Link to this page: go.osu.edu/dpaDPA-workflowWorkflow-analysisAnalysis

Introduction

The DP&A's initial project is to identify our existing workflows that affect born digital acquisitions and processing, digitization, providing access to digital materials and the preservation thereof. Answering the question, “What are the intersections, gaps, redundancies and areas for improvement?”

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Once you complete a SIPOC, it can be reviewed with project sponsor(s), champion(s) and other involved stakeholders for verification.

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SIPOCs should range from a minimum of 4 steps and a maximum of 7. The following real example embraces the minimummaximum:

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Both versions provide us with valuable insight into the workflow and its processes. Below is an example of each version based upon a hypothetical restaurant visit workflowthe Archives Digitization SIPOC above:

RACI Example

The following real v1 and v2 examples are based upon the aforementioned SIPOC example:

1 = Collection Head of Bibliographic Initiatives: Overall leader of Bibliographic Initiatives

2 = Bibliographic Initiatives Unit Head: either leader of Western Languages Unit or the Non-Roman Languages Unit

3 = : University Archivist, Public Policy Archivist or Polar Archivist

2 = "External" to the unit creating the SIPOC (e.g. Metadata Initiatives Digital Preservation is "external" to Preservation & DigitizationUniversity Archives)

Brainwriting

Link to this section: go.osu.edu/dpaDPA-brainwritingBrainwriting

The RACI is an important bridge to the brainwriting process. It helps us identify who needs to be in the proverbial room for the brainwriting exercise.

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• In a brainstorming session we approach the exercise with an open mind where the sky is the limit, trying to get all the potential disparate ideas on the table from various points of view.
• However, the objective in front us, is to document the now, and what we are currently doing; not what we want to be doing, regardless of whether we are doing the right thing or not. Brainwriting allows us to dive deeper beyond those four to seven process steps and examine our processes with a finer granularity.

Brainwriting Tools:

Spreadsheet

Google Jamboard

(downloadable PDF version)

Jamboard is an easy and simple tool that provides us with the ability to utilize “sticky notes” and free style drawings to create details, to build up the activities that occur within each process step of our SIPOCs. The goal is to conduct an activity that combines Brainwriting and Affinity Mapping/Diagramming. In a nutshell:

• Affinity Maps/Diagrams allows us to group ideas in various categories.  
• Brainwriting allows users to participate without:
  • a single voice shadowing others
  • fear of contribution
  • having to worry about speaking out
  • Brainwriting also eliminates the filtering by facilitator, which can introduce bias or any accidental omissions.

We will use the very basic versions of both activities in order to generate all possible actions and details that take place within each step of a SIPOC, understanding that we may have to add additional categories as we zoom in from the “satellite view” to “street level” perspective.

How do we use Jamboard?

It is super simple with 5 color sticky notes, multiple frames and free-style annotations/connections capabilities. While we will supply shareable links for the Brainwriting exercises, you can do the following to familiarize yourself with the tool:

• Go to jamboard.google.com
• Click the + in the orange circle located in the lower right corner of the screen
• Select the background if you like (I like the dotted style so I can keep things neat and nicely aligned)
• You have the following options in the vertical menu:

Image Removed

• Start by naming the Jamboard to coincide with appropriate SIPOC.
• Next,  SIPOC process steps can be added as top categories. All participants can now  add their sticky notes, identifying microprocess steps along with connecting lines and/or other supporting details.
• Depending upon the nature of the SIPOC, the number of microprocesses identified could begin to overcrowd a frame; in this situation, a frame could be used for each process step, as opposed to trying to fit all steps on a single frame.
• When we complete a Jamboard, it can be exported to a PDF (export example of diagram below).

Jamboard in action…

We will invite the individuals that were identified during the RACI exercise to make sure we are capturing all relevant and pertinent information that can inform our Value Stream Mapping activities.

Below is a hypothetical example of what Bibliographic Initiatives might create during their Brainwriting session.  Please be aware that this is not a true reflection of what the Bibliographic Initiatives groups does, and it is created just as an example.

