My   reflection   -   Learning   Launch 

 1 )   Challenge 

 ● At   my   organization   I   work   as   an   Operations   Manager   and   one   of   my   primary   responsibilities   is   to   oversee   day - to - day   service   delivery   levels   of   all   business   units .   We   are   a   service   provider   operating   in   a   global   environment   with   highly   demanding   clients   who   require   high   quality   levels   coupled   with   fast   turnaround   times .   Demand   is   usually   steady   ( peak )   through   the   year ,   with   lean   periods   coming   by   only   during   the   holiday   season / year - end .   Considering   this   highly   competitive   working   environment ,   it   is   paramount   that   all   cogs   in   the   wheel   of   our   organization   work   seamlessly   in   order   to   avoid   any   sort   of   customer   dissatisfaction .   One   of   the   key   means   I   used   to   employ   in   order   to   achieve   this ,   is   to   continuously   exploring   opportunities   to   optimize   our   operations   process . 

 ● In   order   to   support   our   regular / important   clients ,   one   of   the   service   offerings   we   provided   was   the   flexibility   for   them   to   reserve   capacity   with   us   upfront ,   and   we   guaranteed   to   hold   resources   for   their   request .   The   volume ,   effort   involved ,   and   timeline   were   often   agreed   upon   at   the   reservation   stage   and   our   clients   were   extremely   happy   with   the   overall   flexibility   it   provided   them .   The   process   was   set   up   a   few   years   back ,   but   during   the   2nd   half   of   2015   we   were   faced   with   a   couple   of   peculiar   problems   -   i )   clients   were   not   sending   in   their   requests   at   the   agreed   upon   time ,   or   ii )   neither   did   not   send   in   the   materials   nor   communicate   it   to   us ,   which   meant   that   these   resources   could   not   be   utilized   for   other   requests   in   the   system .   This   was   significantly   impacting   our   ability   to   optimally   manage   resources ,   thereby   adversely   affecting   service   delivery   levels .   This   became   an   important   topic   of   discussion   during   the   daily   Operations   Managers   meeting ,   and   the   need   to   understand   more   about   the   situation   and   resolving   it   became   a   top   priority   for   me . 

 2 )   Selection 

 ● My   team   and   I   got   together   and   spent   the   first   few   days   to   completely   and   thoroughly   understand   the   problem .   We   engaged   in   numerous   activities   including   data   analysis ,   internal   staff   interviews ,   identifying   patterns   with   specific   customers ,   and   conducting   Voice   of   the   Customer   ( VOC )   to   gauge   the   sudden   change   in   customer   behavior .   At   the   end   of   the   exercise ,   we   concluded   with   2   primary   root   causes   for   the   problem :   1 )   The   low   supply   during   peak   business   hours   was   not   able   to   manage   the   incoming   demand ,   hence   more   and   more   customers   opted   to   reserve   capacity   upfront   -   sometimes   days   in   advance ,   and   they   simply   forgot   that   they   had   a   standing   reservation   2 )   The   software   system   deployed   for   the   capacity   booking   system   was   archaic   and   did   not   provide   customers   with   the   ability   to   intimate   us   regarding   changes   in   volumes   or   timing . 

 ● These   were   clearly   2   large   and   independent   problems   which   had   to   the   addressed   on   a   war   footing .   The   need   to   ensure   continuity   of   business   operations ,   at   the   same   time   drastically   improve   service   levels   prompted   me   to   choose    the   ' Learning   Launch '   tool .   This   was   a   great   opportunity   to   experiment   and   test   new   ideas   in   the   real   marketplace . 

 3 )   Application 

 ● The   team   decided   to   attack   the   2nd   problem   first   as   it   directly   impacted   customer   experience   and   was   one   of   the   pain   points   we   had   heard   during   our   VoC   interviews .   We   began   with   the   hypothesis   of   defining   an   ideal   reservation   experience   for   our   customers .   We   dug   deeper   into   the   no .   of   communication   they   had   to   make   in   order   to   get   a   reserved   request   completed   and   explored   opportunities   to   minimize   redundant   communication .   We   also   reviewed   scenarios   that   could   be   automated   in   order   to   gain   efficiency .   Enriching   the   customer   experience   and   dependability   of   the   solution   was   high   priority   for   the   team . 

