JP7664458B1 - Task management device, program, task management method, and task management system - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention aims to provide a technique for efficiently managing work by one or more staff members.
[Solution] A task management device comprising: a trigger information acquisition unit that acquires trigger information indicating a client's request; a task determination unit that determines a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information; a task step extraction unit that extracts one or more task steps from the task determined by the task determination unit; a person in charge determination unit that refers to member information that associates candidate persons with the skills they possess and determines a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required by the task step; and a task management unit that detects the completion of each task step and manages the progress of the task.
[Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a task management device, a program, a task management method, and a task management system.

As information processing technology advances, there is a need to improve management techniques when multiple staff members are in charge of tasks requested by customers.

The project management system disclosed in Patent Document 1 breaks down project tasks and searches for the necessary people in charge based on information in a profile database that associates information such as the tasks handled, the number of tasks subordinate to the tasks handled, the depth of the hierarchy, and the number of people in charge of subtasks.

JP 2010-33425 A

The project management system in Patent Document 1 accepts the specification of experience values and keywords such as "planning" and "research," outputs candidates according to the specification, and accepts the selection of the person to be in charge of the work. Therefore, when deciding who will be in charge of the work, it is necessary to specify values and keywords to be used in the search, which is not efficient.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above points, and aims to provide a technology for efficiently managing work by one or more staff members.

This application includes multiple means for solving the above problems, examples of which are as follows:

To solve the above problem, a task management device according to one aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising: a trigger information acquisition unit that acquires trigger information indicating a client's request; a task determination unit that determines a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information; a task step extraction unit that extracts one or more task steps from the task determined by the task determination unit; a person in charge determination unit that refers to member information that associates candidate persons with the skills they possess and determines a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required by the task step; and a task management unit that detects the end of each task step and manages the progress of the task.

The person in charge determination unit may be characterized in that it notifies the person in charge candidates who have the skills required by the task step in the member information, and determines the person in charge from among the person in charge candidates who respond, depending on the timing of the response.

The task management unit may be characterized in that, upon detecting the end of the task step, it notifies the person in charge of other task steps that have the end of the task step as a processing start condition.

The task management device may be characterized in that it includes a task step execution unit that executes a predetermined process in a second task step, which is a specific task step, and when executing a first task step among the task steps, excluding the second task step, the task management unit notifies a person in charge of the first task step, and when executing the second task step, causes the task step execution unit to execute the process.

The person in charge determination unit may be characterized in that it determines the person in charge of the first task step and inhibits the determination of the person in charge of the second task step.

The task determination unit may be characterized in that it refers to information associating the trigger information with the tasks, identifies the task corresponding to the trigger information acquired by the trigger information acquisition unit, and when multiple pieces of trigger information associated with a common task are acquired within a predetermined period, it determines one of the tasks corresponding to the multiple pieces of trigger information.

The trigger information acquisition unit may store information indicating a method for acquiring the trigger information in association with the acquired trigger information, and the task determination unit may determine the one task when multiple pieces of trigger information related to a specific acquisition method are acquired within the specified period.

A program according to another aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer processing unit to execute a task management method, characterized in that the program executes the following: a trigger information acquisition step for acquiring trigger information indicating a client's request; a task determination step for determining a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information; a task step extraction step for extracting one or more task steps from the task determined in the task determination step; a person in charge determination step for determining a person in charge for each task step based on the technology required by the task step by referencing member information in which candidate persons in charge are associated with the skills possessed by the person in charge; and a task management step for detecting the end of each task step and managing the progress of the task.

A task management method according to another aspect of the present invention is a task management method using a task management device, characterized in that it comprises a trigger information acquisition step for acquiring trigger information indicating a client's request, a task determination step for determining a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information, a task step extraction step for extracting one or more task steps from the task determined in the task determination step, a person in charge determination step for determining a person in charge for each task step based on the technology required by the task step by referencing member information in which candidate persons are associated with the skills possessed, and a task management step for detecting the end of each task step and managing the progress of the task.

A task management system according to another aspect of the present invention is a task management system having a client-side terminal device owned by a client, a person in charge's terminal device owned by a person in charge, and a task management device connected to the client-side terminal device and the person in charge's terminal device so as to be able to communicate with the client-side terminal device and the person in charge's terminal device, the task management device includes a trigger information acquisition unit that acquires trigger information indicating a request from the client using information sent from the client-side terminal device, a task determination unit that determines a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information, a task step extraction unit that extracts one or more task steps from the task determined by the task determination unit, a person in charge determination unit that refers to member information that associates person in charge candidates with the skills they possess and determines a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required by the task step, and a task management unit that detects the end of each task step and manages the progress of the task, and the person in charge's terminal device includes a communication unit that receives a notification indicating the task step for which the person in charge is responsible from the task management device.