Image Removed

Status

Link to this section:go.osu.edu/dpa-workflow-analysis-status

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Follow-up on 2020.08.07

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.30

Kickoff 2020.05.15

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Follow-up on 2020.08.12

SIPOC Follow-up 2020.06.19

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.01

Kickoff 2020.05.15

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Draft  RACI Completed 2020.06.11

RACI needs review; overlap in Accountability and Consulted/Informed

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SIPOC Exercise 2020.05.27 (potential related SIPOCs w/ILS and ERMT)

Kickoff 2020.05.15

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Follow-up on 2020.08.07

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.24

Kickoff 2020.05.15

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SIPOC Exercise 2020.07.10

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.02

Kickoff 2020.05.15

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SIPOC Follow-up 4/8/2020

SIPOC Exercise 4/2/20102

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Follow-up on 2020.08.07

Draft RACI 2020.06.16

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Follow-up on 2020.08.07

Draft RACI 2020.06.16

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Miriam Centeno, Sarah Collier, Marcela Estevez & Amy McCrory

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Miriam Centeno, Sarah Collier, Marcela Estevez & Amy McCrory

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Follow-up on 2020.08.07

SIPOC Exercise TBD

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SIPOC Follow-up 2020.07.28

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.30

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SIPOC Follow-up 2020.05.23

SIPOC Exercise 2020.05.18

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SIPOC Follow-up 2020.06.25

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.10

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SIPOC Follow-up 2020.06.18

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.10

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SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.08

SIPOC Exercise 2020.06.02

SIPOC Exercise 2020.05.26

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Resources

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We are currently using two tools to capture the Brainwriting activity. We initially chose to utilize Google's Jamboard in an attempt to replicate the use of sticky notes and whiteboards, which one would typically use for this exercise if we were able to meet in the same physical space. While this worked well for a tangential DP&A project, it became distracting for individuals to do their personal "brain dump" of micro-steps for each of the SIPOC's macro-steps. We engaged the initial group to use Jamboards with our observed concerns, and discussed other more user-friendly options for capturing the necessary data. That lead to the development of a spreadsheet template tool that is integrated into the existing SIPOC/RACI spreadsheets that also consolidates the data for each Workflow. We are not discarding Jamboards outright as it may be useful in limited situations where the SIPOC is not overly complex, as well as still potentially utilizing it for visualization purposes.

Spreadsheet

The Brainwriting activity allows us to delve into the details that we "left on the roadside" as we aggregated the workflows up to the 4 to 7 macro-steps of the SIPOC. The RACI allowed us to begin to bridge to the Brainwriting and additional granularity by potentially beginning to identify separate streams or channels based in responsibility and accountability, format or nature of a project. For example, in the example illustrated above for the "Archives Digitization Workflow" the First Step, Request for digitization, in the RACI is broken down into 2 channels:

• Channel 01: Patron Requests. This can be further divided into sub-channels based upon format or size:

  • Channel 01-01: Patron Requests - Photo(s)
  • Channel 01-02: Patron Requests - Documents
  • Channel 01-03: Patron Requests - Requires specialized handling via Preservation & Digitization
  • Channel 01-04: Patron Requests - Requires specialized handling via Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center
  • Channel 01-05: Patron Requests - AV transfer on Steenbeck
  • Channel 01-06: Patron Requests - AV transfer via vendor
• Channel 02: Project Digitization

In the spreadsheet tool, the macro-steps from the SIPOC become the columns, and the rows become all the micro-steps necessary to complete the particular macro-step. Additionally, each column is sub-divided to record notes and potential dependencies for each micro-step, if necessary.

How do we use the Spreadsheet?

The Brainwriting template and a "ReadMe - Brainwriting" tab have been added to the SIPOC/RACI spreadsheet template. For those that have not yet begun the workflow analysis process, the template has been updated in the appropriate folder. For those that have already begun the SIPOC and RACI activities, we will add the ReadMe tab and template to the existing SIPOC/RACI before the start of the Brainwriting process. It is strongly encouraged create new tabs for each channels/sub-channels before the Brainwritng activity commences and copy the template to the new tabs.

1. Identify the appropriate workflow
2. Identify the appropriate Channel(s)/Sub-channel(s) if necessary
3. Fill in all appropriate steps from your Unit's SIPOC. For Brainwriting, the Steps are represented as Columns as opposed to Rows. If there are less than seven steps, delete the appropriate columns.
4. Fill out step details in rows below each Step that are necessary to complete that Process Step.
5. When necessary, create notes or identify dependencies for the Process Step Details. Dependencies are the relationship between conditions, events, or tasks such that one cannot begin or be-completed until one or more other conditions, events, or tasks have occurred, begun, or completed.

