Workflow Sample: February 2018

Operation: Creation of Icons, Production of Posters, etc.

With the new Business Process definition, "requests" from internal company are now managed centrally.

Those requests of designing from such as the marketing department, the product development department, the sales department, ... are now efficiently handled as a "team". In addition, I suppose that the designers have become interested in each other's work so that contribute to the skill improvement of each designer.

Reference：Episode 574: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 1)、Episode 575: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 2)

Challenge: Cases where Not In Time for Delivery Schedule

However, there are still cases where it will not be in time for the "delivery date".

For example, when a request of "in a haste" comes, "regular requests" are affected. Particularly when large projects such as "release of new service" or "preparation of new campaign" become in action, various "requests in hurry" will occur. As a result, "regular projects that are flexible to deadlines" will not be in time for the due date.

It should be "a design team that can keep up production schedules" even by utilizing external resources.

[Designing request-Outsourcing]

Business: Design Production

A design team where "requests" from in-house come in one after another.

By improving the "Request form" (Starting step) of design creation, it has become possible to handle requests more stably than before. (Reference: "Episode 574: Business Improvement in SaaS Vendor Operation (Part 1)")

As we also prepared an automatic start event (Message Start Event), cases where the Process of "Designing request" is used as "sub-process" have increased as well. In other words, cooperation between business processes has been automated with API POST communication, by placing "call event" and "standby event" in the Business Process diagram (main process) of Sales department or Manufacturing department. (In short, the Process is started with data such as "title of requested item" or "details of requested work", and data such as "design report text" and "deliverable file" is returned at the same time when the work is completed.)

Furthermore, as we also opened to in-house the sample of the main Process to call out the "sub-process", designing work in various departments are to be integrated into the Process of "Designing request" in the future.

Challenge: Skills do not Improved

"Number of Issues been in charge" and "total amount" have been visualized for each designer. In addition, since veteran designers now control on work progress of "designers" as "receptionist", young designers will not commit "no-check delivery" (delivered without checked by anyone).

However, intrinsic? measure of value in designing is "quality".

With this Business Process as it is, I feel worry that the degree of satisfaction for designs in-house will be going down.

Is it impossible to become a Business Process capable of improving skills of the team as a whole a little more? Since we are improving its independency as a "Design request handling process", we would like to think about a mechanism that leads to skill improvement, not just a Business Process for simply to handle numbers of work.

Example of Business Process to call out [Designing request]

[Designing request-Reviewing]

Operation: Design work

The work of a design team is extensive.

There may be small projects such as "changing icons in SaaS products" and adding them, and there may be also major projects such as "interface development of new SaaS functions".

However... in addition to those, there may be a case where they are requested publishing of a "Customer story article" written by the sales team on the Website, and furthermore, to create a flyer containing the story. Moreover, for an exhibition planned by marketing team, there might occur project of Web contents production, and creation of posters , and so on...

After all, it can be said that it is "a team that continuously being asked for helping hands?" from the entire company.

Challenge: Efficiency Improve on Work that Occurred Passively

It is true that the design team is certainly demanded by everybody.

However, it is inevitable to be said that what they are doing is unobtrusive compared to the fact that the direct division "product development division" and "sales and marketing department" are acting on a daily basis. For example, it is like gift wrapping service counter in a department store. They are keep on giving decorations on outputs of the store as they are asked to do so. And when they notice, "passive attitude" has ingrained on themselves.

Even if they grumbled that if it was the architectural industry, rather, the "designers will move actively, and the engineering group such as "structural" or "environmental" would be passive, "demands from internal company" won't be gone... First of all, I'd like to consider a way to do this passive job in a handsome manner. (Since, even in accounting, human resource department, or IT department, they are handling these "passive job" brilliantly...)

Business Template: [Designing Request]

Operation: Web Article Production

I changed the Workflow of the article writing. (Reference: Episode 571: Business Improvement in Website Operation (Part 1), Episode 572: Business Improvement in Website Operation (Part 2))

It has become a flow leading to the skill improvement of "writers" as well as improving the quality of "articles" by this, I suppose.

In any case, a series of "article creation flow", starting with "Setting of provisional title" and leading to "output of web article", came to be smooth. It can be said that useless communication such as "going to check progress" or "going to ask for reviews" is completely eradicated.

Editor-in-chief: Launch the planning such as seasonal series
Editors: Determine provisional titles of individual articles
Writers: Write articles

It would be better to be expressed that the editor-in-chief, editors, writers have become able to concentrate in their own original role. (Though "rework" or "educational guidance" are not completely eliminated...)

Challenge: Problem of Out of idea

On the other hand, it has become to be discussed on the quality of "provisional title" which is an input to "article production flow".

That is, (though this might be an everlasting challenge for those owned media,) there would be a case where a mood which they are running out of idea for "provisional titles filled the atmosphere... such as "recently wrote a similar article", or "nobody would like to read"...

In this occasion, I would like to make it being able to suggest from the entire company about the ideas of articles (provisional titles) and plans of series.

If there are plenty of ideas, they will be a help for editors and the editor-in chief. And the quality of setting "provisional title" should increase.

[Article Idea Acceptance]