Flow” is that it is linked to Google Calendar, and once the leader confirms the delivery date, that date is automatically written into the calendar.

For example, in catalog production, different pages or roles may have different deadlines. In such cases, all deadlines for each can be listed on a single calendar.

Today, many companies share their schedules on Google Calendar. This flow goes one step further and automates the posting of events to the calendar. Although some modifications to the wording of the processes in the flow are necessary, this flow is rather straightforward and will help reduce the workload of progress managers.

※ Click here for a description and download of Entrusted-Delivery Flow.

Reduce your Workload with Questetra BPM Suite!

As well as the workflows introduced in the section above, Questetra BPM Suite is good at highlighting

• At what stage of completion a process is
• Who is currently dealing with a task

…amongst other things.

If everyone on the team uses the same flow and Questetra BPM Suite makes it paperless and automated, the progress manager will have a lot less to do.

Nowadays, remote work is commonplace. There are many cases where progress managers work outside of the office. Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based system, which allows you to access the same system as in the office and proceed with your work from anywhere where there is an internet environment.

Another advantage of the cloud-based system is that you can start immediately without any troublesome procedures after applying. Please feel free to start with a free trial!

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

Many years ago I worked in the nursing home related field. The nursing care profession is an important and indispensable job in this world. However, the nursing care field suffers from a chronic shortage of workers. This is still the case today.

True, the nursing care profession has a reputation for being difficult, and mentally and physically demanding. As a result, there is a shortage of caregivers, and the low retention rate due to the harshness of the work is adding to the labor shortage.

So this time, using my own knowledge and the workflow templates in Questetra BPM Suite, I thought about how to make the work of caregivers, which is thought to be very hard, easier.

Paperwork Plagues Caregivers

Well, I was working at a facility called a “Functional Training Day Facility” for the elderly. At the time I was working as a writer, producing articles related to nursing care, while also working in the field of nursing care and welfare.

A lot of the work at a nursing home was hard, like feeding, bathing, and helping people use the bathroom. The caregivers also had to worry about the paperwork they had to do every day.

The facility I worked at was not very large, but on an average day, for example, about 30 people required nursing care. The staff had to fill out paperwork for each of these patients after their work was finished. This caused them to work late into the night and come in to work early.

Utilize the “Daily Report” template

By the way, we publish many workflow templates free of charge. One of them is the Daily Report template.

This workflow template could have reduced overtime and the need to come in early.

This workflow assigns daily report entries as a task at a fixed time each day. Also, as you can see in the figure above, it is easy for the facility manager or other administrator to send back incomplete daily reports and provide feedback on the content. Daily reports can also be temporarily saved so that they can be filled in during breaks in the workflow.

Incidentally, at the day service where I worked, falls by patients were the top problem to watch out for. The facility is equipped with a variety of rehabilitation and training equipment, so the elderly are at great risk of tripping and falling, and even a minor fall can lead to serious injury. Of course, when such problems occur, the information must be shared promptly among the staff.

If this daily report template is to be customized, it may be a good idea to allow the administrator to select “Problem” or “No Problem” by using a check box so that the administrator can see at a glance whether or not there is an issue.

I Want to Share Information on Problem Behavior

On the other hand, every nursing home has patients who habitually engage in problematic behaviors that lead to trouble.

These troublemakers not only complain and verbally abuse staff, but they also occasionally break things or become violent, so facilities must exercise extreme caution when monitoring and dealing with them

In order to prevent new problems, it is necessary to promptly share information on such individuals to be on the lookout for and examples of problems that have occurred among staff members.

Report problems by sharing information among other departments in shift work

The Information Sharing in Shift Work template introduced in the previous article is useful for the above applications.

This workflow has the following two features.

• Internal memos can be left for front desk personnel by the night shift supervisor
• Real-time confirmation of guest check-out can be done by cleaning staff

This is a workflow for managing cleaning and customer service in a hotel, so it cannot be used directly in a nursing home. However, the framework of the workflow can be applied.

For example, when there is a problem or complaint, an in-house memo can be left and information can be shared promptly, which is an effective function for caregivers as well. When an internal memo is written there will be an automatic email notification so that those who take over the work do not have to worry about missing the memo.

Manage Program Progress with Workflow

On the other hand, the input screen for “Information Sharing in Shift Work” is shown in the figure below.

