Peer-graded Assignment: Reflection  Tool: Visualization    Author: Vincenzo Buonincontro

Challenge & Selection:

Currently, I work for an older organization going through a rebirth process under new ownership. As  CTO, I am functionally focused as I try to build a set of operations that align the technical departments  (R&D, Quality, Manufacturing and Regulatory). My goal has been to bring the tool of visualization into  our design process.

My greatest struggle is being able to get upper management to visualize the resource drain on all  departments in support of a product or bundle of products. One of our goals running alongside  standardizing operations is condensing our portfolio of offerings in order to optimize our resource use.  This ultimately should allow the technical and corporate (business development, marketing and sales)  units to see a clearer ROI across new portfolio initiatives. I have found that just explaining the current  resource allocation to be ineffective in delivering the lack of scalability of some current workflows.

Application & Approach:

I have been proposing that we rethink a majority of our portfolio which in turn slows down some of our  new initiatives. During this time, I have used visualization techniques in order to convey crucial problems  in a more penetrative manner. The problem with verbal explanations is that most people will interpret  them in a different way due to different life experiences. This is where Microsoft project has allowed me  to demonstrate an initiatives resource expenditure in a comprehensive manner. I have found graphically  demonstrating resource usage by task and by product has been effective at narrowing down our targets  and preventing scope creep.

Increasing the understanding internal / external teams have of our design process has lead to more  efficient innovation management. The use of Microsoft project opened the door to senior management  visualizing our process but still was ineffective and did not penetrate down to middle management.  Therefore, I hunted for a tool that I could use alongside project and I found that in the Office 365 suite  with planner. Planner is a Kanban-style tool that could be used by our middle management and  technicians across a majority of repetitious and unique initiatives. Kanban is a Japanese word that  stands for “visual signal”.

Working with our IT department, we have customized Office 365 using flows and PowerShell  applications in order to link planner and project. We have had more success using the simple Kanban  board planner, instead of working with complicated software. This board is unique in the sense that the  tasks can be viewed in a board, graph or calendar. They allow color marking for priority.  It also has a  chat room hooked to each task or group of tasks that allow users to communicate in a less formal way  than email.

Insight:

Moving forward, I would like to apply the tool of visualization and Kanban boards with my teams in a  more tactile manner before jumping to the software planner.  As we move farther with the portfolio  reduction, I would like to have a real board and sticky notes to start the process with my teams. I believe  setting aside some time with technicians and middle management with a tactile process will lead to a  richer experience and more engagement.

