Skill-based filtering aims at providing an additional layer of filtering to assign Work Items (WI) at the right time to the right users with proper skills. The process of filtering skills helps users to complete WIs regarding a service-level agreement (SLA).
This is accomplished by changing the behavior of the Get From Pool button on the user dashboard. When the button is pressed, the system will compare the skill assignment of the top queued work item against the user's list of held skills and assign the work item to the user if there is a match.
In addition to assigning WIs to the correctly skilled users, the system also calculates SLA timings for WI and the current WI task. The sort order of WIs in a pool is determined by the WI priority and the calculated Target Start Time of Work Item's Task.
In this way, users get WIs in the correct order to meet the target SLA set by individual business needs.
Escalation Methods for Work Item (WI)
With help of the WI priority, users receive WI in the appropriate order regarding SLA.
There are two escalation methods for a WI:
Escalation Method | Description |
---|---|
Expedited | Calculates WIs based on expedited SLA times and moves the WI through the process in a shorter time frame. |
Priority | Moves a WI to the front of all other non-priority WIs for the faster processing time. |
Skill priority is subdivided into five levels. They are the following:
Priority | Suggested Uses |
---|---|
1 | Priority 1: Reserved for escalation of individual WI. The escalation of individual WI:
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2 | Unique Skills: Exist for WIs with established bottlenecks in the skilled resources. There are the following prerequisites::
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3 | Rare Skills: These should be for skills that are out of norm or temporarily scarce. They are:
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4 | Uncommon Skills: Used for time-sensitive items or items of importance. They are:
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5 | Common Skills: Baseline priority. Ideally, common skills make up the vast majority of your skills. |
Required Resources
Domain Elements
For completing skill-based filtering, there are the required domain elements. For more information, view the following charts.
Work Item: Domain 209
Field ID | Name | Definition |
---|---|---|
130049 | Expedited | This is a boolean field if set to "Yes" will use the Expedited SLA values found in the skills domain. |
130048 | Is Priority | This is a boolean field if set to "Yes" will assign WI.Priority = 1 and prevent skills from changing else if set to false will set WI.Priority = 5 by default and allow "Set Priority by Skills" action to set priority. |
42401 | Priority Level | Existing field. Ideally this should not be editable by user via UI. This defines the work item priority and is part of "Get from pool" logic. Note: Barcode Mapping and Document Type Work Item Priority can interfere with priority assignment from skills. |
120008 | SLA Start Time | Existing field. This is standard functionality set by transition in workflow. Used in calculating the Work Item SLA Due Date. |
120015 | SLA Due Date | This is the Work Item Due Date for completion through workflow. No functionality behind it, just for reporting and tracking purposes. |
120010 | Task Due Time | This is the Work Item Task Due Date to be completed out of a task node. Should be calculated when work item enters each task node. No functionality behind it, just for reporting and tracking purposes. |
120014 | Task Target Start Time | This is the Work Item Task Target Start Time. Should be calculated when work item enters each task node. Used in conjunction with Priority Level to define order of "Get from Pool" |
84001 | Skills | This is set by system calculation. Matches data elements of WI to fields in Skill domain. When matched, then skill is assigned to work item. |
84002 | Suitable Skills | Troubleshooting field that indicates all skills that matched current work item. Skill with highest rank is skill assigned to WI. |
Skills: Domain 840
Field ID | Name | Type | Required | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
100201 | Name | STRING(254) | True - Unique | Unique name of Skill that will be used to select a skill assigned to a user via User Access. |
23001 | Workflow | REFERENCE (230 - Workflows) | True | Defines workflow skill should be applied. |
42001 | Request Type | REFERENCE (420 - Request Types) | True | Defines request type skill should be applied. |
100297 | Node Name | STRING(254) | True | Defines task node skill should be applied. |
84101 | Skill Rarity | REFERENCE (841 - Skill Rarity) | True | Skill Rarity is designed to help deal with bottleneck skills and float work up to users that may have rare (specialized) skills while they are still processing common skilled work items in the stream. Rarer skilled work items will be delivered to a user with that rare skill before a work item with a common skill. |
110102 | Skill Rank | NUMBER(38) | When a work item has multiple suitable skills, the skill with the highest "Skill Rank" will be applied to the work item. | |
110401 | Task Due | NUMBER(38) | SLA field - the number of business hours to complete the work item task (Micro SLA) | |
110403 | Task Due Expedited | NUMBER(38) | SLA field - the expedited number of business hours to complete the work item task. Should be smaller value than Task Due hours. | |
110402 | Task Lead Time | NUMBER(38) | SLA field - should be the target amount of time to complete the work item task. This value is subtracted from the Task Due time to set target task time. This is so users do not pull the work item right at the time it is due. Intention is to start task with enough time to compete the task before the task SLA is due. | |
110404 | Work Item Hours Due | NUMBER(38) | SLA field - the number of business hours to complete all work item tasks. (Macro SLA) | |
110406 | Work Item Hours Due Expedited | NUMBER(38) | SLA field - the expedited number of business hours to complete all work item tasks. (Macro SLA) | |
120204 | SLA Same Day | TIME | SLA field - Ignores Work Item Hours Due and Task Due times and sets the SLA due to same day at specified time. If SLA Same Day is set to 3PM then any work item created before 3PM will have a due date of 3PM the same day. After 3PM, SLA is set to 3PM the next business day. | |
... | Additional Product Fields for Skill Matching | Default Product Fields that will be included for all clients. These fields are used in addtion to Request type to define a skill. | ||
+++ | Client Defined Fields for Skill | Client can add additional fields to define skill records, but requires a CR to modify this domain and the "Set Work Item Skill" action by engineering. |
Skill Rarity: Domain 841
The Skill Rarity Domain defines and holds values for the Skill Priority Pyramid Listed below.