This is an example of a screen where guest information and complaint records can be entered, but the form could be changed to fit the needs of each user.

For example,

• Health status (temperature, blood pressure, etc.)
• Bathing requirements (if applicable)
• Type of diet (normal diet, calorie-restricted diet, salt-restricted diet, etc.)
• Whether transportation is required or not

and so on.

The facility I worked at had three main services: rehabilitation, training, and bathing, and also offered massage and foot bath services. In addition to the registered basic information we would check whether the user had already used these services or not, and when the user was sent home the checkout process would be completed and the next step would be performed. If special notes are added to this information, you can almost complete the daily report.

Of course, there are some issues, such as the fact that staff members who are performing tasks such as on-site monitoring cannot look at their smartphones. Also, there may be staff members who are not comfortable with computer-based input. Therefore, in order to solve these issues and utilize workflow, it may be necessary for office staff and leaders who manage the entire floor to cooperate and work together.

However, don’t you think that by arranging two templates, “Daily Reporting” and “Information Sharing in Shift Work” it would be possible to create a workflow that would reduce the burden on the nursing home?

Reducing the Burden on Caregivers with Questetra BPM Suite

We have discussed ideas for utilizing workflow in the nursing care industry, but the reality is that paper documents are still widely used in this field. However, even if the care itself cannot be automated, there is potential to automate and streamline the associated paperwork and work management. As automation and paperless systems get better, the costs and workloads of creating and managing documents will go down.

In addition, Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based service, so as long as there is an Internet environment, the same system as in the office can be accessed and operations can be handled from anywhere. This allows staff members who are frequently out of the office for visits, pick-ups, and drop-offs to process reports and other tasks on the go.

If work efficiency can be improved in this way and caregivers’ overtime work and early arrivals can be reduced, the image of caregiving as a demanding job may be overturned. Given how important it is for the nursing care industry to share information quickly and accurately, we hope that people in the industry who aren’t familiar with workflow and BPM tools will use them.

After all, that’s why Questetra’s corporate motto is,

“Optimizing business processes around the world”

Please feel free to start with a free trial!

Hello, I am Hayashi from Questetra’s Marketing Department.

In recent years, the term “multitasking” has become commonplace in the business world. Originally a computer term, it has the meaning of performing multiple tasks at the same time. When companies are recruiting, multitasking is often used to describe someone who can perform a variety of tasks. It is true that a single person can perform a wide variety of tasks simultaneously! That’s what a successful businessman looks like.

Recently however, many have been critical of this multitasking approach to work.

On the other hand, one method of streamlining and improving business processes is to introduce parallel processing. Multitasking, which involves processing multiple tasks simultaneously, and parallel processing are similar but different.

This article describes such multitasking and the introduction of parallel processing in business processes.

Aren’t Humans Good at Multitasking?

Suddenly, there is an opinion that the human brain is not suited for multitasking.

Doctors and scholars in Japan and abroad have made various arguments about this, including the following

• (Even though they are multitasking), they are not processing tasks at the same time, but just switching between tasks (*).
• Multitasking decreases productivity
• Multitasking stresses and exhausts the brain

etc.

This may make you think that multitasking has no merit, but this is not the first time this argument has been made.

* From the research of Stanford neuroscientist Dr. Eyal Ofir

Reference: Why Multitaskers Are Rather Unproductive (Diamond Online) https://diamond.jp/articles/-/139207

Multitasking and the Nagarazoku Culture

Toward the end of the 1950s, a period of rapid economic growth, the term “nagarazoku” appeared in Japan.

This term was used to ridicule the new lifestyles of the time, such as studying while listening to the radio or eating while watching TV, but it also seems to be the same as multitasking.

In fact, many people on the Internet have expressed various opinions about the similarities and differences between multitasking and “nagarazoku”. It is interesting to note that the term “multitasking” was originally used with a rather positive connotation, whereas “nagarazoku” has come to be used more critically as referring to young people who cannot concentrate (on one thing). Is this also due to the changing times?

