task patterns in collaborative semantic task management as means of corporate experience...

SYSTEMATIC THOUGHT LEADERSHIP FOR INNOVATIVE BUSINESS

Task Patterns in Collaborative Semantic Task Management as Means of Corporate Experience Preservation

Uwe Riss, SAP Research CEC KarlsruheBenedikt Schmidt, SAP Research CEC Darmstadt Todor Stoitsev, SAP Research CEC Darmstadt 22. September 2009

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1. Knowledge Work, Task and Task Pattern

2. Personal Task Pattern (PTP) and Collaborative Task Pattern (CTP)

3. PTP and CTP implementation

4. Connecting PTP and CTP

5. Outlook

Agenda

Knowledge Work and Tasks PTP and CTP PTP and CTP implementation OutlookConnecting PTP and CTP

Knowledge Work Symbolic analytic services (Reich, R., The work of nations, 1991)

Demand for flexibility, interdisciplinary cooperation and rapid learning (Pyöriä, P.,The concept of knowledge work revisited, 2005)

Tasks in knowledge work Processes weakly structured (Byström, K. and Hansen, P., ‘Conceptual Framework for Tasks in Information Studies, 2005’)

Specific information requirements for each step Problem ridden task execution (Riss, Task journals as means to describe temporal task aspects for reuse in task patterns, 2008)

Terms and Concepts

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Task relations, Byström 05


Tackle Tasks in Knowledge Work

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Task

Ext

erna

lizat

ion

Personal / Group Information

Mgmt.

Workflow Management

Process-centric

approaches

Data-centric approaches

few

much

Task Management

Task centric approachnes

concept application

• Workflows Clearly structured

Specific supportPre-defined

• Ad-hoc tasksflexible Few structure

Few support

Lacks flexibility

• File systems/mailsflexibleNo structure

No specific support

aspects

Externalization of tasks is key to support but complicates flexibility


Tasks as Constituents of Processes

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Weakly-structured

(ad-hoc, informal, human-centric)

Reconcile the personal task management perspective with the enterprise business process perspective (Riss et al., 2005; Gartner, 2006)

Enable process tailoring as collaboration (Mørch & Mehanjiev, 2000; Forrester, 2006)

Structured

business processes

(predefined, formal, operational)

business processes


User Centric Process Support

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Email-based workflows

Email-based workflows

Knowledge management

approaches

Knowledge management

approaches

high (local developer)

low (end user)

Process mining

Visual process modeling

Evolutionary workflows

Case handling

requ

ired

IT s

kills

low (ad-hoc) high (structured)formality

Evolutionary workflows


E-Mail and its PurposesBetween Information and Task Transfer

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Original Email Purpose

Ad Hoc Task Delegation

high (archiving)

low (communication)

Personal Information Management

Ad HocProcess Management

rete

ntio

n tim

e

low (information) high (collaboration)task character


Task Management Systems for Task Externalization To-Do lists with resource connection Most systems concentrate on task organization

Personal Task Execution Support

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Lack of execution supportDelegations of ad-hoc nature

Unified Activity Management, IBM Task Tracer, Orgegon State University


Retrieval/Exchange

Adaption/

Instantiation

Enhancement/

Re-Use

Task Pattern Concept

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Task Pattern focus on the re-use of task execution data on semi-structured/ad-hoc tasks

Bottom-Up Task Pattern always based on real occurrences of tasks

Abstraction Abstract from knowledge captured during execution

Life-cycle Lifecycle of re-use, exchange and instantiation


Two Types of Task Pattern

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Two aspects of task execution Structural Execution

Structural and Execution perspective have different degrees of privacy Structural: Information on delegation structures few privacy issues Execution: Information on personal execution strategies privacy issues

Personal TP

Collaborative TP

Two types of Task Patterns: Personal Task Pattern (PTP), information for execution Collaborative Task Patterns (CTP) , information on delegation

Delegation Structure

Personal Execution Strategies


PTP – Life Cycle

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Personal Task Pattern Execution/Information-centric

Life-cycle of retrieval, instantiation and enhancement Life-cycle means Task Pattern improvement Improvement by implicit enhancement Improvement by explicit enhancement

Pattern

Task A

Request Pattern

Identify Pattern

Provide Process

Guidance by Pattern

Task BTask C

Task D

Pattern Repository

Enhance Task Pattern

Enriched pattern

support future tasks

Context Similarity


PTP – Abstraction

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Describe information needs in a structure Abstraction Service = basic activity or a basic knowledge requirement for task execution Problems/Solutions = Capture exception to the rule Decision/Action Alternatives = Filter Abstraction Services

Abstraction Services

Concept Example Instance

Resource Purpose in Task Context

Abstraction Service

Person Information Subtask

Type

PTP

Problem

Solution

Decision

Direction

* **


CTP – Delegation Graphs as Basis for Abstraction

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Central enterprise infrastructure

U1 U2

U3

U4

Personal workspace

track


CTP – Abstraction, Life cycle

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adaptation

exchange

compose

reuse

extract/decomposeInstance level:task instances (to-do items)

Model level:task patterns


Implementations

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Personal Task Pattern (PTP) Personal Task Management System (PTM) Implemented on the Social Semantic Desktop Result of NEPOMUK research project

Collaborative Task Pattern (CTP) Collaborative Task Management System (CTM) Result of Eudismes research project

http://www.eudismes.de/


PTP and NEPOMUK

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The social semantic desktop is… a huge semantic net striving to describe the data involved in the execution of knowledge

work processes Semantic Task Management Framework (STMF) as task perspective on the SSD

KASIMIR… is one user interface to interact with the STMF allows the easy maintenance of tasks with attached objects as relations on the SSD has been extended by functionalities for the maintenance of/ interaction with Task Pattern

KASIMIR sidebar

PTM


Retrieve Task Pattern

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1

2

3

(1) Filter visible Task Pattern and tasks(2) Select a Task Pattern or a task(3) See details to selection

exchange

PTM


Create/Enhance Task Pattern

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reuse/enhance

(1) Description(2) Abstraction Services/Decisions/Problems (3) Connected Tasks (4) Task details (5) Simplify view

PTM


PTM – Use Task Pattern

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Adaption/

Instantion

(1) Task Pattern Details (2) Compare Task and Task Pattern (3) Object without Abstraction Service(4) Abstraction Service without object (5) Information Abstraction as Subtask (6) Subtask Abstraction Service with object

PTM


CTP and Collaborative Task Management (CTM)

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ExtractionRe-use

Collaborative Task Management tracks delegation structures Re-use of knowledge from ad-hoc processes Weakly structured processes Get Task Pattern Structured processes Get business processes

CTM


CTM Task Delegation Graphs (TDGs)

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CTM TDGs result from the delegation of tasks TDGs show task execution instances Starting point for abstraction


Connect PTM and CTM

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NEPOMUK and CTM are two stand-alone systems Communication of both systems via adapter

Outlook integration of CTM fits organizational demands NEPOMUK capabilities of personal information Public/private

Structure

PersonalExecution

CTPs

PTPs

CTM

PTM


CTPs reference PTPs for the specific tasks Separation of personal information aspect from the structure

CTPs as Structural Connector for PTPs

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T1 T2 T6

T4T3 T5

CTP

PTP-T1

PTP-T2

PTP-T3

PTP-T4

PTP-T5

PTP-T6


Outlook

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Work on integration of PTP and CTP Following the sketched idea both will be connected

Work on PTP and CTP continues in Mature and other research projects


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Task Pattern on the social semantic desktop

Task Pattern realization Second level

Third level– Fourth level

– Fifth level

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