The present invention provides a technology for efficiently managing work by one or more staff members.

Problems, configurations, and advantages other than those described above will become clear from the description of the embodiments below.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an overview of a task management system. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of functional blocks of a task management system. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of task information, member information, and task step information, Fig. 3(A) is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of task information, Fig. 3(B) is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of member information, and Fig. 3(C) is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of task step information. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of a task management device. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a task execution process. 6A and 6B are diagrams illustrating an example of a step definition information display screen and a person in charge definition information display screen, respectively. FIG. 6A shows an example of the step definition information display screen, and FIG. 6B shows an example of the person in charge definition information display screen.

Below, an example of an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an overview of a task management system 1. In task management system 1, a series of operations resulting from a client request is treated as a "task." A task management device 10 monitors the progress of a task in order to manage the task from start to finish. Each person in charge of task management system 1 uses a dedicated application installed on a person in charge terminal device 40 (described below) to check the assigned work and report completion.

The task management system 1 includes a client-side terminal device owned by the client, a task management device 10, and a person in charge terminal device 40 described below. The client-side terminal devices include a client terminal device 20 and a client system management device 30.

First, trigger information indicating some kind of request is sent from the client-side terminal device to the task management device 10. The task management device 10 acquires the trigger information by one of a number of different acquisition methods. As an example, a client person operates the client terminal device 20 and inputs information indicating a request to a portal site on a browser. The input information is treated as trigger information, and the task management device 10 acquires the trigger information from the client terminal device 20. Trigger information based on input to the portal site is described as a portal trigger. The task management device 10 treats a selection from an option displayed on the portal site or an input character string as trigger information.

As another example, the task management device 10 acquires trigger information when a client person in charge calls a telephone number managed by the task management system 1. Trigger information input directly or indirectly by telephone is described as a telephone response trigger. The task management device 10 acquires information input in response to an automated voice message using a telephone input reception system (not shown) and handles it as trigger information. The task management device 10 may also handle information input by a system person who understands the contents of the call as trigger information.

As another example, the task management device 10 acquires trigger information by receiving an email from the client system management device 30 owned by the client, or an email from the client terminal device 20. Trigger information based on input via an email system will be described as an email trigger. For example, the task management device 10 treats a character string entered in an email as trigger information.

As another example, the client system management device 30 calls the task management device 10 via an API (Application Programming Interface), and the task management device 10 acquires trigger information. Trigger information acquired via the API will be described as an API trigger. The task management device 10 handles information received from the client-side terminal device via the API as trigger information.

As another example, the task management device 10 schedules a specific process to be performed at a specific timing in response to an input operation by a system administrator. Trigger information that includes the timing to start the process and the process content is described as a schedule trigger. Each piece of trigger information can be identified by a trigger ID.

When the task management device 10 acquires trigger information by any of the acquisition methods, it determines a task related to the business to be provided to the client. The task management device 10 divides the determined task and extracts one or more task steps. The task management device 10 determines a person in charge of executing the task step and executes the processing related to the task. The task management device 10 manages the execution processing of each task step and provides the business related to the task to the client.

In the example shown in FIG. 1, the task management device 10 determines that a "trouble reception task" is a task related to a business to be provided to a client, based on trigger information acquired by any of the acquisition methods. The task management device 10 extracts the task steps of "task 1: work", "task 1: confirmation", "email creation: work", "email creation: confirmation", and "email transmission" from the "trouble reception task". The task management device 10 determines the person in charge of "task 1: work" to be "Mr. A" and the person in charge of "task 1: confirmation" to be "Mr. B" using the skills required for each task step and the skills possessed by the candidate person in charge. The task management device 10 also determines the person in charge of "email creation: work" to be "Mr. C" and the person in charge of "email creation: confirmation" to be "Mr. D". The task management device 10 does not determine the person in charge of "email transmission".

The task management device 10 manages the progress of processing each task step, and when the start conditions for a certain task step are met, it sends a notification to the person in charge of that task step.

In this embodiment, each person in charge checks the assigned work using the dedicated application described above. Similarly, the task manager uses the dedicated application to manage the progress of each task step. The dedicated application is not limited to the application installed on each person in charge terminal device 40. For example, the task management device 10 may provide a web application with the same functions as the dedicated application, and the person in charge who owns the person in charge terminal device 40 may be able to operate the web application via a browser.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of functional blocks of the task management system 1. The task management system 1 has a task management device 10, a client terminal device 20, a client system management device 30, and a person in charge terminal device 40. The task management device 10, the client terminal device 20, the client system management device 30, and the person in charge terminal device 40 are connected to each other via a network N so that they can communicate with each other.

The task management device 10 is an information processing device such as a server computer or a PC (Personal Computer), and is operated, for example, by a task management service provider that uses the task management system 1.

