{"id":656340,"date":"2018-07-20T12:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T19:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-blog-post&p=656340"},"modified":"2020-05-18T11:44:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T18:44:17","slug":"seattle-global-resops-workshop-recap-its-a-long-road-but-we-are-on-our-way","status":"publish","type":"msr-blog-post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/articles\/seattle-global-resops-workshop-recap-its-a-long-road-but-we-are-on-our-way\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle Global ResOps workshop recap: It’s a long road, but we are on our way"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Sheetal Agarwal (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Researchers

Note: This story was originally published on July 20, 2018, on Medium<\/p><\/div>\n

We explored what it takes to conduct the business of research<\/h3>\n

On June 28, twenty Seattle-based researchers, research operations specialists, and designers came together at Blink UX\u2019s downtown office to participate in the locally held global research operations community workshop \u2014 one of many around the world \u2014 and an additional panel hosted by Microsoft Research + Insight (R+I). As the research discipline grows and evolves, professionals focused on research operations (ResOps), or running the business of research, wanted to capture the zeitgeist of this moment and connect with each other. The workshop built off the growing momentum of the ResOps Slack community and focused on answering a timely and pressing question: \u201cWhat is research operations?\u201d<\/p>\n

While the workshop was not representative of all of Seattle\u2019s research community because of space constraints, participants represented a mix of organizational types: large technology organizations, startups, consultancies, and academia. During the three-hour workshop, attendees defined ResOps, shared and learned from one another about challenges and successes, and discussed opportunities for growth and collaboration as the ResOps culture shifts. The outcomes represent the Seattle flavor of ResOps and will inform global findings that will be shared in the coming months. So, what did we learn from one another?<\/p>\n

ResOps<\/strong> is all the things<\/strong><\/p>\n

What is ResOps exactly, according to Seattle participants? As one person aptly put it, \u201cIt\u2019s everything in research that doesn\u2019t have to do with research.\u201d It includes recruiting participants, paying gratuities, finding and implementing research tools, building teams and culture, and training non-research stakeholders. ResOps is about creating sustainable processes, sharing and scaling knowledge, and implementing tools, and its overall goal is to \u201clet researchers be researchers.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a bumpy road<\/strong><\/p>\n

As we talked, we learned we face a lot of common challenges. Perhaps unsurprisingly, resource constraints came up right away \u2014 they affect participants\u2019 ability to conduct research, hire strong talent, and implement the tools and processes required to make the work of research seamless. Additionally, we discussed our struggles in recruiting, communicating research\u2019s value, and tracking insights across products and product cycles to measure and evaluate customer impact.<\/p>\n

In terms of recruiting, discussion covered the difficulties of finding niche populations for product testing, logistical complexities of conducting international research and creating privacy-compliant systems and processes across research engagements.<\/p>\n

Another challenge raised was communicating the value and role of research. Participants found that product partners, such as designers or engineers, often don\u2019t understand what it takes to complete research (e.g., lead time for planning and designing, recruiting participants, reserving lab space), which disrupts product cycles. Engaging with stakeholders in the right way, at the right time in their processes, was a priority for many attendees.<\/p>\n

ResOps is all about scaling research, and managing knowledge and sharing insights are big parts of this work. Thus, finding tools or means to support sharing and collaboration across researchers and their product partners was another commonly raised challenge.<\/p>\n

“It’s important to be transparent with what you’re doing, and try to encourage others to be transparent, instead of everyone going off and doing their own thing and then coming back and realizing you’ve both done the same thing,” – Matt Dunigan, R + I<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Finally, there was recognition that as the role of research expands in this customer-obsessed era, researchers are being asked to train our partners in engaging with customers in situations such as customer interviews or quick usability testing. This requires time and resources to do right and do well.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all still learning<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the next part of the workshop, participants shared their lessons learned in building and growing ResOps within their organizations. Some participants found success in creating:<\/p>\n