CHALLENGE & TOOL SELECTION 

 My goal was to streamline a process that included several departments of the company   including After - Sales ( Customer Care ) , Tech Support , Reverse Logistics , Accounting and   Finance . For many years this process had been broken and all the groups were constantly   pointing fingers to each other , saying that the process was broken because of the other teams   and not recognizing their own role in the end - to - end process . As no one was recognizing   opportunities in its own part of the process , there was no assertive communication amongst   the teams and the end - to - end process disconnections were increasing year after year , causing   a bad experience to the company ’s customers . 

 Our challenge was to define common ground so we could really understand our “ what is ” and   have a clear view of what success would look like . For that , we needed to start creating   empathy amongst the different groups , helping them to see themselves into the process . This   would allow the representatives of the different team to identify what changes they could do   in their own part to contribute to the process as a whole at the same time that they would be   able to clearly communicate to the other teams what was expected from the others so their   own process could be more efficient . 

 I needed to find a tool that would help me to create empathy and establish common ground   for collaboration amongst the 5 different departments involved . The tool I chose was   visualization . As explained in the “ Visualization Tool ” video , in week 1 , this is a tool that can be   used in different phases of the Design Thinking process , and that has as it mains characteristic   the use of images to help to make problems tangible and concrete . In this case , I started with   an existing cross - functional process map that already existed to help the representatives of   each of the 5 areas , all with different mind - sets and perspectives , to see the cross - functional   process we wanted to improve through the same perspective . The goal was that by the end of   the exercise each group could understand the other ’s job , how their own job was impacting in   the job of the others , and identify which changes in their own job or other ’s would help to   improve the end - to - end process . 

 APPLICATION 

 I invited representatives of the 5 different teams , with knowledge enough to represent their   department , to participate of a 3 - hours long working session . I started putting in the wall an   already existing process map that showed the high level steps of the process showing the area   responsible for each step and I explained that our goal in this session was to learn about each   other ’s job , so we could all be in common ground and as a group understand our current   situation ( “ What is ? ” ) . 

 Our procedure would be : the area responsible for the first activity would explain their inputs ,   the area ’s task , the way they do it , and what they delivered as output for the area responsible   for the following step of the process . We would follow this procedure step - by - step , each area   providing details of the steps under their responsibility , covering the 13 steps involved from   the beginning to the end of the process . While one team was presenting , the role of the others   was listening carefully , asking questions for a better understanding of the job that was being   presented and asking “ why not ” for alternative ideas that could come up . During this time , my   role was two - folded : to add , change or delete steps in the map we were seeing in the wall so it   would better represent the “ as is ” process that the areas were presenting ; and also take notes   of the points that were being perceived / commented as process opportunities so we could   come back to it in a following section . 

 By the end of the session , all the persons in the room were able to understand the other   team ’s participation in the process and also to have a comprehensive view of the end - to - end   process , what allowed them to see how their own job was impacting the other team ’s job .   Everyone also had insights about things they could do differently in their own job to facilitate   the job of the other teams involved . This understanding of how everything is linked created   empathy and the willingness to engage in productive conversation with the other groups on   ways to improve the process and maximize the productivity , preparing the ground for the next   steps of the project . 

 INSIGHTS & APPROACH 

 My main insights were : 

 1 ) Starting with an existing process map instead of creating an image from its very 

 beginning was critical for the success of the activity . On one - hand , by seeing their   own processes in the wall , everybody felt that they were part of something bigger ; on   the other , seeing that there was a lot to cover and being able to see what steps were   already covered and what we would still need to cover helped the group to avoid   going into unnecessary details , maintaining the conversation focused in what matters   the most , to ensure that we would be able to have a high - level understanding of   everything until the end of the session . 

 2 ) The tool delivered more results than expected in terms of empathy creation and 

 alignment . It not only created a common ground for the following sessions of the   project as it also created new communication channels between areas that were n’t   talking regularly before the session . Customer Care and Tech Support teams , for   example , realized they had a similar task but each of the groups was doing it in a   different way and then they decided to have separate conversations to streamline that   specific part of the process . 

 3 ) Deciding to take notes of the points identified as opportunities but not jumping into 

 its details during the session was very important for the success of the session . If we   had stopped each time an opportunity was identified , we would have not be able to   cover all the steps ; ignoring the opportunities that were being pointed out would   make participants feel that the opportunities they were seeing were not important .   With the list we were able to cover the full agenda while also showing that the inputs   were important and that they would be covered later . 