The task management device 10 comprises a processing unit 110, a storage unit 120, an input unit 130, an output unit 140, and a communication unit 150. The processing unit 110 provides overall control of the task management device 10. The storage unit 120 stores information necessary for processing by the processing unit 110. The input unit 130 accepts information input to the task management device 10 using an input device. The output unit 140 outputs information stored in the task management device 10 to an output device. The communication unit 150 mediates the transmission and reception of information to and from the client terminal device 20, the client system management device 30, or the person in charge terminal device 40.

The processing unit 110 includes a trigger information acquisition unit 111, a task determination unit 112, a task step extraction unit 113, a person in charge determination unit 114, a task management unit 115, and a task step execution unit 116. The trigger information acquisition unit 111 acquires trigger information indicating a client request from the client terminal device 20 or the client system management device 30. The trigger information acquisition unit 111 identifies a method for acquiring the trigger information and stores it in association with the acquired trigger information. Note that the trigger information acquisition unit 111 may acquire trigger information based on an input operation via the input unit 130 by a person in charge who receives a call from a client, or may acquire trigger information related to a schedule trigger that starts processing at a predetermined timing.

The task determination unit 112 determines a task related to the business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information. The task determination unit 112 determines a task corresponding to the acquired trigger information as a task related to the business to be provided to the client by referring to information indicating the correspondence between the trigger information and task information 121, which is stored in an area of the memory unit 120 (not shown). The task step extraction unit 113 extracts one or more task steps from the task determined by the task determination unit 112. For example, the task step extraction unit 113 refers to task information 121 (described below) to extract task steps related to the task determined by the task determination unit 112.

The person in charge determination unit 114 refers to the member information 122 described below in which the candidate person in charge is associated with the skills possessed, and determines a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required by the task step. For example, the person in charge determination unit 114 notifies the candidate person in charge who has the skills required by the task step in the member information 122, and determines a person in charge from among the candidate person in charge who responded, depending on the timing of the response. Note that the person in charge determination unit 114 determines a person in charge for the first task step described below, and suppresses the determination of a person in charge for the second task step.

The task management unit 115 manages the progress of the task by detecting the end of execution of processing for each task step. In the example shown below, the task steps are classified into a first task step, in which processing is executed by an input operation by the person in charge, and a second task step, in which processing is executed by the task step execution unit 116 described below. The first task step is a task step that requires an input operation by the person in charge at some point, and the second task step is a task step that does not require an input operation by the person in charge and is executed automatically.

When the progress of the task satisfies the start condition of the first task step, the task management unit 115 notifies the person in charge of the first task step. When the progress of the task satisfies the start condition of the second task step, the task management unit 115 causes the task step execution unit 116 described below to execute the processing of the second task step.

The task step execution unit 116 executes a predetermined process in the second task step, which is a specified task step. The task step execution unit 116 receives a signal indicating an execution command that specifies a process from the task management unit 115, and executes the process related to the command. Note that the task step execution unit 116 may notify an administrator defined in the task information 121 described below when the processing of the second task step is completed.

The memory unit 120 stores task information 121, member information 122, and task step information 123. Task information 121 is information about a task that is activated by a trigger ID that identifies trigger information. Member information 122 is information that associates the skills possessed by each candidate person in charge managed by the task management device 10. Task step information 123 is information that associates information indicating the content of the processing to be performed, the required skills, job position, etc., for each task step.

The client terminal device 20 is a terminal device operated by a client staff member, and is, for example, an information processing device such as a PC, a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a tablet terminal. The client terminal device 20 includes a processing unit 210, a storage unit 220, an input unit 230, an output unit 240, and a communication unit 250. The processing unit 210 performs overall control of the entire client terminal device 20. The storage unit 220 stores information required for processing by the processing unit 210. The input unit 230 accepts information input to the client terminal device 20 using an input device. The output unit 240 outputs information stored in the client terminal device 20 to an output device. The communication unit 250 mediates the transmission and reception of information to and from the task management device 10, the client system management device 30, or the staff member terminal device 40.

The processing unit 210 includes a trigger information output unit 211. The trigger information output unit 211 outputs trigger information to the task management device 10 based on an input operation by a client person in charge. The trigger information output unit 211 may output predetermined trigger information when executing a specified process that does not require an input operation by a client person in charge. The trigger information output unit 211 transmits, for example, information input to a portal site to the task management device 10 as trigger information.

The client system management device 30 is a terminal device owned by the client, such as a server computer or an information processing device such as a PC, and manages the client's business system. The client system management device 30 comprises a processing unit 310, a storage unit 320, an input unit 330, an output unit 340, and a communication unit 350. The processing unit 310 comprehensively controls the entire client system management device 30, and also executes predetermined business-related processing in the client system management device 30.

