Assignment : Reflection on Visualization

Challenge

Working as a Product Manager in a Packaged Goods company, I was having a hard time making all  the product-related data available in a reliable and easy way to the Sales & Export departments. As a  result, they were sometimes communicating misleading information to the customers. I wanted to  find a way to gather data that came all along the product development process, from people having  very different backgrounds and intakes, e.g. R&D engineers working on the product formulation,  engineers working on the manufacturing tools development, people working in the plants on the  production itself, people in the supply chain, logistics, etc. But because at each stage of the process,  people were having their own data, regarding their own silos, they failed in realizing how hard it was  for those working in a cross-functional way to actually have access to it, and what the implications  for the sales were. As a result, the resource they spend in internal communication was scarce, and  their implication in implementing any kind of change was quite low.

Selection

The first tool I chose to use was Visualization ; because the project was involving a very diverse group  of people, I wanted to  make sure the information flow was clear to everyone. So I designed a state- of-the-art flow chart, using icons and symbols representing the stakeholders and data gathered at  each stage of the process, then how the data was made available or not, and what the interactions  were.

Application

I wanted the flow chart to evolve any time we would make any change in the workflow, so I made it  on PowerPoint. I used pictures to represent the stakeholders. I represented each stage of the  product development, using arrows to show how and in what order they were connected to each  other, and using an other color to identify the data that were being exchanged, and who had access  to it. I used a final one to show what data were needed. It all ended up with a checklist that had been  summed up by the Customer Service, that was standing for the minimum requirement. To make it  efficient, and as the Product Managers were the only ones being part of each stage of the product  development process, from the beginning to the end, I first designed the flow chart on my own. But  because the challenge I was facing were not limited to the range of products I was in charge of, I  shared it with other Product Managers, and made a few amendments so it could not be limited to my  own product / targeted markets issues.

Then, as there were 50+ people involved, I had a first meeting with 1 manager from each department  involved (12). I showed the flow chart that illustrated the current situation, and showed clearly what  data were often missing. At this stage, it was a representation of the “What is?” phase. I had them  independently write on sticky notes what possible improvements they saw, in the flow itself or in the  tools being used. Then I had them all place it on the chart, one by one, developing their point of view  based on their expertise in their own field. When all was in place, some elements were clearly  contradictory to each other. We did not eliminate any of them, but instead we moved to step 2 :

discussing it with people working on an operational level. This first phase ensured me I had the  managers support.

I presented what we had worked on to 2-3 people groups, by department. They completed the chart  for their activity, and I listed their needs & constraints, I identified with an other color. I highlighted  the ones that were matching their managers proposition, but I removed none.

Finally we moved to an other complete session with all the managers, where I introduced the results  of the exploratory research, and all of the actions that were thought of, based on the flow chart. We  extracted the actions, and began a mind mapping to work on the one common communication tool  that would answer all of the identified needs. Once we came up with a definition of the tool we  agreed on, we resumed to the flow chart to make sure it was filling in all the assigned gaps. We then  used that work to brief an external IT consulting group, so they could help us develop and technically  implement the tool.

Insight

Having people work on a flow chart actually helped them figure where they were standing in the  organization, and helped them get involved in the project, as part of a bigger picture. However I had  to go through small to big groups, has the people involved where too numerous to be gathered all at  once. It made the process quite long and iterative, as I found each person had his / her own insight to  bring to the reflexion.

I also found that it offered a good way to get individual feedback, that sometime got personal ; I  figured I would have better had the Customer Service need quantified (What information are you  asked ? How often ? How often is it key for the business, e.g. part of a barter ? etc.), to give a more  objective perspective to the exercice. I should also probably have included clients in the exploration ;  it would have provided valuable data as well. The flow chart remained very company-centered in the  end. There was no benchmarking done either, and I suppose the customers would have provided this  kind of insights. I suppose there should have been more research done beforehand ; the visualization  would then not only have been limited to a process representation, but actually to the whole need.

Approach

Since I discovered that the visualization allowed to establish a common ground for diverse people, I  will probably continue using it in this kind of situation. I will probably double it with a mind mapping  to precisely define the need and establish a sort of frame that will narrow down the scope of the  topic discussed. I will have the stakeholders write down all the relevant data, and remove the  irrelevant one. The irrelevant one will be recorded, and use as a reference so that any action  answering to those will be immediately disregarded in the scope of the project. This  way I hope I will  be able to ensure some sort of alignment between member of a same team / department, and make  the whole process more efficient.

