As more and more new companies and organizations pop up it is important to make sure that the product or solutions that an organization plan to develop is relevant to your target customers and not just another book to be placed in a shelf. The 6-step validation process which illustrates the main message that Mitchell Harper wanted to impart to the readers of his blog article, The Startup Framework to Validate Your Idea before You Spend $1. As our group ventures on developing our output for our next activity for this class, there are 3 things that I got out from this framework which will be helpful in the guiding us on how to properly communicate the importance of knowing and understanding the cultural history of our country.
PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION IS ALWAYS THE FIRST STEP.
When you have this concept in mind which you think is a great solution to implement. It has always been the norm to identify the number one problem that needs to be solved, doing so avoids the waste of time, effort and money of every member involved in the implementation of the project. It also helps the organization find its main area of focus, by identifying one focus area the organization is more inclined to making quality solutions compared to having no focus and having substandard solutions for multiple problems. One example worth noting is from the organization that I am currently part of in the university, in AIESEC each department and the Executive board, aside from the weekly and monthly meetings, semi-annual meetings are conducted this is when they evaluate the progress of the department and the whole organization to see what can be further improved to have better outcomes and be more productive. On those meetings, areas of improvements are identified, categorized by level of importance and possible solutions are thought out for these problems.
Before implementing solutions that we have in mind, its best to see if those ideas that we have are appropriate to the problem area identified before. Doing research gives a deeper insight on the problem and gives the organization an idea on how to go about the problem, it identifies the stakeholders affected by the problem, past solutions to the problem. It will help an organization fine tune the solution that an organization has in mind in a given problem and create better solutions from the data gathered in the research process.
TECHNOLOGY IS YOUR FRIEND.
Now that everything is moving so fast and organizations are transitioning to the digital scene new technological inventions are created to make an organization more effective. Whether it be communicating their mission to possible customers or keeping contact with old ones. Communication technologies, such as the various Google online softwares, Dropbox, iCloud, various social media, etcetera, these inventions can help in mobilizing the organizations work in the research stage of the implementation of the solution that they have in mind. Organizations can gain valuable information by researching the problems in the organization, doing informal interviews through Skype, email pertinent people questions about the problem.
It can also positively affect the Customer Relation Management of an organization to its clients or customers, having websites or social media accounts organizations have a wider reach to their intended audience and they also can take care of any issues that their customers have with the organization. Internally, communication will help the organization run smoothly as members of the organization can access documents easily, easy communication to other employees can be facilitated through chats, and alternative work areas are offered such as Google Docs gives room more open discussions and interactive communication.
With all these ideas in mind, the framework that Mitchell Harper introduces is a good tool for all organizations not just start-ups. It will be a great blueprint for solutions when any problem arise in an organization.
MacKechnie, C. (n.d.). Information technology & its role in the modern organization. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/information-technology-its-role-modern-organization-1800.html
Pierce, S. (2005 May 31). Steps for turning your invention ideas into a product. Retrieved from http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/77962.
Ramey, K. (2012 November 30). Advantages and disadvantages of communication technology in an organization. Retrieved from http://www.useoftechnology.com/advantages-disadvantages-communication-technology-organization/.