The memory unit 320 stores information necessary for processing by the processing unit 310. The input unit 330 accepts information input to the client system management device 30 using an input device. The output unit 340 outputs information stored in the client system management device 30 to an output device. The communication unit 350 mediates the transmission and reception of information to and from the task management device 10, the client terminal device 20, or the person in charge terminal device 40.

The processing unit 310 includes a trigger information output unit 311. When a command to output trigger information is executed by the processing unit 310 in a specific process related to a business, the trigger information output unit 311 outputs trigger information to the task management device 10. For example, when the execution of the specific process is stopped, the trigger information output unit 311 outputs trigger information indicating an error.

The person in charge terminal device 40 is a terminal device owned by a person in charge of executing a task managed by the task management device 10, and is, for example, an information processing device such as a PC, a smartphone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a tablet terminal. The person in charge terminal device 40 includes a processing unit 410, a storage unit 420, an input unit 430, an output unit 440, and a communication unit 450. The processing unit 410 comprehensively controls the entire person in charge terminal device 40, and executes a predetermined process related to a task step based on an input operation by the person in charge. The storage unit 420 stores information required for the processing of the processing unit 410. The input unit 430 accepts information input to the person in charge terminal device 40 using an input device. The output unit 440 outputs information stored in the person in charge terminal device 40 to an output device. The communication unit 450 mediates the transmission and reception of information to and from the task management device 10, the client terminal device 20, or the client system management device 30.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of task information 121, member information 122, and task step information 123. Figure 3 (A) is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of task information 121, Figure 3 (B) is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of member information 122, and Figure 3 (C) is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of task step information 123.

Task information 121 is information about a task that is started by a trigger, and is information in which a task ID is associated with information indicating one or more task steps and an administrator. The task ID is identification information that identifies a task. Information indicating a task step is information that identifies the processing of each task step obtained by dividing the processing of a task. Note that in task information 121, information indicating one or more task steps is associated with one task ID so that the processing order can be identified. The administrator is identification information that identifies the administrator of the task.

As shown in FIG. 3(B), member information 122 is information in which position information and information identifying one or more skills are associated with a member ID. The member ID is identification information that identifies a candidate for a person in charge who can execute the processing in the first task step. Position information is information that identifies the position of the candidate for a person in charge. Information that identifies one or more skills is information that identifies the skills possessed by the candidate for a person in charge. Skills include, for example, certification qualifications, skills such as compatible programming languages, compatible OSs (Operating Systems), and past experience in corresponding tasks. Note that member information 122 does not need to include position information.

As shown in FIG. 3C, the task step information 123 is information in which a step type, a technique, a processing content, a job title, an operation content, and a remark are associated with a task step ID. The task step ID is identification information that identifies a task step. The technique is information that indicates the technique required to execute the processing in the task step. The step type is information that indicates whether the task step is a first task step or a second task step. The processing content is information that indicates the content of the processing executed in the task step. The job title is information that indicates the job title required of the person in charge when the task step is the first task step. For example, the job title indicates whether the task step is executed by the person in charge, the person in charge, or the person in charge. The operation content is information that indicates the content of the operation executed by the person in charge, the person in charge, or the person in charge in charge when the task step is the first task step. The remark is information that indicates special notes regarding the task step.

Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the task management device 10. The task management device 10 includes a calculation device 11, a memory 12, an external storage device 13, an input IF (Interface) 14, an output IF 15, and a communication IF 16, and each component is connected by a bus.

The arithmetic unit 11 is a arithmetic unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and executes processing according to a program recorded in the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. In the task management device 10, processing is performed by the arithmetic unit 11 that operates according to a program read onto the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. Each of the processing units that make up the processing unit 110 realizes its respective function by the arithmetic unit 11 executing a program.

The memory 12 is a storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a flash memory, and functions as a storage area from which programs and data are temporarily read. The external storage device 13 is, for example, a writable and readable storage medium and storage media drive, such as a HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a CD-R (Compact Disc-Recordable), or a DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disk-Random Access Memory). The functions of the storage unit 120 are realized by the memory 12 or the external storage device 13. Note that the functions of the storage unit 120 may also be realized by a storage device connected via the communication IF 16.

The input IF 14 is an interface for accepting input operations from an operator, and is connected to input devices such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, and microphone. The output IF 15 is an interface for outputting information to a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display built into the task management device 10.

The communication IF 16 is an interface for connecting the task management device 10 to the network N and a bus, and is connected to a communication device such as a LAN (Local Area Network) card. The functions of the communication unit 150 are realized by the communication IF 16. The task management device 10 may have a storage medium drive device (not shown) and input and output information from portable media.

The processing of each component of the task management device 10 may be executed by a single piece of hardware or by multiple pieces of hardware. Furthermore, the processing of each component of the task management device 10 may be realized by a single program or by multiple programs.