The term “nagarazoku” is now considered obsolete, but last year the government published an article in a public relations magazine titled “Stop Using Your Smartphone While Driving”. It is true that doing A and B at the same time is distracting. When driving a car, doing other things at the same time can lead to a serious accident. Trying to concentrate while driving can be tiring for the brain. In particular, be careful when using your eyesight, because it is easy to get distracted. If you are multitasking at a level that is similar to the nagarazoku, it is probably best not to do so.

Reference: Don’t do it! Using Your Smartphone While Driving Can Result in a One-shot Suspension! (Government of Japan Public Relations Office Online) https://www.gov-online.go.jp/useful/article/201707/2.html

So What Are the Benefits of Multitasking?

As I mentioned earlier in my introduction, one of the advantages of multitasking is that you can work on many things at the same time, which speeds up your response time to requests and communications. Another benefit is that you can get a bird’s eye view of your work and grasp the big picture more easily because you are looking at a variety of projects and tasks at the same time.

However, this method of working on multiple projects at the same time is not for everyone. In fact, some studies have shown that 98% of people’s performance declines when they work on multiple tasks at the same time*. When multitasking, it is necessary to consider whether or not it is suitable for you.

If you are experiencing problems or fatigue with the multitasking approach to work, you may want to shift to a single-tasking approach, where you get one job done at a time, in order and at a steady pace.

* From a study by David Strayer, head of the Applied Cognition Lab at the University of Utah

Reference: 2% of super humans who are good at simultaneous work (WIRED) https://wired.jp/2012/03/01/multitasking/

The Concept of Parallel Processing

Now, let’s talk about workflow.

It is obvious, but even if the human brain is not suited for multitasking, computers certainly are. If a system is capable of multitasking, it can perform multiple tasks in parallel.

By the way, the definitions of the terms “parallel” and “parallel processing” are ambiguous. This is true for parallel processing and concurrent processing as well, but here I would like to define them as follows.

• Concurrent processing: processing multiple tasks in a fixed amount of time
• Parallel processing: processing multiple tasks simultaneously in a given amount of time

In the case of concurrent processing, however, it is not always the case that multiple tasks are processed at the same time; if there are two tasks, A and B, they may be processed by switching tasks in detail, A→B→A→B. In some cases, concurrent processing is defined as processing by such switching, which is the same as human multitasking.

Parallel processing, on the other hand, refers to a situation in which multiple tasks are processed simultaneously within a certain amount of time. Finding a point in a business process where parallel processing can be used in this way provides an opportunity to streamline operations and increase productivity.

The diagram below shows a flow of evaluations conducted in turn by the three teams of producers, manufacturing systems, and logistics. This is a situation in which work is completed in sequence, one by one.

In this work process, the next team cannot start evaluating until the team before it has finished, resulting in additional waiting time.

This is why the business process below incorporates parallel processing.

In this flow, when a product plan is proposed the evaluation task is sent to the three teams at the same time. This parallel processing cuts down on the time spent waiting for the previous team’s evaluation, thereby shortening the lead time from product planning to approval.

Even if individual multitasking fails to produce results, if such parallel processing can be introduced into business processes work can proceed simultaneously and efficiently.

Smoothly Changing Business Processes with Questetra BPM Suite

Incidentally, if you feel that there is a limit to multitasking, you may be able to improve the quality and productivity of your work by dividing the work into separate tasks.

Questetra BPM Suite provides strong support for changing and improving business processes by introducing such division of labor and parallel processing.

In Questetra BPM Suite, you can easily create a business process diagram as described in the above section by placing icons. After that, the business will automatically progress according to the created process diagram, so there is no need to manually pass the work to the next person.

In addition, most software such as workflow and BPM tools are difficult to set up on a server and prepare for use, but Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based service that can be used immediately after registration.

Why don’t you take this opportunity to visualize your existing business processes with Questetra BPM Suite, and verify what kind of workflow is best for you? Questetra BPM Suite has a free trial so you can easily start using it.

Hello, this is Hayashi from the Marketing Department

The other day, I was shopping at a convenience store near my home. A foreign clerk was serving me in some kind of hurry. Apparently, the person in front of me at the cash register had bought several kinds of fried foods from the hot display case (you know, the one next to the cash register?), but then realized,

“I think there’s a ham cutlet missing?”

and handed the plastic bag and the receipt to the clerk for confirmation.

