Automated workflow method for assigning work items to resources

A method for assigning work items to resources in a workflow for said work items, said workflow including two or more work activities that are completed in an assigned order, comprising:

• assigning a commitment to each of said work items wherein said commitment is time available to complete said work item;
• assigning a threshold to two or more of said work items for a common one of said work activities, wherein each said threshold is a percentage of said commitment of corresponding said work item;
• automatically determining a work activity status for each of said two or more work items from said commitment, said threshold, and a duration of elapsed time in said workflow of said work item;
• and
• automatically assigning one of said work items waiting for said common work activity to a next available resource according to said work activity status.

A method for a plurality of agents within two or more workgroups to process a plurality of work items within a completion commitment of each of said plurality of work items through at least one workflow corresponding to the work items and including a plurality of activities to be completed in an assigned order by said plurality of agents, wherein agents in each of the workgroups have a skill corresponding to an activity performed by said work group, comprising:

• assigning said commitment to each of said workflows including a start commitment assigned to a first one of said plurality of activities and an end commitment assigned to a last one of said plurality of activities, wherein said commitment is a time available to complete said corresponding workflow;
• assigning a threshold to each of said plurality of activities, wherein said threshold is a percentage of said commitment;
• automatically calculating an activity state, said calculation using said corresponding commitment and an elapsed time associated with each one of said queued work items;
• and
• automatically assigning one of said queued items to a next available agent within said corresponding workgroup according to said activity state calculated for each of the queued work items, wherein said one of said queued work items having a worst activity state is completed first to prevent a missed commitment for said work item.

A product that assigns work items to resources in a workflow including one or more work activities that are to be completed in an assigned order, the product comprising:

• instructions for directing a processor to:
• assign a commitment for completion of said workflow to said work item;
• queue said work item in an activity queue;
• calculate a state of said queued work item;
• organize said queued work items based on said calculated state;
• and
• assign a next one of said queued work items to a next available resource based on said organization of said queued work items.