 ● With   the   help   of   our   in - house   software   developers   we   integrated   a   couple   of   quick   and   dirty   ( but   small )   upgrades   in   the   system   by   introducing   i )   Phase   1 :   actionable   links   in   the   email   to   either   cancel ,   reschedule ,   or   intimate   delay   in   submissions   ii )   Phase   2 :   automated   email   reminders   to   customers   when   they   were   nearing   their   request   submission   time   iii )   Phase   3 :   automated   acknowledgement   of   receipt   of   materials ,   etc . 

 4 )   Insight 

 ● We   reviewed   the   new   system   for   ~4   weeks   and   continually   gathered   data   and   information   on   customer   behavior / experience .   We   made   minor   changes   and   tweaks   during   this   period   and   could   almost   immediately   see   huge   improvement   in   performance   of   the   process .   The   results   of   the   ‘ Learning   Launch ’   phase   spoke   for   themselves   -   ‘ No   Show ’   rates   declined   by   ~70 %   and   the   intimation   on   delays   and   reschedule   requests   were   almost   down   to   ‘ nil ’ .   This   significantly   enhanced   our   ability   to   predict   demand   and   thus   enabled   us   to   optimally   marshall   resources   and   manage   service   levels   better . 

 5 )   Approach 

 ● A   key   takeaway   from   this   experience   was   there   some   of   the   problems   that   grew   into   big   customer   pain   points   could   have   been   anticipated   and   resolved   if   the   ‘ Mind   Mapping ’   tool   was   applied   systematically .   Constantly   looking   for   patterns   and   themes   in   data   during   operations   meeting   would   have   helped   predict   the   changing   customer   needs   and   their   challenges   sooner .   This   is   something   I   will   be   keen   to   watch   out   for   and   ensure   to   incorporate   into   my   approach   going   forward 


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: My   reflection   -   Learning   Launch 

 1 )   Challenge 

 ● At   my   organization   I   work   as   an   Operations   Manager   and   one   of   my   primary   responsibilities   is   to   oversee   day - to - day   service   delivery   levels   of   all   business   units .   We   are   a   service   provider   operating   in   a   global   environment   with   highly   demanding   clients   who   require   high   quality   levels   coupled   with   fast   turnaround   times .   Demand   is   usually   steady   ( peak )   through   the   year ,   with   lean   periods   coming   by   only   during   the   holiday   season / year - end .   Considering   this   highly   competitive   working   environment ,   it   is   paramount   that   all   cogs   in   the   wheel   of   our   organization   work   seamlessly   in   order   to   avoid   any   sort   of   customer   dissatisfaction .   One   of   the   key   means   I   used   to   employ   in   order   to   achieve   this ,   is   to   continuously   exploring   opportunities   to   optimize   our   operations   process . 

 ● In   order   to   support   our   regular / important   clients ,   one   of   the   service   offerings   we   provided   was   the   flexibility   for   them   to   reserve   capacity   with   us   upfront ,   and   we   guaranteed   to   hold   resources   for   their   request .   The   volume ,   effort   involved ,   and   timeline   were   often   agreed   upon   at   the   reservation   stage   and   our   clients   were   extremely   happy   with   the   overall   flexibility   it   provided   them .   The   process   was   set   up   a   few   years   back ,   but   during   the   2nd   half   of   2015   we   were   faced   with   a   couple   of   peculiar   problems   -   i )   clients   were   not   sending   in   their   requests   at   the   agreed   upon   time ,   or   ii )   neither   did   not   send   in   the   materials   nor   communicate   it   to   us ,   which   meant   that   these   resources   could   not   be   utilized   for   other   requests   in   the   system .   This   was   significantly   impacting   our   ability   to   optimally   manage   resources ,   thereby   adversely   affecting   service   delivery   levels .   This   became   an   important   topic   of   discussion   during   the   daily   Operations   Managers   meeting ,   and   the   need   to   understand   more   about   the   situation   and   resolving   it   became   a   top   priority   for   me . 