The customer is buying five or six different kinds of fried foods, one at a time, and they are already placed in paper bags by type. The customer had to open the bag and look inside in order for the clerk to check the items. However, the clerk seemed to think that she was not allowed to open the bag, and touched the product on top of the paper bag to check the contents. The customer who purchased the deep-fried food probably thought to himself,

“No, if you do that, the fried food will be crushed…”

The clerk was not the only one who was thinking this.

In the end, the clerk gave up on checking the contents and decided to check the number of items against the receipt. After confirming that there were not enough items, he safely took the ham cutlet out of the display case and handed it to the customer. The customer looked annoyed, but did not complain, just took the item and left.

So, what I wanted to say was,

convenience stores nowadays have so many kinds of operations that it must be hard for the clerks

and I wondered if such troubles are shared among the employees.

Especially in the service industry, such problems can lead to immediate complaints, so it is important to share information and consider improvement measures to prevent recurrence. In the above example, it would be like sharing how to respond to such a situation, such as by checking the receipt first.

Of course, if information is not shared appropriately, even outside of the service industry it is highly likely to lead to various problems and defects. In this article we will explain the necessity of information sharing in a company and how to share information smoothly.

What Does It Mean to Share Information?

Information that should be shared within a company includes know-how about operations and progress.

Information about cases and customers should also be shared promptly to prevent problems and facilitate business operations. Troubles such as the one mentioned at the beginning of this section should be shared smoothly to avoid repeating the same case and causing double complaints.

On the other hand, if information about operations and projects is not shared appropriately and is monopolized by a specific person, there is a high likelihood that operations will become individualized. This is common in sales and marketing positions, where only the person in charge knows about a client, which can lead to stagnation in the absence of the person in charge.

Information sharing also affects workplace relationships.

If a mistake or trouble is caused by a lack of communication, and the employee says, “I didn’t hear about it”

This will affect the relationship of trust.

Furthermore,

if someone says, “No, I told you”

it can lead to a quagmire of accusations and denials.

In order to avoid such a situation, it is important to share information necessary for business in an appropriate manner. If the information had been shared properly, the mistake or trouble might not have occurred in the first place.

What Information Should Be Shared?

On the one hand, the main point of information sharing is

• to share the necessary information

and therefore,

• Do not share unnecessary information

In order to ensure that the necessary information is conveyed to the necessary people, we must not only select and choose the information to be shared, but also consider the people with whom the information will be shared.

What kind of information should be shared depends on the type of business. However, information about problems, changes in operations, and business precautions should be shared regardless of the industry. In addition, if the work is production-related, the schedule should be shared thoroughly, and if the work is in the service industry or sales, it is essential to share information about customers.

However, no matter how important the information is, it is important to avoid duplicating the same information or sending it to people who do not need it. Such unnecessary information is simply noise and may interfere with business operations.

Another key point in information sharing is how to convey information in detail. This also depends on the industry. For example, in the service industry, such as hotels, and in the nursing and medical fields, even minor remarks or changes by customers or patients can be important information to be sent. However, if unimportant information that is not directly related to the person in question is sent via email every step of the way, it could be considered a hindrance to business operations.

So, how can we select and convey the right information to the right person?

What Tools are Useful for Information Sharing?

Today, there are a variety of tools on the market to help share information.

Chat tools are the most common of these. Chat tools allow information to be shared more openly and quickly than paper documents or email. Another feature of chat tools is that it is easy to share files and refer to past correspondence. Using functions such as groups and mentions, information can be conveyed to the right person at the right time.

Workflow systems, which manage the progress of work, are another tool that supports information sharing from a different perspective.

For example, we have published free templates that can be used with Questetra BPM Suite, and one of them is Information sharing between departments and under the division of labor. This is a template for managing cleaning and customer service in a hotel.

This template includes 2 features:

• Real-time confirmation of guest check-out by the cleaning staff
• The night shift supervisor can leave an internal memo to the front desk supervisor

As you can see in the figure above, this flow allows the front desk staff to input the completion of guest check-out, and the cleaning staff can confirm it in real time and start cleaning.

In addition, when there is a complaint to be addressed, an internal memo can be sent from the night shift supervisor to the front desk supervisor. The front desk staff is automatically notified by email so that they do not miss the internal memo.

