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

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?”

We will engage in three techniques, to help us visualize and understand the workflows and processes that allow us to provide access to and preservation of, our born digital and digitized content. These techniques come to us from the realm of process improvement, with roots in total quality management (TQM) that continue to be used in Lean and Six Sigma programs.

The  SIPOC exercise provides for a very high level view of our workflow or process. The steps in the process are aggregated up to a level of abstraction that still allows us to understand suppliers, inputs, outputs, handoffs and customers. The intent is to ensure that all processes are represented.

Following up on the SIPOC, each group will be asked to conduct a RACI to determine for each step within a process who is responsible, accountable, consulted or needs to be informed.

Finally, we will engage in brainwriting to further tease out the granularities of the steps identified within the SIPOCs.

Stakeholders

SIPOC

SIPOC simply stands for:

• Suppliers
• Inputs
• Process
• Outputs
• Customers

The purpose of a SIPOC is to provide people who are unfamiliar with a process a high-level overview of it, as well as reacquaint people whose familiarity with a process has faded or become out-of-date due to process changes.  It is meant to show what the process or workflow IS, not what it should or what we want it to be. It is a first step in being able to help organizations in defining a new process or improve an existing process. It assists in defining, structuring and scoping complex processes, while also identifying possible problems and/or weaknesses in work processes.

• Suppliers are the providers of Inputs to the Process
• Inputs define the material, service and/or information that are used by the Process to produce the Outputs
• A Process is a defined sequence of activities, that usually adds value to Inputs to produce Outputs, or transforms Inputs to Outputs for the Customers. In a traditional SIPOC:
  
  •  there are at a minimum 4 and a maximum of 7 high level steps
  • that should be constructed in a "Verb > Noun" structure (e.g. deliver/upload digital object)
• Outputs are the products, services and/or the information that is valuable to the Customer.
• The Customers are users of the Outputs produced or transformed by the process; they can be people, organization, machines or software.

(Adapted from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SIPOC)

Conceptually a SIPOC looks like a table, and it lends itself well to being documented in a spreadsheet.

However, the interesting thing about a SIPOC, is that it is not created in the linear manner that the acronym suggests. The creation of a SIPOC, actually sort of happens inside out.

1. The first Phase is to identify and name the high level process or workflow
2. This followed by moving to the middle, and mapping it in 4 to 7 high level process steps:    
   1. There has to be a First Step and Last Step    
   2. With a minimum of two and a maximum of five additional steps
3. Next we identify the output of these process steps.
4. Which is followed by identifying the customers that will receive the outputs of the process steps.
5. Now we jump back to identify the inputs required for each of the process steps to function properly.
6. Finally, we identify the suppliers of the inputs that are required by the process steps.

(Adapted from https://www.isixsigma.com/tools-templates/sipoc-copis/sipoc-diagram/)

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

SIPOC Example

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

RACI

When we have completed the SIPOC we can begin to conduct the RACI exercise. This exercise allows us to identify the roles and their accompanying responsibilities that they may have for each process step. This acronym stands for:

• Responsible: A role is “Responsible” if they are those who do the work to complete the task. There has to be at least one role that is responsible, although others can be delegated to assist in the required work.
• Accountable: The role who is ultimately answerable for the correct and thorough completion of the deliverable or task, is deemed Accountable. They ensure the prerequisites of the task are met, and delegate the work to those responsible. There must be one, and only one accountable role specified for each task or deliverable.
• Consulted: These are roles whose opinions are sought, typically subject matter experts; and with whom there is two-way communication
• Informed: These folks are kept up-to-date on progress, often only on completion of the task or deliverable; and with whom there is just one-way communication

We need to make a distinction between a role and individually identified people:

• A role is a descriptor of an associated set of tasks that an individual is capable of completing; these may be performed by many people, for example: 
  • Role = scan technician
• Whereas, an individual, is one person that performs a particular role or roles.
  • Individual #1 = scan technician #1
  • Individual #2 = scan technician #2; and maybe conservation technician #4

The RACI can be completed by creating a matrix where the rows are at a minimum the process steps from the SIPOC, but could be augmented with more granular steps.  The RACI can be then be filled out in one of two manners:

• in version 1, the columns represent R-A-C-I and for each process the roles or persons are identified. Each step must have someone responsible (can be multiple) and accountable (can only be one). In this version one can quickly identify who is responsible, accountable, consulted and informed, for each step. In this example, we can quickly see that yes, there is one and only one accountable person for each step, while there may be multiple roles/people responsible, consulted or informed
• In version 2, the columns represent the various roles, and could be further broken down by individuals. For each step, one indicates if the role or individual is responsible, accountable, consulted and/or informed. In this version, one can see how a role or an individual’s participation changes throughout the process, and aggregates their responsibilities.

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 workflow:

RACI Example

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

1 = 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 = "External" to the unit creating the SIPOC (e.g. Metadata Initiatives is "external" to Preservation & Digitization)

Brainwriting

Link to this section: go.osu.edu/dpa-brainwriting

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.

We are using the term brainwriting not brainstorming.  What is the difference between brainwriting and brainstorming?

• 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 Tool: 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:

• 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.

Status

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

Resources

• University Libraries:
  
  • SIPOC Template or go.osu.edu/ul-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)