Note: By design, there is not a record with a priority value = 1. (It is reserved for individual work item escalation.) |
Field ID | Name | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
100001 | Name | STRING(50) | |
110102 | Priority | Number(38) | By design, there is not a record with a priority value = 1. (It is reserved for individual work item escalation.) |
User Access: Domain 300
This field below is added to the User Access domain and allows multiple skills be assigned to the user.
Field ID | Name | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
84001 | Skills | REFERENCE (840 - Skills) | Used in determining which work items a user will pull from "Get from Pool" button. |
Holidays: Domain 390
This domain defines holidays that the business is closed.
Note: Weekends are automatically excluded from SLA calculations and must be added in as holiday record if business is open on weekend.
To exclude an entire day from SLA calculations, set the "Start business time" and "End business time" fields to the same value.
To enter a half day, set the start and end business time fields as needed.
Field ID | Name | Type | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
120101 | Holiday Date | DATE | Date of the holiday. |
120202 | Start Business Time | Time | |
120203 | End Business Time | Time | |
100201 | Name of Holiday | String(254) | |
110183 | Number of Business Hours | Number(38) | Calculated by system. (End Business Time minus Start Business Time) |
130094 | Falls on the weekend | Boolean | Calculated by system using "Holiday Date" |
Application Preferences
To set the start and end of normal business hours to calculate SLA. Set the numeric field in the following application preferences:
Business hours started (PT)
Business hours ended (PT)
Actions
Action | Sets Field Value | Logic |
---|---|---|
Set Work Item Skill | Work Item.Skill | Work Item.Workflow = Skills.Workflow |
Set Priority by Skills | Work Item.Priority | If Match between WI and Skills Domain then Work Item.Priority = WorkItem.Skills.Skills Rarity.Priority else no match then Work Item.Priority = 5 (Or if default app preference is available, use that.) End If |
Set Work Item SLA Due Date by Skill | Work Item.SLA Due Date | If Match between WI and Skills Domain then If Skills.SLA Same Day Is Not Null then If TimePart(Work Item.SLA Start Time 209.120008) < Skills.SLA Same Day then Work Item.SLA Due Date = Today @ Skills.SLA Same Day else WI SLA after Skill Same Day SLA Work Item.SLA Due Date = Next Business day (not including Holidays) @ Skills.SLA Same Day end if else If "Expedited" Then Work Item.SLA Due Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Skills.SLA Business Hours Due Expedited) else not "Expedited" then Work Item.SLA Due Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Skills.SLA Business Hours Due) end if end if else no match then Work Item.SLA Due Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Application Preference.Default SLA Business Hours) End If |
Set Work Item SLA Due Date by Skill Expedited | Work Item.SLA Due Date | |
Set Work Item SLA Dates by Skill | Work Item.SLA Task Due Date Work Item.SLA Task Target Start Date | If Match between WI and Skills Domain then If Skills.SLA Same Day Is Not Null then If TimePart(Work Item.SLA Start Time) < Skills.SLA Same Day then Work Item.SLA Due Date = Today @ Skills.SLA Same Day Work Item.SLA Target Start Date = Today @ Skills.SLA Same Day else WI SLA after Skill Same Day SLA Work Item.SLA Due Date = Next Business day (not including Holidays) @ Skills.SLA Same Day Work Item.SLA Target Start Date = Next Business day (not including Holidays) @ Skills.SLA Same Day end if else If "Expedited" Then Work Item.SLA Due Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Skills.SLA Business Hours Due Expedited) Work Item.SLA Target Start Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Skills.SLA Business Hours Due Expedited - Skills.SLA Business Hours Lead Time) else not "Expedited" then Work Item.SLA Due Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Skills.SLA Business Hours Due) Work Item.SLA Target Start Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Skills.SLA Business Hours Due - Skills.SLA Business Hours Lead Time) end if end if else no match then Work Item.SLA Due Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Application Preference.Default SLA Business Hours) Work Item.SLA Target Start Date = addBusinessHours(SystemTime, Application Preference.Default SLA Business Hours - Application Preference.Default SLA Business Hours Lead Time) End If |
Set Work Item SLA Dates by Skill Expedited | Work Item.SLA Task Due Date Work Item.SLA Task Target Start Date |