Take a look at this hotel expense claim first
Don’t look at the feature list yet, let’s just look at one question:
I went to Hangzhou for a business trip on July 12. The hotel cost 680 yuan per night. Can I be reimbursed?
The system found that the company policy stated "Hangzhou accommodation standard is 600 yuan per night", so it replied:
It cannot be reimbursed, and the amount exceeding 600 yuan will be borne by the individual.
This answer seems correct. The system was found, the amount was correct, and the original text could be opened.
But if the finance department really wants to handle this order, it has to continue to ask:
- Which accommodation standard will this employee be subject to?
- Is July 12th during the show?
- Does the company have any standards for special dates?
- Did the employee get approval from the person in charge before setting off?
As long as these issues are not clarified, the system cannot directly say "can report" or "cannot report".
Therefore, to judge whether the first phase of the AI project has been completed, we cannot just look at whether the system can answer questions. It depends on whether the matter can really be carried out after the employees have asked.
Why a seemingly correct answer is not enough
Suppose the company also has a supplementary rule: when traveling to Hangzhou on business during the exhibition, the accommodation standard can be increased by 20%, but the written consent of the person in charge must be obtained in advance.
In this way, the same price is 680 yuan per night, and there are at least three situations:
- Not during the exhibition period, the price is 600 yuan per night;
- It was during the exhibition, and with written consent obtained in advance, the 680 yuan did not exceed the 720 yuan after the increase;
- It's during the exhibition, but I can't find any record of advance consent, so I can't tell yet.
The system answered "cannot be reimbursed" for the first time and only considered the first situation.
The system it found was correct, and the amounts it calculated were correct. The problem is that it gave the final answer first without reading another regulation or asking clearly about the missing conditions.
Such a system can be demonstrated, but it cannot be used directly to perform tasks.
What should be done less in the first period?
Of course you can’t do everything in the first period. If the scope is too large, the cost, time and number of people to cooperate will increase accordingly, and it will be difficult to see which step was not done well.
This project can only do the following content at first:
- Only for use by one category of employees;
- Only accommodation expenses for domestic business trips are processed;
- Only use financially confirmed main systems and supplementary provisions;
- Make the web page first, not the mobile version;
- Don’t automatically write the results into the reimbursement system first.
Transportation expenses, meal expenses, overseas travel, and other departmental systems will not be dealt with for now.
This is the reduction that should be done in the first period: take on a few fewer types of things, instead of only doing half of each type of thing.
Things that have already been taken over, which steps cannot be omitted?
Since the first phase promised to deal with accommodation expenses, we must deal with such issues from beginning to end. For this 680 yuan accommodation bill, at least the following steps must be done.
Step 1: Ask for all the information that needs to be asked
The system needs to know the employee category, business trip city, check-in date, nightly amount and advance approval status. If something is missing, keep asking for that one. You cannot think that "this should be the case for most people" and then guess an answer for employees.
Step 2: Look at all the systems that need to be looked at
The system cannot only find "Hangzhou 600 yuan" in the main system, but also checks whether there are any supplementary regulations, special dates and exceptions. Which files are currently in use and whether the old version has been deactivated must be confirmed by the finance department first. You cannot upload a document and automatically assume that every document can be answered.
Step 3: Don’t answer harshly when in doubt
If the information is complete and the regulations are clear, the system can directly tell employees how to handle it and list the basis. If the approval record cannot be found, or the two regulations do not match, the system will stop. Stopping is not because the system is broken, but because it knows that it cannot make its own decision on this matter now.
Step 4: When handing it over, bring the existing information with you.
The system cannot just send the financial statement "There is a problem, please deal with it". It must hand over the employee's original questions, supplemented information, checked systems, calculated amounts, and any uncertainties. In this way, the finance department does not need to call the employees over and ask them all over again.
Step 5: The processing results must be retrievable and traceable
After the finance is confirmed, employees should be able to see how the expense will be handled in the end and what materials need to be submitted. The company should also keep track of who confirmed it, which system was used, what the approval record was, and when it was processed. If someone asks again in the future, you can't just say "it can be reimbursed" without finding the source.
What is the most practical way to check for acceptance?
Don't prepare questions that happen to have standard answers in the ten systems. That can only show that the system can check information and write answers.
Just use this 680 yuan accommodation bill and test it three times.
- For the first time, both employee categories and valid advance approvals are provided to the system. See if it can find the main system and supplementary regulations, figure out whether the 680 yuan meets the standards, and tell employees what additional materials should be attached.
- The second time, delete the approval number. See if the system will stop and tell the employee exactly what is missing, rather than continuing to guess.
- The third time, fill in an approval number that cannot be found temporarily. See if the system can hand over the existing information and uncertainties to the finance department, and return the results after the finance department confirms it.
If you get the same answer in three tests, the system hasn't really figured out the situation.
If it knows when it can answer directly, when it needs to be questioned, when it must be handed over to the finance, and it is recorded in the end, this accommodation bill will be considered complete.
Finally, use one sentence to explain clearly what to pay in the first installment.
The first phase of this project can be written directly as:
First, we will deal with accommodation issues for domestic business trips for a category of employees. The system is responsible for asking for complete information and the current system; if it can be certain, it will directly explain the results and basis; if it is not certain, it will hand it over to the financial department with the existing information. After the financial processing, the results will be returned to the employees and records will be left.
This sentence makes it clear who is used, what is processed, where the system goes, when the finance department takes over, and what is left behind in the end.
As for transportation expenses, meal expenses, overseas travel, more departments and the automatic write-in and expense system, you can clearly write it down and not do it for the first period.
Therefore, the first issue is not about randomly cutting off a few functions of the complete system, nor is it about making a Q&A page that can be displayed first.
To put it more bluntly: Don’t first ask how many functions will be done in the first phase, first ask whether anyone has completed the 680 yuan accommodation bill.
