IT
COLLABORATION LAB
Creating unexpected IT solutions by breaking silos in a Collaboration Lab
my role
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Stakeholder Interviews
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Stakeholder Management
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Collaborative Briefing
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User research
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Collaboration Lab Concept
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Sprint design & facilitation
Duration: 6 weeks
Manpower: Team of 2
The Challenge
The Customer Relationship Tool of our clients call-center was outdated, cumbersome and poorly operable. These caused longer working steps and a very long instruction/training time for new operators. The briefing was to improve the Users Interface using a new tool that enables the use of data from the current CRM system but displays it in a new interface. Receiving this briefing, the first step was to do research to understand the stakeholders involved in developing and using the system. The problem statement of several users leads us to a new briefing that was to improve the internal processes. Also in our view, this new focus of the briefing could provide a more sustainable solution. Not only a new interface but all that is needed to generate faster, new and better solutions and how to implement them.
Outcome
A prototype of a new working format and culture; the Collaboration Lab. A new interface for a relevant work step of the call center agent was developed. Not only faster but also an innovative solution that wouldn’t have been possible to develop within the existing processes.
ANALYSIS
Co-creative briefing
In the analysis phase, interviews were conducted with group leaders, trainers and Call Center agents. Furthermore, a co-creation kick-off workshop was conducted to give all participants from different departments the opportunity to get to know each other and to share their perspectives on current problems and future visions.
It emerged from this phase that the task turned out to be much more complex in case we wanted to guarantee a sustainable solution. Interface to other projects, initiatives, interventions and departments needed to be considered to create a sustainable solution.
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From the chain to a team
New requirements for the projects were discussed with the decision-maker of the teams, so we decided together to adapt the initial project concept to their needs. That‘s how the idea of ​​a Design Sprint came into being, which was later specified into a feasible 4-day format. With the design sprint “Collaboration Lab”, we could start a new corporate culture that breaks silos and improves the communication between departments. The communication happened not in a chain anymore, stakeholder communicated in a team like they never did before. Developers talked to the end-users and had very valuable insights they could not have gained by simply receiving a ticket. Also, the solution space became much wider. Less discussion, putting ideas on paper, working in smaller iteration with prototyping and direct testing, all these methods were successfully used.
Design Sprint
