CHALLENGE

I work for a media company in the Business Operations department, and I was tasked to support  one of our central trading team in taking on the campaign execution activity for one client from  our local trading teams. My main task would be helping them streamline the central team new  process without impacting local established processes too much.

The most challenging part of this was the briefing stage of campaign lifecycle, which would still  come from local teams but picked up by the central team instead.

The briefing part is a crucial step in any campaign workflow, but the way it was being carried out  locally could not be simply transferred onto the centralised team’s process – each local team  would brief campaigns in different ways and via different platforms, with different amount of  information being shared, different paperwork, etc. So my goal here was to ensure the central  team received briefs in a structured, reliable and, ideally, pretty standardised manner.

SELECTION

My tool of selection was visualisation. As also referenced in the “Designing for Growth” book,  visualisation can be a very useful tool across the whole design thinking steps, and particularly  when it comes to envisioning possibilities and evaluating options.

In this scenario I felt I needed a tool that would help me and the key stakeholders understand  and visualise what was going on, what we were trying to achieve and, most importantly, how we  would get there. Moreover, I had quite a diverse group of stakeholders to work with, and I hoped  that visualisation could be a good collaboration-enhancer, too.

APPLICATION

To start off, I organised a one-day workshop with all of the key stakeholders from the different  teams, including the central team, local teams that would keep sending the briefs, and internal  product managers that would be helping with any technical development of an agreed briefing  solution.

After an initial introduction to set the scene and discuss the various goals and expectations from  the various stakeholders (“What is” stage), I divided the participants into 2 groups with cross- skills in each of them, to ensure they could cover as many aspects as possible (“What-if” stage).

Then I asked each group to design the ideal briefing workflow using whiteboards, post-its and  colours, and come up with at least a potential minimum viable product by the end of the session.

INSIGHTS AND APPROACH

At the end of the workshop, each group managed to come up with a couple of potential solutions,  and presented those to the rest of the participants, who could then give feedback and assess  each of the options proposed (“What wows” and “What works” stages).

Despite each of the groups had used the tools at their disposal in slightly different ways, both  clearly depicted their ideas and the approach they were taking towards finding a good solution.  Visualisation allowed people that were not part of that group to immediately understand the  proposed solutions, whilst also spotting any potential pitfalls, blockers, additions or alternatives  that the group in the first place might have overlooked.

Therefore, presenting ideas in a very simple visual way to the rest of the participants effectively  became a second opportunity for additional brainstorming, yet with a more critical and “mature”  approach.

Overall, I was very happy with the choice of visualisation and I would probably go with this  approach if I were to work on a similar project. Visualisation allows us to translate abstract  concepts and ideas into symbols, shapes, more tangible things, which also helps different people  with a whole variety of skillsets, approaches, tendencies, etc., “speak the same language”, foster  collaboration, prompt creativity and, ultimately, find the most appropriate solution to test or  develop.


CHALLENGE I work for a media company in the Business Operations department , and I was tasked to support one of our central trading team in taking on the campaign execution activity for one client from our local trading teams . My main task would be helping them streamline the central team new process without impacting local established processes too much . The most challenging part of this was the briefing stage of campaign lifecycle , which would still come from local teams but picked up by the central team instead . The briefing part is a crucial step in any campaign workflow , but the way it was being carried out locally could not be simply transferred onto the centralised team ’s process – each local team would brief campaigns in different ways and via different platforms , with different amount of information being shared , different paperwork , etc . So my goal here was to ensure the central team received briefs in a structured , reliable and , ideally , pretty standardised manner . SELECTION My tool of selection was visualisation . As also referenced in the “ Designing for Growth ” book , visualisation can be a very useful tool across the whole design thinking steps , and particularly when it comes to envisioning possibilities and evaluating options . In this scenario I felt I needed a tool that would help me and the key stakeholders understand and visualise what was going on , what we were trying to achieve and , most importantly , how we would get there . Moreover , I had quite a diverse group of stakeholders to work with , and I hoped that visualisation could be a good collaboration - enhancer , too . APPLICATION To start off , I organised a one - day workshop with all of the key stakeholders from the different teams , including the central team , local teams that would keep sending the briefs , and internal product managers that would be helping with any technical development of an agreed briefing solution . After an initial introduction to set the scene and discuss the various goals and expectations from the various stakeholders ( “ What is ” stage ) , I divided the participants into 2 groups with cross- skills in each of them , to ensure they could cover as many aspects as possible ( “ What - if ” stage ) . Then I asked each group to design the ideal briefing workflow using whiteboards , post - its and colours , and come up with at least a potential minimum viable product by the end of the session . INSIGHTS AND APPROACH At the end of the workshop , each group managed to come up with a couple of potential solutions , and presented those to the rest of the participants , who could then give feedback and assess each of the options proposed ( “ What wows ” and “ What works ” stages ) . Despite each of the groups had used the tools at their disposal in slightly different ways , both clearly depicted their ideas and the approach they were taking towards finding a good solution . Visualisation allowed people that were not part of that group to immediately understand the proposed solutions , whilst also spotting any potential pitfalls , blockers , additions or alternatives that the group in the first place might have overlooked . Therefore , presenting ideas in a very simple visual way to the rest of the participants effectively became a second opportunity for additional brainstorming , yet with a more critical and “ mature ” approach . Overall , I was very happy with the choice of visualisation and I would probably go with this approach if I were to work on a similar project . Visualisation allows us to translate abstract concepts and ideas into symbols , shapes , more tangible things , which also helps different people with a whole variety of skillsets , approaches , tendencies , etc . , “ speak the same language ” , foster collaboration , prompt creativity and , ultimately , find the most appropriate solution to test or develop .