Tool: Visualization

Challenge: Describe your challenge, including all relevant information.

I currently work at an advertising agency in Australia and I was posed the following question: how can  we go about making the recruitment process less time and admin heavy?

The process is currently ad-hoc and involves no formal agreed process. It usually involves a lot of  emails back and forth which leaves a lot of room for human error, and also requires a lot of time from  those employees involved. Also stakeholder approval on the hire currently lacks process and therefore  last minute hurdles hiring employees can arise which means a cumbersome process for employees  potentially coming onboard which affects our brand image.

Selection: In your own words, briefly describe the tool you selected (e.g., what it is and why you  selected it for your challenge -- including any appropriate video lecture references).

I decided to organise a visualisation session with a wide range of stakeholders across the leadership  team, a range of hiring managers, and the HR and recruitment teams.

Visualisation is a way of portraying information in a visual, non-verbal manner which might involve  stick people, flowcharts and post-its, and is created in a collaborated fashion. Visualisation can help  with understanding the problem at hand, with idea generation and with prototyping. It can make the  process of data feel ‘more real’, can unlock other parts of our brains and creativity to unlock all  potential options and solutions.  Liedtka & Ogilvie (2011) suggest it’s ‘the mother of all design tools’  as it can be used in every stage of the Design Thinking process.

Visualisation as a tool was coined by Design Thinking pioneers with product design backgrounds.  However, the idea of drawing, mind-mapping and experimenting with prototypes is new to the  business world as managers can often find the idea of drawing fairly concerning.

Here are some examples of visualisation I found online:

The benefits of visualisation are around the ability to engage employees and provide space for them  to contribute and be part of discovery of new ideas. It allows for curation (drilling down to the essence  and removing barriers) and thereby allows a space of employees to feel ownership for the outcome.

Application: Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge (e.g., what you did  and how the tool was applied effectively or ineffectively).

The selected stakeholder team met in the boardroom armed with huge post-it note pads and  individual post-it notes with the task of simply mapping out the current system. The team were given  the day to the do this so there was time available to dig into the depth of this process. The team were  informed immediately that this was a safe collaboration space with no wrong answers.

This was a huge opportunity for collaboration, so we commenced as a group to make out the process  from the initial step of an individual looking to hire a new employee all the way through to the new  employee starting.

Once we had laid out the process as a wider team, I asked them to take their individual post-it note  pads and add on pink post-its areas in which the huge process map caused them some frustrations or  took them a lot of time, and then next to the pink post-it, they were asked to place a green post-it  with a potential solve.

The aim of these two tasks was to create collaboration followed by individual thinking time.

The outcome was an entire wall in our Board room covered in drawings and post-it notes.

Insight: Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge (e.g.,  how an insight affected your thinking about the challenge and about design thinking more broadly).

Overall we discovered four insights:

1. The need to set up a digital process where the Head of HR and the CEO approve the hire before

the Recruitment Manager receives the brief. This prevent stakeholder approval issues and  wasted time further down the recruitment process.

2. The need to digitise the kick-off process so that the Hiring Manager requests a hire via an

online form which then automatically goes to the Head of HR and the CEO for approve, and  once approved to the Recruitment Manager. Once with the Recruitment Manager, the Hiring  Manager is made aware of its status and that the ‘hunt’ is live.

3. The need for the Recruitment Manager to use that brief to create a job ad which is then sent

back to the Hiring Manager for clarification and approval. This ensures all stakeholders are  aligned and the correct candidates are located for the Hiring Manager thereby saving  approximately 8 hours a week for the Hiring Manager and 16 hours a week for the  Recruitment Manager.

4. The need to digitise the onboarding process so that once the new employee is located, the

Hiring Manager completes one final form which automatically goes to IT for computer  equipment and the Office Manager for desk allocation. Also this form automatically  completed cells in a Google Doc for the Finance Dept to keep a track and cross-check new  starters and payroll monthly.

The energy in rolling these actions out has been immense due to the collaboration and ownership  gained from the group visualisation activity.

Approach: Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you selected  or a different one -- and the reason(s) why.

As this was the first time I had completed a design thinking methodology, I expect I could have gone  further. Visualisation was an incredibly versatile tool and developed some innovative solutions but  with a more confident approach and some mind-mapping, I can’t help but think we may have got even  further. I allowed the stakeholder team space as prescribed during my research but I perhaps wasn’t  clear enough in my expected outcomes.

I think mind-mapping would have allowed more ‘bouncing off’ of ideas and potentially more in  innovative solutions.


