C1 - Internal use

Design Thinking For Innovation

By: Sandra Gonzales

Reflection- Visualization

Challenge

I work as a risk and compliance officer in a start-up company. The business environment favours freedom,  entrepreneurial liberty, openness and empowerment within the employees, creating flexibility and  seamless work environment.  In the age of empowerment and flexibility, controls and procedures have  posed a great challenge. How can we ensure compliance with policies and procedures in the workplace  especially where procedures have not been reinforced before? The company already has existing policies  which employees are not very conversant with, at the same time, creating new procedures have been  resisted unless on a ‘putting out fire’ basis where a crisis occurs. This has posed a great risk in the business  and control failures.

With design thinking, we can be able to demystify the problem and come up with ideas and methods of  making controls embraced by employees especially in the said work environment. We will focus on trying  to uncover what our team members, as well as key stakeholders within, consider ineffective or  problematic then generate ideas and methods to help solve this.

Selection

Looking through design tools, we selected the Visualization tool, which is about visual thinking. It pushes  us beyond using words or language alone. It is a way of unlocking a different part of our brains that allows  us to think nonverbally and that managers might not normally use. This is as referenced by Flor Jackson  in the video lecture.

For the development of integrated and complex processes, it is often not enough to communicate  effectively through words and complex explanations. Employees need to understand the need of  observing certain procedures and to be able to see how that affects their day-to-day work. Visualization  tools like drawings, images, sketches, flowcharts help to connect and develop step-by-step understanding  and build a visual aspect to it. This will help us build connections, enable employees to creatively simplify  and align process, and tap into the bigger picture of effective controls.

Below is an example of a visual illustration of a process.

Making an order process

C1 - Internal use

Application

We began with sitting down with employees in departments teams to understand what they do on a day- to-day basis. We needed to understand why controls are not practiced regularly and why employees do  not effect this. We came to understand that the policies, even though communicated through writing, are  not drilled into their minds for better understanding.

Getting to learn their everyday process and procedures, each team was asked to illustrate their process  of working by drawing process chart flows as they discussed. They were asked to illustrate through  diagrams, sketches and arrows how things flow. This created a better understanding and even enabled  the team to put down the process into a standard document, appending the illustration. For effective  controls, the risk and compliance team also highlighted areas of compliance using colour coded writing to  indicate areas of high risk- red, significant risk- orange, medium risk-yellow and low risk- green. This way,  the teams were able to see the particular areas through the colours that required constant attention  according to level of risk.

The team also focused on better communication through video illustrations which remind the employees  policies, with effective visual explanations. Training sessions were also effected where teams participated  by drawing charts of what they understand and having sketches put around the office in areas that needed  to communicate policy. Interactive checklists were created as well where employees were able to know  if they are complying and exercising control.

Insight

This significantly transformed the challenge which was ensuring compliance of policies and procedures in  the workplace. Employees not only understood how a process flows, but could visually and imaginatively  see the big picture of how exercising control affects their work. They got to have a better understanding  of policies and practice even more. Many teams began creating more procedures within their teams and  building visual charts to explain them.

This design tool helped us solve the issue of understanding, and generate more ideas on how to effectively  work in a flexible environment while exercising and observing control.

Approach

Visualization tool worked ideally in this situation. As mentioned in the video lectures, it is incorporated in  all stages of design thinking from exploration to pattern finding to prototyping and experimentation. This  approach promotes visual thinking and creativity which is great for building innovation!