The hardware configurations of the client terminal device 20, the client system management device 30, and the person in charge terminal device 40 are the same as those of the task management device 10, so a description is omitted.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a task execution process. The process of this flowchart is executed by the task management device 10.

First, the trigger information acquisition unit 111 acquires trigger information (step S11). Specifically, the trigger information acquisition unit 111 acquires trigger information due to a portal trigger, a telephone response trigger, or an email trigger output from the trigger information output unit 211 of the client terminal device 20. Alternatively, the trigger information acquisition unit 111 acquires trigger information due to an email trigger or an API trigger output from the trigger information output unit 311 of the client system management device 30. Alternatively, the trigger information acquisition unit 111 acquires trigger information due to a telephone trigger or a schedule trigger input from an input device via the input unit 130. The trigger information acquisition unit 111 associates information indicating a method for acquiring the acquired trigger information with the trigger information and stores it in an area (not shown) of the storage unit 120.

Next, the task determination unit 112 identifies the corresponding task (step S12). Specifically, the task determination unit 112 identifies the task information 121 that corresponds to the trigger information acquired in step S11 by referring to information that indicates the correspondence between the trigger information and the task information 121 and that is stored in an area (not shown) of the storage unit 120.

Next, the task determination unit 112 determines whether or not the same task has already been identified within a predetermined period of time (step S13). Specifically, the task determination unit 112 determines whether or not the same task as the task identified in step S12 has already been identified within a predetermined period of time. In other words, the task determination unit 112 determines whether or not input of multiple pieces of trigger information related to a common task has been received within a predetermined period of time.

If the task determination unit 112 determines that the same task has already been identified within the specified period (YES in step S13), it assumes that the request for the task has already been accepted by the task management device 10 and ends the processing of this flowchart.

When the task determination unit 112 determines that the same task has not been identified within the specified period ("NO" in step S13), it determines the identified task as the task to be processed (step S14). That is, the task determination unit 112 determines the task identified in step S12 as the task to be processed.

Next, the task step extraction unit 113 extracts task steps (step S15). Specifically, the task step extraction unit 113 refers to the task information 121 and extracts one or more task steps that correspond to the task ID of the task determined in step S14.

Next, the task management unit 115 determines the task step to be processed according to the processing order of the task information 121 (step S16). The task management unit 115 determines the task step to be processed from among the unprocessed task steps by referring to the processing order of the task information 121.

Next, the task management unit 115 determines the type of task step to be processed (step S17). The task management unit 115 determines whether the task step determined to be processed in step S16 is a first task step or a second task step.

When the task management unit 115 determines that the task step to be processed is the first task step ("First" in step S17), the person in charge determination unit 114 extracts person in charge candidates who have the required job title (step S18). Specifically, the person in charge determination unit 114 identifies the first task step determined to be the processing target in step S16 and the job title associated in the task step information 123. The person in charge determination unit 114 refers to the member information 122 and extracts person in charge candidates who have the identified job title. Note that if there is no need to limit the job title of the person who will execute the processing in the first task step, the record in the task step information 123 does not include information indicating the job title. In that case, the processing in this step is omitted.

Next, the person in charge determination unit 114 extracts the necessary skills (step S19). Specifically, the person in charge determination unit 114 extracts the first task step determined to be the processing target in step S16 and one or more skills associated in the task step information 123.

Next, the person in charge determination unit 114 notifies the person in charge candidates who have the extracted skills (step S20). Specifically, the person in charge determination unit 114 refers to the member information 122 and extracts one or more person in charge candidates who have all of the skills extracted in step S19 from the person in charge candidates extracted in step S18. The person in charge determination unit 114 sends a notification indicating the content of the work related to the task step to the extracted person in charge candidates and accepts a response as to whether or not they will take on the work.

Next, the person in charge determination unit 114 determines the person in charge from the candidate who responds most quickly (step S21). Specifically, the person in charge determination unit 114 accepts a response from the person in charge terminal device 40 to the notification output in step S20. The person in charge determination unit 114 determines the person in charge from the candidate who transmitted the earliest response to accept the task.

The person in charge determination unit 114 may determine the person in charge according to the timing of the response, and the determined person in charge is not limited to the person who sent the earliest response. For example, the person in charge may be determined to be a person in charge from among the person in charge candidates who responded within a specified response period and who satisfy a specified condition previously associated with the task step.

Next, the task management unit 115 notifies each of the candidate staff members (step S221). Specifically, the task management unit 115 transmits information indicating that the candidate staff members have been selected to the candidate staff member terminal device 40 of each candidate staff member. The task management unit 115 also transmits a notification to the candidate staff member terminal device 40 of the candidate staff member selected as the candidate staff member, prompting them to start processing. The notification transmitted to the candidate staff member includes information indicating the processing content of the first task step. The candidate staff member who receives the notification performs an input operation to execute the processing of the first task step to be processed. In other words, when the task management unit 115 detects the end of a task step, it transmits a notification to the candidate staff member of other task steps that require the end of the task step as a processing start condition.