 2 )   Selection 

 ● My   team   and   I   got   together   and   spent   the   first   few   days   to   completely   and   thoroughly   understand   the   problem .   We   engaged   in   numerous   activities   including   data   analysis ,   internal   staff   interviews ,   identifying   patterns   with   specific   customers ,   and   conducting   Voice   of   the   Customer   ( VOC )   to   gauge   the   sudden   change   in   customer   behavior .   At   the   end   of   the   exercise ,   we   concluded   with   2   primary   root   causes   for   the   problem :   1 )   The   low   supply   during   peak   business   hours   was   not   able   to   manage   the   incoming   demand ,   hence   more   and   more   customers   opted   to   reserve   capacity   upfront   -   sometimes   days   in   advance ,   and   they   simply   forgot   that   they   had   a   standing   reservation   2 )   The   software   system   deployed   for   the   capacity   booking   system   was   archaic   and   did   not   provide   customers   with   the   ability   to   intimate   us   regarding   changes   in   volumes   or   timing . 

 ● These   were   clearly   2   large   and   independent   problems   which   had   to   the   addressed   on   a   war   footing .   The   need   to   ensure   continuity   of   business   operations ,   at   the   same   time   drastically   improve   service   levels   prompted   me   to   choose    the   ' Learning   Launch '   tool .   This   was   a   great   opportunity   to   experiment   and   test   new   ideas   in   the   real   marketplace . 

 3 )   Application 

 ● The   team   decided   to   attack   the   2nd   problem   first   as   it   directly   impacted   customer   experience   and   was   one   of   the   pain   points   we   had   heard   during   our   VoC   interviews .   We   began   with   the   hypothesis   of   defining   an   ideal   reservation   experience   for   our   customers .   We   dug   deeper   into   the   no .   of   communication   they   had   to   make   in   order   to   get   a   reserved   request   completed   and   explored   opportunities   to   minimize   redundant   communication .   We   also   reviewed   scenarios   that   could   be   automated   in   order   to   gain   efficiency .   Enriching   the   customer   experience   and   dependability   of   the   solution   was   high   priority   for   the   team . 

 ● With   the   help   of   our   in - house   software   developers   we   integrated   a   couple   of   quick   and   dirty   ( but   small )   upgrades   in   the   system   by   introducing   i )   Phase   1 :   actionable   links   in   the   email   to   either   cancel ,   reschedule ,   or   intimate   delay   in   submissions   ii )   Phase   2 :   automated   email   reminders   to   customers   when   they   were   nearing   their   request   submission   time   iii )   Phase   3 :   automated   acknowledgement   of   receipt   of   materials ,   etc . 

 4 )   Insight 

 ● We   reviewed   the   new   system   for   ~4   weeks   and   continually   gathered   data   and   information   on   customer   behavior / experience .   We   made   minor   changes   and   tweaks   during   this   period   and   could   almost   immediately   see   huge   improvement   in   performance   of   the   process .   The   results   of   the   ‘ Learning   Launch ’   phase   spoke   for   themselves   -   ‘ No   Show ’   rates   declined   by   ~70 %   and   the   intimation   on   delays   and   reschedule   requests   were   almost   down   to   ‘ nil ’ .   This   significantly   enhanced   our   ability   to   predict   demand   and   thus   enabled   us   to   optimally   marshall   resources   and   manage   service   levels   better . 

 5 )   Approach 

 ● A   key   takeaway   from   this   experience   was   there   some   of   the   problems   that   grew   into   big   customer   pain   points   could   have   been   anticipated   and   resolved   if   the   ‘ Mind   Mapping ’   tool   was   applied   systematically .   Constantly   looking   for   patterns   and   themes   in   data   during   operations   meeting   would   have   helped   predict   the   changing   customer   needs   and   their   challenges   sooner .   This   is   something   I   will   be   keen   to   watch   out   for   and   ensure   to   incorporate   into   my   approach   going   forward
### Output: 