Incorporating information sharing into the workflow is one way to ensure appropriate information sharing. The theme of information sharing between departments and under the division of labor is based on information sharing in hotel operations, but the real-time sharing of progress status and important information that can be achieved through this workflow can be applied to a wide range of industries.

※ Please refer to this blog for more information on how to improve information sharing from workflow.

Chat and Workflow with Questetra BPM Suite

In the above section, we mentioned tools that support information sharing, but Questetra BPM Suite is a BPM tool that includes a chat tool (internal SNS function “Open Chat”) and workflow.

In addition, Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based service, which means that you can access the same system as in the office and process your business wherever you are, as long as you have an Internet connection. This is very useful when you want to share information in real time, as mentioned in the “Sharing Information between Departments and under the Division of Labor” template.

Another advantage of the cloud-based system is that you can start using it right away after applying. Why don’t you take this opportunity to review information sharing within your team with Questetra BPM Suite? A free trial is also available.

Original Japanese version

Hello, My name is Hayashi from the Marketing Department of Questetra, Inc.

I was working in an office on the 11th floor of a building (not Questetra) when the Great East Japan Earthquake hit in 2011. The office was located in the Kansai region of Japan, so the intensity of the quake was not great, but due to the loose ground around the building, it felt as if the building was about to break on the 11th floor where I was working, and the shaking continued for a long time.

At the time most people in the office reacted like…

“No way!”

“Oh my God!”

in a shrill voice, while actually a lot of people were laughing.

In retrospect, I guess they were so terrified that they froze while laughing, unable to take any action. A few people took action on their own, like opening the doors to the emergency stairs to make sure there was a way out, but no one could give clear instructions.

This is understandable, as it would be dangerous to go down the emergency stairs from the 11th floor to the 1st floor while the elevators are stopped and the tremors are still continuing, even if one wanted to escape. It is natural that people do not know what to do. In fact, the only people who immediately evacuated were those on the second floor of the building.

However, the situation would have been different if various arrangements had been made to prepare for such an eventuality. The response to a disaster and subsequent measures for business continuity are the basis of a BCP (Business Continuity Plan). Unfortunately, the company I was working for at the time did not have any guidelines in place to prepare for emergencies such as natural disasters.

On the other hand, due to the COVID pandemic companies are now required to formulate BCPs more than ever before, and awareness of business continuity is increasing. In this article I will explain how to utilize Questetra BPM Suite and Workflow for BCP based on the example of Questetra Inc. and my own experience.

Is the COVID Pandemic an Opportunity to Formulate a BCP?

Many businesses were affected by the pandemic, which began in earnest at the beginning of 2020.

Of course, there are some companies that have improved their business performance as a result of the pandemic, but there may only be a few that have been able to turn such a negative event into a positive one. However, when it comes to BCPs, the pandemic is an opportunity to formulate an appropriate BCP. Because the situation is still ongoing, it is important to ask yourself the following questions.

• What sort of problems are we facing?
• What decisions should be made?

How have Questetra’s Operations Changed Since the Pandemic?

As for my work at Questetra, not much has changed between before and after COVID.

This is partly due to the fact that I have always worked remotely. When I first joined the company, I worked in the office, but eventually remote work became my main focus, and now I have transitioned entirely to remote work after the pandemic.

When I made the transition to fully remote work I discussed it with my boss at the time, but in my case I saw no particular reason why I needed to come into the office, and the transition to fully remote work went smoothly. There are two reasons for this.

• Questetra BPM Suite is being used to the fullest in Questetra’s operations
• Accompanying paperless operation is being implemented

In the following section, we will discuss these points in detail.

Why Didn’t Questetra’s Operations Change with the Pandemic?

As mentioned in the section above, Questetra BPM Suite is fully utilized in Questetra’s operations. Each operation proceeds automatically according to a workflow diagram, so there is no need to hand over work, and there is almost no need to communicate by email or telephone.

We use Open Chat, the internal social networking function of Questetra BPM Suite, for normal communication, although private matters, such as those about salaries, are sometimes handled by email.

Some Questetra employees work remotely. Many of them work both in the office and remotely. In these situations, Open Chat is very useful to be able to communicate in real time.