Next, the task management unit 115 detects the end of the work (step S23). Specifically, the task management unit 115 detects the end of the first task step executed on the person in charge terminal device 40 as a result of the notification in step S22. For example, when the task management unit 115 receives a notification indicating the end of the first task step from the person in charge terminal device 40, it treats this as having detected the end of the work.

If the task management unit 115 determines that the task step to be processed is the second task step ("second" in step S17), the task step execution unit 116 executes processing (step S24). Specifically, the task step execution unit 116 executes processing that is predetermined in the task information 121 for the second task step determined to be the processing target in step S16.

The process performed in step S25 is similar to the process performed in step S23, so a detailed explanation is omitted.

After the processing of step S23 or step S25 is completed, the task management unit 115 determines whether or not there are any unprocessed task steps (step S26). Specifically, the task management unit 115 determines whether or not there are any task steps among the task steps extracted in step S15 that have not been determined as the processing target in step S16.

If the task management unit 115 determines that an unprocessed task step exists (YES in step S26), the process proceeds to step S16. That is, the process from step S16 onwards is executed for one of the unprocessed task steps.

When the task management unit 115 determines that there are no unprocessed task steps ("NO" in step S26), it notifies a specified person in charge (step S27). Specifically, the task management unit 115 refers to the task information 121, identifies the manager associated with the task to be processed, and transmits information indicating that the processing has ended. Note that this processing is not essential and may be omitted. The processing unit 110 then ends the processing of this flowchart.

As described above, according to this embodiment, tasks requested by a client can be efficiently allocated to one or more staff members who have the required skills. Furthermore, when trigger information is acquired using multiple acquisition methods as in this embodiment, the task management device 10 may acquire multiple pieces of trigger information for the same event. Even in such a case, if multiple pieces of trigger information related to a common task are acquired within a specified period, one task corresponding to the multiple pieces of trigger information is determined, thereby preventing duplicate execution of the same task, which is efficient.

In addition, in this embodiment, when multiple pieces of trigger information received within a specified period are associated with a common task, the task determination unit 112 determines one task, and does not determine tasks related to other trigger information as the processing target. When multiple pieces of trigger information received within a specified period are associated with a common task, the task determination unit 112 may treat multiple pieces of trigger information for the same event as having been acquired only if the trigger information was acquired by a specified acquisition method. In other words, when multiple pieces of trigger information received within a specified period are associated with a common task and all of the multiple pieces of trigger information were acquired by a specified acquisition method, the task determination unit 112 determines only one corresponding task as the processing target.

More specifically, when the task determination unit 112 determines in step S13 that the same task has already been identified within the specified period, it determines whether the method of acquiring the trigger information of the already identified task and the method of acquiring the trigger information of the task identified in step S12 are specified acquisition methods. For example, when the acquisition methods of two pieces of trigger information related to a common task are "email trigger" or "API trigger," the task determination unit 112 treats the acquired trigger information as multiple pieces of trigger information for the same event. In other words, in step S13, the task determination unit 112 determines that the same task has already been identified within the specified period for the subsequently acquired trigger information ("YES" in step S13), and ends the processing of this flowchart.

On the other hand, if at least one of the acquisition methods of two pieces of trigger information related to a common task is a "portal trigger," a "telephone response trigger," or a "schedule trigger," the task determination unit 112 does not treat the trigger information as having been acquired for the same event. In other words, in step S13, the task determination unit 112 determines that the subsequently acquired trigger information has not already identified the same task within the specified period ("NO" in step S13), and moves the process to step S14. Note that the specified acquisition method used for the determination is not limited to this example.

This makes it possible to use the method of acquiring trigger information to determine whether or not the trigger information arises from the same event. This makes it possible to more flexibly determine tasks in response to client requests.

Furthermore, when the task determination unit 112 acquires multiple pieces of trigger information output from a specific terminal device, it may determine one task by treating the multiple pieces of trigger information acquired for the same event as the acquired pieces of trigger information. For example, the task determination unit 112 determines whether the multiple pieces of trigger information acquired within a specific period of time are related to a common task and are trigger information output from a specific terminal device. The task determination unit 112 determines that the multiple pieces of trigger information that satisfy these conditions are trigger information output for the same event.

For example, if two pieces of trigger information acquired within a specified period of time are both output from the client system management device 30, the task determination unit 112 determines that they are trigger information output for the same event. On the other hand, if one of the two pieces of trigger information acquired within a specified period of time is not trigger information output from the client system management device 30, the task determination unit 112 treats it as not being trigger information output for the same event, and determines the task corresponding to each piece of trigger information to be processed.

