Create a Functional Checklist

Learning Objectives

After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:

• Explain why a functional checklist is important.
  
• List three typical documentation gaps.
  
• List three types of data included in a checklist.
  
• Explain what a RACI spreadsheet is.
  

Introduction

Even when you work with a wonderful team and everyone gets along, unstated assumptions about who’s responsible for what can create misunderstandings or slow the project down. That’s why you need to document who’s responsible for each task in a storefront implementation, and why all members of the team need to review the task allocation and agree to it.

Create a functional checklist to track:

• Project tasks
  
• Participant roles
  
• Task and functional area ownership
  

When you explore tasks and assignments in a systematic way, you can identify missing tasks, duplication of effort, and assignment gaps more easily, and you prevent miscommunication and project delays.

Two documents that can help with process are a checklist for operating on Agentforce Commerce for B2C and a RACI spreadsheet.

Create a Checklist

We recommend you document who’s responsible for each task in a checklist for operating on Agentforce Commerce for B2C. The checklist helps you focus your team on key areas such as merchandising, operations, and administration. It also helps you identify roles within the merchant’s organization that are responsible for these areas. This isn’t a checklist of all the tasks required for the launch. Instead, it prompts your team to consider what’s needed for effective site operations both before and after launch.

Document Roles and Responsibilities

These are some typical roles for operating a Agentforce Commerce for B2C site. In the checklist, document who fills each role, and whether that function is being provided by a resource within the merchant’s organization, by an external partner or vendor, or by Salesforce.

• Project Management
  
• Web Operations
  
• Buying Team
  
• Merchandising
  
• UX Team
  
• Content Team
  
• SEO Team
  
• Analytics Team
  
• Marketing Team
  
• IT
  

The operating on Agentforce Commerce for B2C sheet typically has two tabs, Ecommerce Business Activities and Agentforce Commerce for B2C Activities, which divide the tasks by overall function.

Ecommerce Business Activities Tab

This tab lists the business-related tasks, which are grouped as follows:

• Product preparation
  
• Agentforce Commerce for B2C content production
  
• User experience management
  
• Buying and selling
  
• Business operations
  
• Web operations
  
• Customer relationship management
  
• Customer acquisition
  

For each task on each of these tabs, document who fills each role and which organization provides the resource.

Agentforce Commerce for B2C Activities Tab

This tab lists the Agentforce Commerce for B2C platform-related tasks, which are grouped as follows:

• Service delivery and platform management
  
• Product support
  
• Core platform development
  

Create a RACI Spreadsheet

A RACI spreadsheet can make your life a whole lot easier.

RACI stands for responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed. A RACI chart is a matrix of the activities or decision-making authorities in an organization, relative to all the people or roles.

A RACI document can have many pages, starting with an overview or high-level summary. Here’s a sample high-level RACI sheet.

In addition to a high-level sheet, create one or more sheets that show greater details. For example, picture Management of content calendar  as a line item on the second sheet.

This is how the first set of role columns would look.

To see more columns from the sample, let’s turn this column 90 degrees. For example, Web Operations would have three more columns, and the Buying Team, two.

You get the idea. Now create your own RACI spreadsheet.

Find Checklist Gaps

One of your jobs—and it’s an important one—is to identify gaps in the checklist.

Use this list to check your checklist. Any question you answer no to indicates a documentation gap.

1. Are all the tasks listed?
   
2. Are all roles listed?
   
3. Did you include all the roles and tasks for each type of participant?
   
4. Did you clearly identify if a role is owned by the merchant, partner, or Salesforce?
   
5. Are there any items where merchant responsibilities are incorrectly assigned to the implementation partner or vice versa?
   

Now report on your findings and fill in the missing information.

Next Steps

We discussed two documents that help you align project resources, responsibilities, and tasks. Now it’s time to learn about the Agentforce Commerce for B2C architecture diagram.