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More efficient collaboration with visualization

Friday, November 24, 2017

In product development, everybody understands the benefits of having a prototype that visualizes, and thus communicates the product’s properties and design. But how can a process be visualized, for example, to achieve better collaboration and decision-making?

At Visual Arena, Ludvig Lindlöf from the Innovation and R&D Management Department at Chalmers University of Technology opened a seminar on visual collaboration for insight-hungry participants visiting Lindholmen Science Park.

We handle huge volumes of information today that require fast decision-making, creating a major need for clear communication.

“Because we are all different, communication has to create a common ground! It should create a platform for understanding each other better,” said Ludvig.

When developing a product or constructing a building, prototyping provides a communication basis. But what about processes?

“In a process-driven organization, we have to work hard to understand what we are doing – it is not equally as visual. Visual Planning can help to visualize activities, problems, deliveries and so forth on a large map to help the team develop a common understanding – like a prototype of the process.”

Ludvig also stresses the importance of setting limits when working visually, to select the most important information – that is the key to visualizations that really work.

From theory to tool
To further develop the visual approach, Mathias Gullbrandson and Magnus Envall have developed a tool called Dreamler – partly inspired by computer games. The tool uses digital Post-it Notes on an interactive game board for visual collaboration, and to encourage team members to take initiative.                

“In many organizations and projects, we saw a clear need for better collaboration. Research showed that 40-80% of time is spent on coordination.”

“By making it easier to reach a common understanding of the process moving forward, we can improve collaboration and become more efficient,” said Mathias.

Gothenburg 2021 – coordination with DreamlerGöteborg & Co, the host and organizer of Gothenburg’s 400th anniversary, began to apply a more visual approach this year. To prepare for 2021, they have collected a mass of ideas from Gothenburgers, and set a number of partial deliveries.

“All of the information we have gathered will require a myriad of written documentation. But the question was how we could keep moving forward without losing our motivation or a shared view of the projects,” said Sofia Berntsson, Development Manager for Gothenburg 2021.

As well as compiling documentation, there was also a need to visualize the process in order to strengthen and systematize the progress of all initiatives. That was why we contacted Dreamler.

“What we have seen is how the visualization of project plans creates a light-bulb moment – it presents another view of the flow. And a visual system makes it easier to determine priorities, and provides excellent support for the project managers. We will also be including the communicators in the next stage.”

“After using Dreamler for one year, it is already clear how project members are acquiring a common understanding in a new way – senior staff too, which is important.”

After the seminar, participants were invited to test the Dreamler tool under the guidance of Ludvig Lindlöf and Mathias Gullbrandson. There were discussions and an insight into important details to help a team get started with visual collaboration and visual management.

According to Kristina Knaving, a PhD student in Interactive Design at Gothenburg University, the benefits of working visually are very clear.

“Being able to reach a common understanding through discussion! Problems often arise in discussions about how a project should move forward, and without a mutual understanding, people will walk away with very different views.You can also identify how individuals work in a system. For example, if you lose one employee, you have a better chance of replacing their specific way of working after building up a process like this.”

Marcus Holhammar from Dazibao AB said that the event gave him many new ideas.
“I run a company focused on reaching out with digital information to build culture and participation in organizations, and helping our customers to visualize their processes could very well be the next step for us.

”Visualization is hot. To develop our customer offering, we are interested in all of today’s new knowledge, new ideas and perspectives.”

Dan Helén participated in both the seminar and the workshop and welcomes new knowledge and new tools.

My instinctive reaction is that Visual Arena and Lindholmen Science Park are a hotbed for development. You can feel it by being here, it’s very stimulating! As a CFO, I have worked a great deal with processes. I personally believe we have far too much information – that it has to be simplified – and that the Dreamler tool is a step in the right direction.”

 

Would you like to learn more about visualization tools – in theory or in practice? You are welcome to contact Visual Arena. Our aim is to create specialized offers based on your needs.