The person in charge terminal device 40 owned by the task manager can display the processing details of each task step extracted from the task and the person in charge on the display screen of a dedicated application.

In the above example, in step S20, the person in charge candidate who has all of the techniques extracted in step S19 is extracted and a notification is sent, and the person in charge candidate who responds first is determined as the person in charge. Instead of this process, in step S20, the person in charge determination unit 114 may notify the person in charge candidate who has at least some of the techniques extracted in step S19, and determine the person in charge from among the notified person in charge candidates by any method. As an example, the person in charge determination unit 114 determines the person in charge candidate who responds first from among the person in charge candidates who have at least some of the extracted techniques. As another example, the person in charge determination unit 114 sends a notification to the person in charge candidate who has the most techniques extracted in step S19, and determines the person in charge candidate when there is a response. As another example, the person in charge determination unit 114 sends a notification to the person in charge candidate who has a predetermined number of the extracted techniques, and determines the person in charge from among the person in charge candidates who responded by any method. As another example, the person in charge determination unit 114 sends notifications in order starting from the person in charge candidate who has the most extracted techniques. In this case, for example, if a candidate for the person in charge is not selected, a notification will be sent to the next candidate for the person in charge.

Figure 6 shows an example of a step definition information display screen 461 and a person in charge definition information display screen 462. Figure 6 (A) shows an example of the step definition information display screen 461, and Figure 6 (B) shows an example of the person in charge definition information display screen 462.

The step definition information display screen 461 is displayed on the manager's staff terminal device 40. As an example, the step definition information includes a "step code" which is identification information for identifying the task step, a "step name" which is the name of the task step, a "type" which indicates whether it is a first task step or a second task step, and a "skill tag code" which indicates the skill required to execute the task step. The step definition information may also include information indicating the required position. The processing unit 110 of the task management device 10 uses the task step information 123 to identify information required to display the step definition information and transmits it to the staff terminal device 40.

The person in charge definition information display screen 462 is displayed on the person in charge terminal device 40 of the manager. As an example, the person in charge definition information display screen 462 includes a "person in charge code" which is identification information for identifying the person in charge, "contact information" which indicates the contact address for the person in charge, and a "skill tag code" which indicates the skills possessed by the person in charge. The processing unit 110 of the task management device 10 uses the member information 122 to identify information required to display the person in charge definition information display screen 462, and transmits it to the person in charge terminal device 40.

The step definition information display screen 461 shown in FIG. 6(A) includes "001" as the "step code", "first task step" as the "type", and "XYZ01" as the "skill tag code". In other words, a task step with a "step code" of "001" is a "first task step" that requires input operations by the person in charge, and requires the skill specified by "XYZ01".

The person in charge definition information display screen 462 shown in FIG. 6 (B) includes "b0011" as the "person in charge code" and "XYZ01" as the "skill tag code." The person in charge determination unit 114 of the task management device 10 sends a notification to "b0011," who is a candidate for a person in charge who has the required skill "XYZ01," as a candidate for a person in charge of the first task step whose "step code" is "001."

As described above, according to this embodiment, task processing can be executed efficiently. In particular, when processing task steps is executed by multiple persons in charge, or when processing a task that includes a first task step executed by a person in charge and a second task step executed without the need for input operations by the person in charge, processing can be executed efficiently.

Although each embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and various modified examples are included. For example, the above-mentioned embodiment has been described in detail to make the present invention easier to understand, and the present invention is not limited to having all the configurations described here. In addition, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment. It is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. It is also possible to add, delete, or replace other configurations with respect to a part of the configuration of each embodiment. In addition, each of the above-mentioned configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized in hardware, part or all of them, for example, by designing them as integrated circuits. In addition, the control lines and information lines in the figure show those that are considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily show all of them. It may be considered that almost all of the configurations are connected to each other.

The functional configurations of the task management device 10, client terminal device 20, client system management device 30, and person in charge terminal device 40 are classified according to the main processing content for ease of understanding. The classification method and names of the components do not limit the present invention. As described above, the configurations of the task management device 10, client terminal device 20, client system management device 30, and person in charge terminal device 40 can be classified into even more components according to the processing content. Also, one component can be classified to perform even more processes.

