At Tufts, the ambitions and outcomes that drive our work sometimes distract us from asking ourselves, “why are we doing it this way?” Some processes become ineffective as the factors around us change while others may have never been organized with intention in the first place. Ensuring the steps and actions we take are aligned with all of our goals, including effective stewardship of resources and sustainability, requires careful consideration for the evolving context we operate in and building a strong understanding among the various stakeholders involved. As you seek to conceptualize, model, articulate improvements for, and chart a path towards change for a process, consider some of these methods from Design:
Vase vs Enjoying Flower
If working with a team, help everyone break from traditional mindsets and appreciate multiple ways of arriving at your goals.
Ground Rules
As you work with your team or many stakeholders, make sure you’re on the same page about how to work together.
Assumptions & Questions
If something isn’t working about our process, are we sure it’s not a symptom instead of a cause?
Interviews
For processes that involve many people, hear directly from them about their experiences in a structured manner.
Surveys
Test your assumptions and build knowledge from a representative set of your stakeholder community.
Ecosystem Map
Visualize your understanding of the context in which your processes are carried out with your team.
Needs Statement
Synthesize your design criteria into statements based around how you might help someone with what they’re trying to do.
How Might We Statement
If you’ve targeted the point in the process to address, focus your ideation on that point by crafting an opportunity statement.
Dot Voting
As your team seeks to build consensus around how to adjust your process, run a brief voting exercise to gague sentiments.
Prototyping
Before overhauling your process, test out the key points you want to address in a fast, low-fidelity manner.
Develop a Monitoring System
Make process improvement a regular activity of your team and chart your implementation plan.