Some workflows cannot be fully automated and require people to participate. People can perform certain tasks, can initiate an automated step, or can assign a task to another person. Workflows with human intervention, or human workflows, have some specific features rarely or never found in fully automated workflows, which are described as follows:
Automated steps are usually executed in a predictable timeframe. The workflow can have a timeout assigned to specific steps. Steps executed by humans have unpredictable latency.
Some steps may require escalation if they cannot be completed. For example, if a person cannot execute a workflow task in a given time, it can be reassigned to another person.
In some businesses, there is a possibility of long-running workflows. For example, insurance claim systems can run workflows for years waiting for human responses from certain steps.
Execution of some steps may be triggered by humans and may not necessarily follow business rules.