Incidentally, we also use Open Chat for attendance management. Open Chat is an effective tool not only for notifying employees of the start of work, late arrivals, and early departures, but also for confirming the safety of employees in the event of a disaster. For example, when there is an earthquake somewhere, people in the area can immediately post a message saying that they were shaken, and someone else can comment with detailed information. This is also the case when there are other events that may affect business operations, such as heavy rain or traffic delays.

In addition, Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based software, so as long as there is an Internet environment we can access the same system as in the office and work from anywhere. This was also a major factor in the smooth transition to remote work.

Thanks to this way of conducting business every day, I am able to continue my work without being affected too much by the pandemic.

How Do We Continue Business as Usual?

To summarize my work at Questetra, I would like to start with the following;

• Questetra has a solid core of business processes built and managed by Questetra BPM Suite.

Questetra BPM Suite not only allows you to create a workflow diagram on your PC and automatically execute your business according to the diagram, but also allows you to easily change and share the business processes that you have created. This means that processes can be changed and adapted flexibly in the event of an emergency. Such process flexibility is also an important aspect of BCP.

Also, as mentioned above, Questetra BPM Suite is a cloud-based software, which means that you can access and work on your business processes from your smartphone or tablet outside of the office.

Even if there is a natural disaster or some other kind of emergency, business can go on as usual if these three things are in place: a solid workflow structure, the ability to respond quickly to changes in the situation, and light mobility that lets work go on no matter where or how it is done.

Of course, in the event of a large-scale disaster such as an earthquake that destroys buildings, it will be impossible to proceed with business as usual. However, even in such a situation, as long as the power supply and the Internet environment are safe, it should be possible to prepare for the resumption of operations by confirming safety and exchanging information through the Open Chat service described above.

Incidentally, Miracle Linux Corporation (now Cybertrust Corporation), which is using Questetra BPM Suite, has made the following comment.

“Even amidst the chaos of the Great East Japan Earthquake, when our internal servers were unavailable and we were unable to return home, we were able to continue to use our cloud-based services, G Suite (now Google Workspace) (email and files) and Questetra (workflow), in a stable manner.”

“At the time, I saw first hand how cloud-based services kept our business activities moving.”

The company introduced Questetra BPM Suite about a year before the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred. The above is an excellent example of a business process that has been established for regular business operations demonstrating its power in times of emergency.

Preparing for emergencies starts with reviewing your business operations during normal times. Why not start with a free trial and review your usual business processes with Questetra BPM Suite?

Hello, my name is Hayashi from the Marketing Department.

In my previous blog entry, I discussed the spread of remote work, and along with that there seems to be an increasing number of cases where “black-boxing” of work is becoming a problem.

In this article, I will explain the causes of “black-boxing” of work and how to improve it.

The Individualization and Black Boxing of Business Operations

The term “individualization” in this context refers to a situation in which only a specific person knows about a particular job.

There are a variety of causes of individualization, but for example, it is not uncommon for a particular job to be left to the person in charge, such as one sales representative being responsible for a particular client. Also, when the work is highly specialized and requires specific skills, such as when only a certain person can perform a certain task, it is easy for this type of work to become dependent on one specific person.

On the other hand, black boxing of operations refers to a situation where the people around the person do not know what he or she is doing. It is a situation where the business is almost literally hidden in a black box while it is with that person. Since the process of how the person is handling the work is completely unknown to the outside world, there is nothing to do but wait for the results and deliverables to come out of the black box.

If left unchecked, work tends to turn into a black box and become increasingly unknown to those around it. Especially with the recent spread of remote work, there are more and more cases where managers have difficulty in grasping the details of employees’ work.

First of all, for your information, in the next section I would like to describe an actual example of the individualization and black-boxing of operations that I have experienced.

Examples of Black Boxing I Have Experienced

More than 15 years ago I was assigned to a company’s advertising department as a newcomer. I was to take over the job from a person named Mr. S, however, from my first day at the company I was faced with a difficult situation. I was shown to Mr. S’s desk, which was overflowing with documents and product samples, and even he did not know where anything was.

Mr. S. is what is called an “untidy person”. Whenever he needed a document during a handover of work, he rummaged through his desk for more than 10 minutes, wondering “Um, where did I put that?” Then, five minutes after he found the document, he would ask, “Where’s the next one?” and it took another 10 minutes. (Sometimes he couldn’t find the document he was looking for even after searching for it.) Moreover, Mr. S was scheduled to leave the company in three days.