Spreadsheet in action…

Below is an example of a partially completed Brainwriting activity based upon the Archives Digitization SIPOC/RACI

Google Jamboard

(downloadable PDF version)

Jamboard is an easy and simple tool that provides us with the ability to utilize “sticky notes” and free style drawings to create details, to build up the activities that occur within each process step of our SIPOCs. The goal is to conduct an activity that combines Brainwriting and Affinity Mapping/Diagramming. In a nutshell:

• Affinity Maps/Diagrams allows us to group ideas in various categories.  
• Brainwriting allows users to participate without:
  • a single voice shadowing others
  • fear of contribution
  • having to worry about speaking out
  • Brainwriting also eliminates the filtering by facilitator, which can introduce bias or any accidental omissions.

We will use the very basic versions of both activities in order to generate all possible actions and details that take place within each step of a SIPOC, understanding that we may have to add additional categories as we zoom in from the “satellite view” to “street level” perspective.

How do we use Jamboard?

It is super simple with 5 color sticky notes, multiple frames and free-style annotations/connections capabilities. While we will supply shareable links for the Brainwriting exercises, you can do the following to familiarize yourself with the tool:

• Go to jamboard.google.com
• Click the + in the orange circle located in the lower right corner of the screen
• Select the background if you like (I like the dotted style so I can keep things neat and nicely aligned)
• You have the following options in the vertical menu:

Image Added

• Start by naming the Jamboard to coincide with appropriate SIPOC.
• Next,  SIPOC process steps can be added as top categories. All participants can now  add their sticky notes, identifying microprocess steps along with connecting lines and/or other supporting details.
• Depending upon the nature of the SIPOC, the number of microprocesses identified could begin to overcrowd a frame; in this situation, a frame could be used for each process step, as opposed to trying to fit all steps on a single frame.
• When we complete a Jamboard, it can be exported to a PDF (export example of diagram below).

Jamboard in action…

We will invite the individuals that were identified during the RACI exercise to make sure we are capturing all relevant and pertinent information that can inform our Value Stream Mapping activities.

Below is an incomplete example of what Archives began to create during their initial Brainwriting session. 

Image Added

Status Summary

Link to this section: go.osu.edu/DPA-Workflow-Analysis-Status

Link to detailed Project Status page: go.osu.edu/DPA-Workflow-Analysis-Status-Detail

Initial Recommendations (2021)

In the Fall of 2021, based upon the discussion both within the DP&A and externally through the workflow documentation process, the DP&A developed and presented to its sponsors and initial set of five (5) key organizational gaps, their implications and recommendations to remediate and ameliorate these conditions. These five areas included:

• Processing of materials

• Prioritization and governance: this recommendation was additionally informed by the Digital Projects Planning, Priorities and Transparency project noted below; and has been actively worked on, since November of 2020 via the Digital Content Policy/Governance project linked below.

• Process management
• Resources
• Documentation

The report is completed with a discussion the categorization of the recommendations as immediate impact and long-term impact projects. A full accounting of the recommendations can be found in the Initial Recommendations document or on the Initial Recommendations (2021) wiki page.

Topical Resources

• University Libraries:
  
  • SIPOC/RACI/BW Template or go.osu.edu/LIB-SIPOC-Template
  • SIPOC, RACI & Brainwriting: An Introduction to Exposing the University Libraries’ Digital Preservation & Access Workflows: PDF| Recorded Zoom (mp4 - 15 minutes)
• External:
  • SIPOC in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIPOC
  • Lean Six Sigma Technique Tips – SIPOC by Pyzdek Institute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlN7eNOBPzg (7 minutes)
  • How to complete the SIPOC Diagram by Six Sigma Development Solutions Inc: https://youtu.be/x8_I19PJBY8 (1 minute)
  • SIPOC by LeanOhio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_Ijfg4EVk (4 minutes)
  • SIPOC Diagram explained (with example) by Bzhwen A Kadir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9oWnnbtkOo (7 minutes)

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