 Seeing the results of this session I learned that the impact of a discussion using visualization go   beyond the specific project you are working on . When you establish an environment where   people feel that they are being listened and that other people now understand what they do ,   the empathy created stimulates collaboration in other activities and projects resulting in an   overall improvement of the results . For this reason I have been using the visualization tool not   only as a problem solving tool , but also as a way to increase productivity : the members of my   team now regularly share visually what they are doing to get contribution from the other team   members so it can get improved . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: CHALLENGE & TOOL SELECTION 

 My goal was to streamline a process that included several departments of the company   including After - Sales ( Customer Care ) , Tech Support , Reverse Logistics , Accounting and   Finance . For many years this process had been broken and all the groups were constantly   pointing fingers to each other , saying that the process was broken because of the other teams   and not recognizing their own role in the end - to - end process . As no one was recognizing   opportunities in its own part of the process , there was no assertive communication amongst   the teams and the end - to - end process disconnections were increasing year after year , causing   a bad experience to the company ’s customers . 

 Our challenge was to define common ground so we could really understand our “ what is ” and   have a clear view of what success would look like . For that , we needed to start creating   empathy amongst the different groups , helping them to see themselves into the process . This   would allow the representatives of the different team to identify what changes they could do   in their own part to contribute to the process as a whole at the same time that they would be   able to clearly communicate to the other teams what was expected from the others so their   own process could be more efficient . 

 I needed to find a tool that would help me to create empathy and establish common ground   for collaboration amongst the 5 different departments involved . The tool I chose was   visualization . As explained in the “ Visualization Tool ” video , in week 1 , this is a tool that can be   used in different phases of the Design Thinking process , and that has as it mains characteristic   the use of images to help to make problems tangible and concrete . In this case , I started with   an existing cross - functional process map that already existed to help the representatives of   each of the 5 areas , all with different mind - sets and perspectives , to see the cross - functional   process we wanted to improve through the same perspective . The goal was that by the end of   the exercise each group could understand the other ’s job , how their own job was impacting in   the job of the others , and identify which changes in their own job or other ’s would help to   improve the end - to - end process . 

 APPLICATION 

 I invited representatives of the 5 different teams , with knowledge enough to represent their   department , to participate of a 3 - hours long working session . I started putting in the wall an   already existing process map that showed the high level steps of the process showing the area   responsible for each step and I explained that our goal in this session was to learn about each   other ’s job , so we could all be in common ground and as a group understand our current   situation ( “ What is ? ” ) . 

 Our procedure would be : the area responsible for the first activity would explain their inputs ,   the area ’s task , the way they do it , and what they delivered as output for the area responsible   for the following step of the process . We would follow this procedure step - by - step , each area   providing details of the steps under their responsibility , covering the 13 steps involved from   the beginning to the end of the process . While one team was presenting , the role of the others   was listening carefully , asking questions for a better understanding of the job that was being   presented and asking “ why not ” for alternative ideas that could come up . During this time , my   role was two - folded : to add , change or delete steps in the map we were seeing in the wall so it   would better represent the “ as is ” process that the areas were presenting ; and also take notes   of the points that were being perceived / commented as process opportunities so we could   come back to it in a following section . 

 By the end of the session , all the persons in the room were able to understand the other   team ’s participation in the process and also to have a comprehensive view of the end - to - end   process , what allowed them to see how their own job was impacting the other team ’s job .   Everyone also had insights about things they could do differently in their own job to facilitate   the job of the other teams involved . This understanding of how everything is linked created   empathy and the willingness to engage in productive conversation with the other groups on   ways to improve the process and maximize the productivity , preparing the ground for the next   steps of the project . 

 INSIGHTS & APPROACH 

 My main insights were : 

 1 ) Starting with an existing process map instead of creating an image from its very 

 beginning was critical for the success of the activity . On one - hand , by seeing their   own processes in the wall , everybody felt that they were part of something bigger ; on   the other , seeing that there was a lot to cover and being able to see what steps were   already covered and what we would still need to cover helped the group to avoid   going into unnecessary details , maintaining the conversation focused in what matters   the most , to ensure that we would be able to have a high - level understanding of   everything until the end of the session . 

 2 ) The tool delivered more results than expected in terms of empathy creation and 

 alignment . It not only created a common ground for the following sessions of the   project as it also created new communication channels between areas that were n’t   talking regularly before the session . Customer Care and Tech Support teams , for   example , realized they had a similar task but each of the groups was doing it in a   different way and then they decided to have separate conversations to streamline that   specific part of the process . 

 3 ) Deciding to take notes of the points identified as opportunities but not jumping into 

 its details during the session was very important for the success of the session . If we   had stopped each time an opportunity was identified , we would have not be able to   cover all the steps ; ignoring the opportunities that were being pointed out would   make participants feel that the opportunities they were seeing were not important .   With the list we were able to cover the full agenda while also showing that the inputs   were important and that they would be covered later . 

 Seeing the results of this session I learned that the impact of a discussion using visualization go   beyond the specific project you are working on . When you establish an environment where   people feel that they are being listened and that other people now understand what they do ,   the empathy created stimulates collaboration in other activities and projects resulting in an   overall improvement of the results . For this reason I have been using the visualization tool not   only as a problem solving tool , but also as a way to increase productivity : the members of my   team now regularly share visually what they are doing to get contribution from the other team   members so it can get improved .
### Output: 