Task C1.3: Implement Interactions
What is Task C1.3?
Task C1.3 is part of the "Decide" phase in the Viability Canvas methodology, specifically within the "Plan the Product Flow" step (Step C1). This task instructs you to "Write down the interactions and dependencies, e.g., delivery relations, coordination, or the need to access shared resources. Add notes about the intersection of the environments. In some cases, there may be significant overlaps—for example, a series of shops supplying the same market. In others, they may be minimal—for example, divisions of a company dealing with different parts of the world. Note what materials or information pass between the operational units. Find ways to implement these interactions, such as artifacts, roles, procedures, etc."
Purpose of Implementing Interactions
The purpose of this task is to identify and design how the operational units you've defined will interact with each other and their environments. This serves several important functions:
- Ensuring coherence: Making sure the individual units function as an integrated whole
- Defining interfaces: Establishing clear points of interaction between units
- Managing dependencies: Identifying and addressing areas where units depend on each other
- Designing coordination: Creating mechanisms to harmonize activities across units
- Balancing autonomy and integration: Allowing units to operate independently while maintaining system cohesion
By effectively implementing interactions, you create the connectivity required for your segmented operational units to function as a viable system rather than isolated silos.
Understanding Interactions in VSM
In the context of the Viability Canvas and VSM, interactions between operational units include:
- Material flows: Physical items that move from one unit to another
- Information flows: Data, specifications, schedules, and feedback shared between units
- Resource sharing: Common use of people, equipment, or facilities
- Environmental overlaps: Interactions with the same or related external entities
- Coordination needs: Requirements for aligning plans, schedules, or standards
These interactions represent the connections that integrate independent operational units into a coherent whole, while also connecting them to their relevant environments.
How to Complete Task C1.3
To effectively implement interactions between operational units:
- Map the flows between operational units:
- Material flows: What physical items move between units?
- Information flows: What data, specifications, or feedback is exchanged?
- Timing dependencies: Where must one unit wait for another?
- Quality dependencies: Where does one unit rely on another's quality?
- Identify environmental intersections:
- Common customers or market segments
- Shared suppliers or resources
- Overlapping regulatory requirements
- Similar technological domains
- Document resource sharing requirements:
- Specialized equipment or facilities
- Expert personnel or specialized skills
- Budgets or financial resources
- Information systems or data repositories
- Design implementation mechanisms for each interaction type:
- Artifacts: Documents, data systems, visual management boards
- Roles: Liaison positions, coordinators, shared service providers
- Procedures: Handoff protocols, escalation processes, quality checks
- Meetings: Coordination sessions, planning rituals, review cycles
- Systems: Information flows, tracking mechanisms, feedback loops
- Evaluate effectiveness criteria for each interaction:
- Clarity: Are responsibilities and expectations clear?
- Efficiency: Does the interaction minimize waste and delays?
- Reliability: Is the interaction consistent and dependable?
- Adaptability: Can the interaction adjust to changing conditions?
- Scalability: Will the interaction work as volumes change?
Example from Canned Tornado
In the Canned Tornado case study, they identified and implemented these key interactions:
- Cell Production → Module Productions:
- Material flow: Completed battery cells moving to module assembly
- Information flow: Cell specifications, quality metrics, production schedules
- Implementation:
- Kanban system for material flow signaling
- Quality specification documents with clear acceptance criteria
- Daily coordination meeting between cell and module production leads
- Shared environment: Material supply:
- Environmental overlap: All production units requiring common raw materials
- Resource dependency: Limited storage space and material handling equipment
- Implementation:
- Centralized material planning role with visibility across all units
- Shared inventory management system
- Prioritization protocol for allocation during shortages
- Test Center interactions with all production units:
- Material flow: Completed products for testing, return of rejected items
- Information flow: Test results, quality metrics, failure analysis
- Implementation:
- Standardized test request forms with priority indicators
- Real-time digital dashboards showing test results
- Regular quality review meetings with all production units
- Standard Module and Special Module coordination:
- Resource sharing: Some common assembly equipment and personnel
- Production scheduling dependencies
- Implementation:
- Visual management board showing equipment schedule
- Cross-training program for flexible staffing
- Weekly capacity planning meeting
By documenting and implementing these interactions, Canned Tornado ensured that their operational units would function as an integrated system despite their segmentation.
Approaches to Implementing Different Types of Interactions
When designing implementation mechanisms for different types of interactions:
- For material flows:
- Pull systems (like Kanban) to signal when materials are needed
- Clear handoff protocols with quality acceptance criteria
- Visual management to show flow status
- Buffer management rules for handling variations
- For information flows:
- Standardized templates for critical information
- Regular synchronization meetings
- Shared information systems with appropriate access
- Visual management boards for status communication
- For resource sharing:
- Capacity allocation processes with clear priorities
- Booking systems for shared equipment
- Cross-training programs for personnel flexibility
- Service level agreements for shared services
- For environmental intersections:
- Coordinated external communication
- Shared relationship management for common stakeholders
- Joint planning for market or supplier interactions
- Consistent standards for external engagement
- For decision dependencies:
- Clear decision rights and escalation paths
- Regular synchronization of plans
- Joint problem-solving forums
- Feedback mechanisms to learn from outcomes
By thoughtfully designing these interaction mechanisms, you ensure that your operational units can maintain appropriate autonomy while still functioning as an integrated whole, creating a viable system that effectively delivers value to customers.