On the day of his last shift, Mr. S suddenly took a day off from work. He left the company without explanation, leaving me and my desk, which had turned into a garbage dump, behind him.

I had no choice but to start cleaning up the mess on my desk. Then, among the papers on Mr. S’s desk, I found a stack of overdue work and overdue circulars, one after another. The work I had taken over from Mr. S was the production of advertisements to be published in newspapers and magazines, but since Mr. S was working on his own, there was no one else in the company who understood his work. Therefore, if Mr. S suddenly took a leave of absence, no one would be able to take over for him.

Of course, when a manuscript was completed, it was supposed to be checked by the supervisor or the sales manager. However, no one was aware of the deadline for Mr. S’s work, so no one would notice if a circular was not sent out.

So this work had been “individualized” and “black-boxed” by Mr. S.

However, having taken over Mr. S’s work, I still had to proceed with my duties. After all, I had a project in front of me that had already passed the deadline for submission to the ad agency. I contacted the advertising agency that had outsourced the work and informed them of my situation. They told me that I could still meet the deadline for publication in the magazine just in time. I managed to produce the ad page by diverting a past manuscript and submitting it in time to meet the magazine’s deadline.

How to Prevent Black Boxing

The above may be an extreme case, but it is surprisingly common that no one except the person concerned (or in the worst case, not even this person) knows what is going on in the business.

Therefore, we will now explain the effects of operations becoming a black box and how to avoid it.

The Downside of Black Boxing

As mentioned above, a black box situation can cause serious problems if the person in charge quits the company or takes a long leave of absence. In such cases, in the worst case scenario, operations may come to a grinding halt.

Also, when operations become a black box, fraud is more likely to occur. When no one knows how the person in charge is doing their job, it is difficult for those around them to notice irregularities, such as ignoring manuals, violating rules, cutting corners, or committing crimes.

So, how can we prevent the work from becoming individualized and black-boxed?

The Basics are “Manualization” and “Standardization”

In order to prevent operations from becoming black boxes, it is first important to prevent them from becoming demarcated.

For this purpose, it is necessary to create manuals as much as possible for work procedures that are understood only by the person in charge. Of course, there may be some tasks that are difficult to manualize, such as highly specialized tasks. However, even in such cases it will be easier to take over and keep track of the progress if the flow of how the work progresses is manual.

When preparing a manual it is necessary to interview the people in charge and extract the best procedures from them. This process may be tedious and painstaking, but it is indispensable for standardizing operations.

Standardization of work means creating a system of work that allows anyone in charge to achieve the same results. In the process, it is necessary to create manuals and establish rules regarding the quality of work and the standards of deliverables.

It is also important to always improve business processes and keep manuals up to date so they do not become outdated.

BPM Tools to Open Up Operations

Now, measures to keep operations open are necessary to prevent them from being placed in a closed box.

Creating a manual that allows everyone to share procedures is one such measure. If the work process is graphically depicted, it will be easier to share the entire flow of work in a form that can be easily understood by anyone.

Questetra BPM Suite is a BPM tool that supports these tasks.

In reality, it is a painstaking task to create manuals and business flow diagrams, but with Questetra BPM Suite, you can easily create business flow diagrams by arranging icons on a computer. The work progresses automatically according to the created flow diagram, and the progress status is clearly visualized by moving the icons called tokens.

When building business processes in Questetra BPM Suite, the rules required for the business must also be set at the same time. The business rules and procedures thus set up will be automatically shared within the team through the business process.

Manuals may be necessary for detailed parts of the work, but by using the Questetra BPM Suite, the entire work flow and procedures are open, so there is no need to create manuals for them again.

If only we had Questetra BPM Suite, then…

We are of course making full use of Questetra BPM Suite in our business. Thanks to this, our business processes and progress are open, and we are able to smoothly manage work progress and attendance for remote workers.

Even in the company where the above-mentioned operations have become a black box, if Questetra BPM Suite had been used, the desk would not have been a garbage dump and projects would not have been left unattended. Above all, the handover of business would have been much smoother…

Well, it’s not too late to start, so to avoid turning your business into a black box or a garbage dump, please take advantage of Questetra BPM Suite for the manualization and standardization of your business operations. You can try it for free.