Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge

I was a manager working in a consulting firm within the accounting advisory department.  Mostly because the digital transformation, the senior partners requested for all manager to  hold a meeting to discuss market needs and new products to be develop and to present a  proposition in the following days. It required a lot of knowledge about the clients and  prospects needs (previously obtained in multiple projects and discussions). The main  challenge was to present all the information and different ideas provided by each manager (8  people) in a concise and clear way and demonstrate the link between our client needs and  proposed products/services.

Selection

The tool selected for this exercise was the mind mapping. We used Miro (miro.com) as the  platform to create the mind map because it enables multiple users to co-create  simultaneously. We aimed to identify patterns in the information (a lot!) brought regarding  our clients and prospects needs. The tool was helpful because you can clearly visualize a  huge amount of data (client’s needs) and was possible to conclude what products should be  developed.

Application    We included in the mind map our prospects and client tasks and challenges and  brainstormed what would be the products more suitable, considering our expertise and  tools. We started with our client current needs and them we projected what would be their  needs after a digital transformation. We listed all regulations that they must comply and  what will their key stakeholders require today and in the following years. After we completed  our client (almost a persona) obligation, we started to design products that would reduce or  address their challenges. We aimed to identify products and services that are recurring and  scalable. After mapping all products, we assigned each product for a manager. Ultimately, we  had a full picture what we think that our client will need and a list of specific products to be  offered.

Insight

Using the tool in the context of our challenge that was presenting a proposition to the senior  partners of new products was extremely helpful. They were pleased that we also included a  kind of persona of our clients, which was not our initial goal. We also realized that we could  have engaged some of our clients in this discussion. This would probably result in more  reliable information regarding theirs needs (less biased).

Approach

The use of a mind mapping tool is strongly recommended when you need to formalize  different thoughts of multiply users to make connections. I used the same strategy in other  situations and every time the result is the same: everyone is extremely satisfied of how easy  is to put different thoughts in a piece of paper and to identify patterns and insights that have  always been there, but we never realized it. This is the main value added by this tool.