1: Task management system, 10: Task management device, 11: Computing device, 12: Memory, 13: External storage device, 14: Input IF, 15: Output IF, 16: Communication IF, 20: Client terminal device, 30: Client system management device, 40: Person in charge terminal device, 110, 210, 310, 410: Processing unit, 111: Trigger information acquisition unit, 112: Task determination unit, 113: Task step extraction unit, 114: Person in charge determination unit, 115: Task Management unit, 116: task step execution unit, 120, 220, 320, 420: storage unit, 121: task information, 122: member information, 123: task step information, 130, 230, 330, 430: input unit, 140, 240, 340, 440: output unit, 150, 250, 350, 450: communication unit, 211, 311: trigger information output unit, 461: step definition information display screen, 462: person in charge definition information display screen, N: network

Claims (9)

a trigger information acquisition unit that acquires trigger information indicating a request from a client;
a task determination unit that determines a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information;
a task step extraction unit that extracts one or more task steps from the task determined by the task determination unit;
a person in charge determination unit that refers to member information in which a person in charge candidate is associated with the skills possessed by the person in charge and determines a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required by the task step;
a task management unit that detects the end of each task step and manages the progress of the task ;
the task determination unit refers to information in which the trigger information and the tasks are associated with each other, and identifies the task corresponding to the trigger information acquired by the trigger information acquisition unit;
A task management device, characterized in that, when a plurality of pieces of trigger information related to a common task are acquired within a predetermined period, one of the tasks corresponding to the plurality of pieces of trigger information is determined. 2. The task management device according to claim 1 ,
the trigger information acquisition unit stores information indicating a method for acquiring the trigger information in association with the acquired trigger information;
The task management device, wherein the task determination unit determines the one task when a plurality of pieces of trigger information relating to a predetermined one of the acquisition methods are acquired within the predetermined period. 3. The task management device according to claim 1 ,
The task management device is characterized in that the person in charge determination unit notifies the candidate person in charge who has the skills required by the task step in the member information, and determines the person in charge from among the candidate person in charge who responds depending on the timing of the response. 3. The task management device according to claim 1,
The task management device according to claim 1, wherein, when the task management section detects the end of the task step, it notifies a person in charge of another task step that has the end of the task step as a processing start condition. 3. The task management device according to claim 1,
a task step executing unit that executes a predetermined process in a second task step that is a predetermined task step;
A task management device characterized in that, when executing a first task step among the task steps, excluding the second task step, the task management unit notifies a person in charge of the first task step, and, when executing the second task step, causes the task step execution unit to perform processing. 6. A task management device according to claim 5 ,
2. A task management device, comprising: a task manager determining unit that determines the person in charge of the first task step and inhibits the determination of the person in charge of the second task step. A program for causing a processing unit of a computer to execute a task management method,
a trigger information acquisition step of acquiring trigger information indicating a request from a client;
a task determination step for determining a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information;
a task step extraction step of extracting one or more task steps from the task determined in the task determination step;
A person in charge determination procedure for determining a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required for the task step by referring to member information in which the person in charge candidates are associated with the skills possessed by the task step;
a task management procedure for detecting the completion of each task step and managing the progress of the task ;
In the task determination step, the task corresponding to the trigger information acquired in the trigger information acquisition step is identified by referring to information in which the trigger information and the task are associated with each other;
A program, characterized in that, when a plurality of pieces of trigger information related to a common task are acquired within a predetermined period, one of the tasks corresponding to the plurality of pieces of trigger information is determined . A task management method by a task management device, comprising:
a trigger information acquisition step of acquiring trigger information indicating a request from a client;
a task determination step for determining a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information;
a task step extraction step of extracting one or more task steps from the task determined in the task determination step;
A person in charge determination procedure for determining a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required for the task step by referring to member information in which the person in charge candidates are associated with the skills possessed by the task step;
A task management procedure for detecting the end of each task step and managing the progress of the task ,
In the task determination step, the task corresponding to the trigger information acquired in the trigger information acquisition step is identified by referring to information in which the trigger information and the task are associated with each other;
A task management method, characterized in that , when a plurality of pieces of trigger information related to a common task are acquired within a predetermined period, one of the tasks corresponding to the plurality of pieces of trigger information is determined . A task management system having a client-side terminal device owned by a client, a person in charge's terminal device owned by a person in charge, and a task management device connected to the client-side terminal device and the person in charge's terminal device so as to be able to communicate with each other,
The task management device includes:
a trigger information acquisition unit that acquires trigger information indicating a request from the client using information transmitted from the client-side terminal device;
a task determination unit that determines a task related to a business to be provided to the client based on the trigger information;
a task step extraction unit that extracts one or more task steps from the task determined by the task determination unit;
a person in charge determination unit that refers to member information in which a person in charge candidate is associated with the skills possessed by the person in charge and determines a person in charge for each task step based on the skills required by the task step;
a task management unit that detects the end of each task step and manages the progress of the task;
the person in charge terminal device includes a communication unit that receives a notification indicating the task step for which the person in charge is in charge from the task management device ;
the task determination unit of the task management device refers to information in which the trigger information and the tasks are associated with each other, and identifies the task corresponding to the trigger information acquired by the trigger information acquisition unit;
A task management system characterized in that , when a plurality of pieces of trigger information related to a common task are acquired within a predetermined period, one of the tasks corresponding to the plurality of pieces of trigger information is determined .

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