1. Improving Department-Wide
Efficiencies within Content Development
Marie Erickson, Nicole Hamilton, Kelly Pomeroy
Introduction
Deliverables
Development
BenefitsMethod
Management would like to use tool to
analyze processing time to identify
bottlenecks, and benchmark for future
projects.
Figure 1: Fishbone Diagram Extracted from Stakeholder Interviews
Data Tool
Stakeholder Interviews
Figure 2: Process for Completing Project Tasks
Continuous EducationScrum Plan
Current State:
• 2 weekly meetings
• Blockers, HR/Admin,
Benchmarking
• <50% time spent on Blockers
• Satisfaction Survey: overall
3.5/5.0 rating
Proposed Future State:
• Modified traditional Agile Scrum
framework
• Daily standups
• HR/Admin and Benchmarking
as needed
• Scrum Master position allows
for leadership opportunities
NOTE: Started phased implementation,
multiple trial runs needed to confirm
improvement
Abilities:
• Analysis by project and by sub-
discipline
• Calculates average time per
question
• Displays information graphically
Figure 3: ASUColPhysMechL2 Info
Maintain:
• Relevant professional
development in HR meetings
• Allow for suggestions and
presentation opportunities
• Training by peers
Modify:
• Show and Tell for separate job
descriptions (bi-monthly)
• Discussion sessions instead of
presentations (hot keys,
shortcuts, style, etc.)
Propose:
• Resource Master for each team
(to keep track of scattered
resources within department)
• Cross-team mentorship program
within sub disciplines
Deliverable Related Benefits
Scrum Plan
 Increased team productivity and communication
 Increased leadership opportunities
 Creates a goal oriented workplace
Data Tool  Allows management to make educated guess for future benchmarking and planning
Continuous Education
 Creates opportunity for personal growth for employees’ general career path
 Increased leadership opportunities
 Topic consideration will increase attendance and participation
Acknowledgements: Anna Milner – Director of Content Development, Lauren Knapp – Content Development Manager, Dr. Binil Starly – Faculty Advisor
WebAssign is an online educational tool used to enhance the learning of high school and college students. The Content Development team creates questions either from scratch or from textbook material
and codes the questions to be published and used on the WebAssign platform. WebAssign recently implemented a number of changes within the Content Development department. Management was unsure
if they were operating at peak efficiency, so our team was called in to be a fresh set of eyes for the department.
First, we interviewed about 15 employees within the Content Development
department to get a grasp on the atmosphere and dynamic of the department.
From initial analysis, we decided to pursue three main deliverables:
1. Create and agile scrum plan
2. Develop a dynamic process time analysis tool
3. Present a continuous education template