Tool : Visualization Challenge : Describe your challenge , including all relevant information . I currently work at an advertising agency in Australia and I was posed the following question : how can we go about making the recruitment process less time and admin heavy ? The process is currently ad - hoc and involves no formal agreed process . It usually involves a lot of emails back and forth which leaves a lot of room for human error , and also requires a lot of time from those employees involved . Also stakeholder approval on the hire currently lacks process and therefore last minute hurdles hiring employees can arise which means a cumbersome process for employees potentially coming onboard which affects our brand image . Selection : In your own words , briefly describe the tool you selected ( e.g. , what it is and why you selected it for your challenge -- including any appropriate video lecture references ) . I decided to organise a visualisation session with a wide range of stakeholders across the leadership team , a range of hiring managers , and the HR and recruitment teams . Visualisation is a way of portraying information in a visual , non - verbal manner which might involve stick people , flowcharts and post - its , and is created in a collaborated fashion . Visualisation can help with understanding the problem at hand , with idea generation and with prototyping . It can make the process of data feel ‘ more real ’ , can unlock other parts of our brains and creativity to unlock all potential options and solutions . Liedtka & Ogilvie ( 2011 ) suggest it ’s ‘ the mother of all design tools ’ as it can be used in every stage of the Design Thinking process . Visualisation as a tool was coined by Design Thinking pioneers with product design backgrounds . However , the idea of drawing , mind - mapping and experimenting with prototypes is new to the business world as managers can often find the idea of drawing fairly concerning . Here are some examples of visualisation I found online : The benefits of visualisation are around the ability to engage employees and provide space for them to contribute and be part of discovery of new ideas . It allows for curation ( drilling down to the essence and removing barriers ) and thereby allows a space of employees to feel ownership for the outcome . Application : Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge ( e.g. , what you did and how the tool was applied effectively or ineffectively ) . The selected stakeholder team met in the boardroom armed with huge post - it note pads and individual post - it notes with the task of simply mapping out the current system . The team were given the day to the do this so there was time available to dig into the depth of this process . The team were informed immediately that this was a safe collaboration space with no wrong answers . This was a huge opportunity for collaboration , so we commenced as a group to make out the process from the initial step of an individual looking to hire a new employee all the way through to the new employee starting . Once we had laid out the process as a wider team , I asked them to take their individual post - it note pads and add on pink post - its areas in which the huge process map caused them some frustrations or took them a lot of time , and then next to the pink post - it , they were asked to place a green post - it with a potential solve . The aim of these two tasks was to create collaboration followed by individual thinking time . The outcome was an entire wall in our Board room covered in drawings and post - it notes . Insight : Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge ( e.g. , how an insight affected your thinking about the challenge and about design thinking more broadly ) . Overall we discovered four insights : 1 . The need to set up a digital process where the Head of HR and the CEO approve the hire before the Recruitment Manager receives the brief . This prevent stakeholder approval issues and wasted time further down the recruitment process . 2 . The need to digitise the kick - off process so that the Hiring Manager requests a hire via an online form which then automatically goes to the Head of HR and the CEO for approve , and once approved to the Recruitment Manager . Once with the Recruitment Manager , the Hiring Manager is made aware of its status and that the ‘ hunt ’ is live . 3 . The need for the Recruitment Manager to use that brief to create a job ad which is then sent back to the Hiring Manager for clarification and approval . This ensures all stakeholders are aligned and the correct candidates are located for the Hiring Manager thereby saving approximately 8 hours a week for the Hiring Manager and 16 hours a week for the Recruitment Manager . 4 . The need to digitise the onboarding process so that once the new employee is located , the Hiring Manager completes one final form which automatically goes to IT for computer equipment and the Office Manager for desk allocation . Also this form automatically completed cells in a Google Doc for the Finance Dept to keep a track and cross - check new starters and payroll monthly . The energy in rolling these actions out has been immense due to the collaboration and ownership gained from the group visualisation activity . Approach : Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you selected or a different one -- and the reason(s ) why . As this was the first time I had completed a design thinking methodology , I expect I could have gone further . Visualisation was an incredibly versatile tool and developed some innovative solutions but with a more confident approach and some mind - mapping , I ca n’t help but think we may have got even further . I allowed the stakeholder team space as prescribed during my research but I perhaps was n’t clear enough in my expected outcomes . I think mind - mapping would have allowed more ‘ bouncing off ’ of ideas and potentially more in innovative solutions .