In the previous meeting, the team created a “Daily Work Inventory” and filled the whiteboard with every task they could think of.
Email handling, meetings, document preparation, customer support… It was a great start, but the categories were still rough and not yet systematic.
On the day of the next meeting, morning light streamed into the conference room. Laptops and notebooks reflected the glow on the large table. Kamiya stood at the whiteboard, ready to refine what they had begun.
Kamiya: “Last time, we listed our daily work. Today, I’ve reorganized it a bit. I adjusted the wording and structure to make the categories easier to use for our DX discussions.”
She wrote down the revised top-level categories on the board:
- Communication
- Meetings
- Document Creation
- Planning & Research
- Development & Technical Work
- Operations & Maintenance
- Sales & Marketing
- HR, General Affairs & Administration
- Education & Training
- Information Security
Kamiya: “Previously, we just wrote down things like ‘email’ or ‘meetings.’ Now I’ve separated customer support into communication or sales, and added information security as its own category. Do we all agree on this structure?”
Everyone nodded. “This is clearer,” someone said. The framework was set, and the team was ready for the next step.
Kamiya: “Now, let’s assign responsibility for each area so we can build a two-layer structure.”
She pointed to each category in turn:
- Shiraishi → Communication
- Moriyama → Meetings
- Ayase → Document Creation
- Honda → Development & Technical Work
- Kamiya added: “Honda is still learning, so Ayase, please support him.”
- Mizuno → Sales & Marketing (well-suited, since she often works outside)
- Sakakibara → Operations & Maintenance
- Hayakawa → HR, General Affairs & Administration
- Sakakibara & Mizuno → Planning & Research (a core area that needs both perspectives)
- Ayase & Honda → Education & Training (Ayase as trainer, Honda as trainee)
- Shiraishi → Information Security (technically complex, requiring his expertise)
Assignments were set. Each member would take their category home as “homework,” refine it into detailed tasks, and bring it back for the next session.
A few days later, the group reconvened in the conference room. Papers, sticky notes, and laptops were spread across the table as each member presented their findings. Kamiya wrote on the whiteboard as the categories expanded into two layers of detail.
Moriyama: “Meetings take up more than we thought—regulars, project updates, client sessions… sometimes the same topic repeats.”
Mizuno: “Sales looks very different when split into in-person visits and online outreach.”
Sakakibara: “Planning and research are investments in the future. Making them explicit is important in itself.”
Ayase: “Honda, the notes we organized together are looking good.”
Honda: “Thanks! Breaking them down like this makes it clearer where the problems are.”
The squeak of the marker echoed in the room as tasks filled the board, transforming into a map of the team’s work.
Shiraishi: “Now it’s obvious where DX can make a difference. We can see overlaps and inefficiencies right here.”
Kamiya: “Exactly. This map shows our whole landscape. The next step is deciding what to improve first.”
Confidence began to replace uncertainty as the team looked at the completed board.
Reference: Two-Layer Work Inventory (with Assignments)
| Category | Subtasks | Assigned |
|---|---|---|
| Communication | Checking and replying to emails Phone calls (clients, partners, internal) Chat (Slack, Teams, etc.) Internal updates and reports Customer support (Q&A, tech support) | Shiraishi |
| Meetings | Regular meetings (weekly, monthly) Project progress updates Planning and strategy meetings Technical reviews Client discussions (requirements, etc.) | Moriyama |
| Document Creation | Proposals, estimates, reports Meeting materials Specifications and design docs Manuals and procedures Meeting minutes | Ayase |
| Planning & Research | New service planning Market and competitor research Technical research and selection User research and feedback analysis | Sakakibara, Mizuno |
| Development & Technical Work | System and service design & development Coding and unit tests Code reviews Bug fixes and incident response CI/CD operations and improvements | Honda (with Ayase’s support) |
| Operations & Maintenance | System monitoring and log checks Incident response and recovery Account management and configuration Regular maintenance Document updates | Sakakibara |
| Sales & Marketing | Client engagement (hearings, proposals) Estimates and contracts Sales activity (emails, visits) PR and promotions Content marketing | Mizuno |
| HR, General Affairs & Administration | Attendance and requests Expense and budget management Recruitment and interviews Internal systems and improvements Events and training | Hayakawa |
| Education & Training | Internal study sessions Technical training and OJT Knowledge sharing (Wiki, Notion) Mentoring and onboarding | Ayase, Honda |
| Information Security | Reviewing access rights Incident drills Policy updates Monitoring for data leaks | Shiraishi |