Idea Generation: I am an
Administrative Support Assistant at Tobyhanna Army Depot. The job I have consists of three job roles in
one position and this is because the organization I work for is much smaller
than a lot of the other organizations at Tobyhanna but it is a lot of work for
one person to maintain. The biggest
problem I run into is making sure that every single task I am handed is
completed. I usually get them done on
time however it’s a very fast-paced environment and it can make your day very
stressful trying to get a bunch of things done.
I used to think eight hours was a long work day but now I feel like
there isn’t enough time in the day and usually end up having to work overtime. We use Microsoft Outlook for our email, to
schedule meetings, and to email the tasks that we need to have completed. A lot of the tasks I am given are through
email but when you receive over 100 emails a day this can be very hard to keep
up with. I think email is a very
unreliable source to ensure people are aware of and can complete all the tasks
that are assigned to them and I really think there could easily be a better
system to maintain this. I think there
should be a software program that maintains only the tasks that are due sort of
like Microsoft Outlook except with no email or meetings involved at all. Instead of sending an email to someone, you
will write up what the suspense is and attach it sort of like you would to an
email but have it work somewhat like a shared drive where people can open the
spreadsheet or word document, make their updates and save it so that when the
suspense is due the person consolidating the information can just go in and
clean up the work without having to open a bunch of emails containing a bunch
of different spreadsheets or word documents just to copy it all into one
finalized version. My product is going
to be a computer program that maintains only tasks and suspenses that are due
in an organization and in this program employees will be able to attach
whatever assignment they need to complete and have it all updated in one place
so that when they are ready to send it out they have all the information they
need and just need to review or clean it up before sending out the completed
task. I think it would be great if this program
looks just like a weekly calendar in Outlook where you can print out your day
and it will tell you every suspense you have due. I think this would make people more
accountable, save time employees would have spent searching for a bunch of
different emails containing all the different responses, and make them more
productive by being more organized about all of the work that is due. In addition, if an employee is out sick
his/her boss or replacement for the day can go into their daily tasks and
ensure that everything that was to be turned in that day is still done instead
of having to wait the next day until the employee returns.
Idea Screening: I
definitely think organizations all over have a real need and desire for a
program like this and they will definitely utilize it. The organization I work for has over 5,000
employees and I would say the biggest problem that we come across is people
missing tasks, actions, or suspenses because everyone relies on email. All of the employees in administrative
positions receive at least 50 emails a day which makes it very easy to overlook
something that you may have missed when you got sidetracked. I believe having all things that are due in
one centralized location would be a much more reliable way for organizations to
ensure there work is getting done. I
also believe that building the program so it can hold attachments that can be
updated in one location would save the company time and money. Some employees are more efficient or have
more time so they can get things turned in right away, some may turn it in a day
or two before, and others may wait until the day it is due to complete it so
you are going to have several different responses over a period of days in your
inbox and you are going to have to make sure you are very careful and find
every email that pertains to that suspense so you don’t miss any of the answers. The closest thing I have seen to this kind of
idea in my organization is a “Suspense Tracker” which is supposed to maintain
all of the suspenses but the problem is not everyone uses it and they start off
well until finally the person handing out the suspenses decides to stop
updating it and goes back to sending emails.
I think if there was a reliable program that could make this easier for
everyone, could have all the answers ready for them in one place, and be
available for everyone to use that organizations would find this very beneficial
and definitely spend the money to implement the program. This would also allow them to ensure they are
not missing any suspenses and supervisors could even click into the suspense to
make sure their directorate’s answers were submitted. This program could make their organizations a
lot more efficient, productive, and profitable because they will be getting
their work out at a much faster pace which will allow them more time to get ahead
of the game or allow them more time to come up with new ideas that can better
their organization.
Concept Development and
Testing:
·
Concept: A program that will maintain tasks and assignments an organization
is working on. In addition, it will maintain
the spreadsheets, word documents, etc. that need to be completed and allow them
to be updated so that everyone’s answers are located in one place without
having to search through a bunch of emails to find them. This will allow organizations to ensure all
employees are aware of assignments that are due, have access to the
assignments, and that they are all done and completed accurately and on time.
·
Testing: The testing
will take place in organizations that would be able to utilize this program. If it were an organization like Tobyhanna, I
would probably test it within a directorate rather than the whole organization
to be able to find out the flaws before it was implemented throughout the
entire depot. Once they were able to use
the program for a while I would make up a survey asking users the following
questions:
·
Do
you think that using email to send out, track, and consolidate suspenses is
efficient and always reliable?
·
Do
you believe this new program will be able to track tasks and suspenses better
than the current process your organization uses?
·
What
advantages and benefits does this program have?
·
What
improvements would you recommend we make before implementing this program
throughout your whole organization?
·
What
would be a fair price to charge for this kind of program?
·
Would
you buy this program for your organization?
Marketing Strategy
Development: The target market is large
organizations seeking an innovative, compelling software program that will help
their organization be more successful. The software will be arranged to show how it
can improve their company’s effectiveness and productivity all while saving
them time and money due to its convenience. The company will aim to sell 25,000
software programs in the first year, at a loss of no more than $7 million
dollars. In the second year, the company will aim to sell 50,000 programs with
a profit of $13 million.
Business Analysis: The expected cost for marketing is $250,000, research and development
is $250, 000, and operations around $1 million.
Product Development: The
expected timeframe for the development of this software program is eight months. Once developed, the Research and Development
team will test the software program to ensure it is reliable and efficient as
promised, user-friendly, and to work out any bugs that may cause issues once
the software is distributed.
Test Marketing: For this
software program, the company would allow an organization that handles a lot of
tasks and assignments to test the product and get updates from them as to what
the advantages and benefits are or what problems they are encountering.
Commercialization: The program will be introduced in the northern US states and in
the Summer/Fall season.
