ADNOC Classification: Internal

Reflection – Learning Launch   Challenge   I am a member of my organization’s online SALE’s department and our challenge is to improve the  workflow (activities and projects) within the department in order to increase sales in the online channel  and to spend marketing budgets on the right campaigns. The project scope includes the online  marketing department composed of 20 employees, as well as the larger marketing department and IT  department, with whom we work closely. The project is limited to internal resources (i.e., budget and  employee time). The project should not exceed 20 business days and the solution should include an  even distribution of working hours amongst the team members. We will focus on trying to uncover what  our team members, as well as key stakeholders within the larger marketing department and IT  department, consider to be ineffective or problematic with regard to the workflow.   Selection   Our team has already gone through several design thinking activities/tools, so we are ready to try the  learning launch tool. Broadly speaking, the learning launch is an experiment meant to quickly test an  idea and prototype.   Application   For our first learning launch, we focused on the structure of our online marketing tasks. In particular, we  wanted to see if we could structure our tasks and processes to adapt the methods of Scrum project  management for our work (e.g., time boxed, daily, specific meetings, reviews, etc.) in an effort to  become more agile. This tested our assumption that the structure and execution were the main causes  of our workflow challenge. Our team went through a three-day’s training with a Scrum project  management coach. Next, we went through six workshops to structure our tasks and processes in a  more agile way. These two sessions occurred within in a three-week timeframe. We expected to  produce a document with a clear description of our new, more agile processes/workflow.   For our second learning launch, we focused on gaining clarity about our tasks and priorities. This tested  our assumption that our prioritization of tasks was the main cause of our workflow challenge. Our team  completed an anonymous survey. Additionally, five key stakeholders from the larger marketing  department and IT department also completed an anonymous survey. The surveys included questions  about our new, proposed process, understanding the process and the prioritization of tasks, and feelings  about the change, and were conducted within a one-week timeframe.   Insight   By applying the learning launch tool, our team identified our assumptions and designed launches to test  these assumptions. Additionally, we thought through anticipated results, expecting to find that a more  agile approach would improve our workflow, and that both our team and the key stakeholders would be  fairly open to the new prioritization of tasks and process. Our actual results were slightly different from  what we anticipated: while our team was open to the prioritization of tasks and process, the key  stakeholders in the larger marketing department and IT department expressed some concerns. Moving  forward, our team will review this insight and incorporate it into future launch designs. The ongoing

ADNOC Classification: Internal

incorporation of insight is particularly important at this stage, as launches come before a full rollout in  the design thinking timeline.   Approach   Given that our team has already gone through several design thinking activities/tools and are at this  stage in the timeline, the learning launch is the appropriate tool. As previously mentioned, our team  needs to review the insight gained from our first two launches and incorporate this insight into future  launch designs. Future launch designs should reflect insight gained, progress made, and come closer to a  compelling solution ready for full rollout.

