Activities

Ad-hoc Sub-Process

A sub-process whose inner activities have no prescribed order — performers choose what to execute, in which sequence, possibly in parallel. Marked with a tilde (~).

The Ad-hoc Sub-Process embraces knowledge work: the model lists *what can be done* (draft sections, review, consult specialist) without dictating sequence. A completion condition — “all mandatory sections done” — decides when the sub-process finishes.

It is the honest way to model creative or investigative segments that resist rigid sequencing.

When to use and avoid

When to use

For knowledge-work segments: preparing proposals, investigations, case research.
When performers legitimately decide order and repetition of the available actions.
To document the *menu* of permitted activities with an explicit completion criterion.

When NOT to use

When order actually matters — model the flow explicitly.
As an excuse to avoid analyzing the process — check whether a real sequence exists first.
For automation-heavy segments — engines need deterministic structure to drive work.

Business example

Drafting proposal sections in any order

Open this example in the HEFLO process editor and explore the diagram from the inside.

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Step by step

The Ad-hoc Sub-Process (highlighted, ~ marker) offers two activities: draft the technical section, draft the pricing section.
The team performs them in any order, possibly in parallel, repeating as needed — no arrows dictate sequence.
When the completion condition (all sections drafted) holds, the sub-process ends and the proposal is ready.

Differences