Flexible handling of work processes by situation-dependent support strategies

Although work processes, like software processes, include a number of process aspects such as defined phases and deadlines, they are not plannable in detail. However the advantages of today's process management, such as effective document routing and timeliness, can only be achieved with detailed models of work processes. The paper suggests a concept that uses detailed process models in conjunction with the possibility of varying the degree to which a process model determines the work of individuals. Based on the WAM approach (Wide Area Multimedia Group Interaction), which allows workers to freely choose methods for their tasks according to the situation, we describe features allowing various forms of enforcement for the execution of planned parts of a process. At the same time, workers are always able to start exceptional mechanisms. This approach is based on the modelling paradigm of linked abstraction workflows (LAWs) that describe workflows at different levels of abstraction and classify refinements of tasks by the way lower tasks can be used.