Reflection – Visualisation tool

Challenge & Selection

The tool that I used is visualisation tool, to make sure that the problem statement is clearly  understood by a diverse group of stakeholders before even attempting to identify and define  possible solutions to the problem and also all of the problem statements are grey area topics and  hence it’s very important that everyone’s understanding on the problem statement is elegant

To dig deeper my role in the organisation is to solve the problems that our clients face no matter  how trivial the problem is by using, adapting and implementing innovative solutions which we have  in the company in a cost effective way either through co-partnership model or agile contracting but  due to this COVID pandemic there is very less demand from the clients end and there is an ever  growing demand from the technology companies to proactively approach them and address the  challenges which would help the client to be able to function in the best frugal way which is the  need of the hour.

As a part of this exercise I have carried out initial research on trending topics in the applicable  industry and also referred to the account’s internal business challenges report after which I have  shortlisted few of the problem statements based on the following assumptions - the severity of the  problem both financially and operationally and the impact it would have once the issue is resolved

Post which it was time to do primary research in which there are set of probing questions for various  stakeholder from clients side and also internal stakeholders and the questions are framed in such a  way that it enables a clear understanding on the scope, boundaries, exact pain point and the  solutions that are relevant/ applicable

Application:

Then it’s time to invite everyone and conduct a design thinking workshop that involves diverse  teams to come up with solution ideas and before that there’s a graphic that’s drawn on the  whiteboard that depicts what the problem exactly is, supported data points that we have

A sheet will be given to each one of them that contains the research findings pertaining to the  problem statement and sticky notes to record the solution and each one can come up with multiple  solutions and there is no limit on that

I have used minto pyramid analysis (sort of visualisation tool which is used to process and structure  large amounts of information to convey a story, message or presentation without omitting  important detail)

To explain the timeline it is explaining the problem statement – 5 mins, Time to digest the problem  statement – 10 mins and 30 mins to think of various solutions and 45 mins on solution discussion

Once they have come up with the solutions we’ll have to categorise the solutions that the  stakeholders came up and this case I had done it in 3 parts

To identify the themes which we are feasible if feasible do we have an internal solution/ solution is  feasible

Or

Themes which are feasible but we don’t have any internal solution

Or

That the proposed solution is not feasible or applicable at all

Based on these segregations we have first looked at our internal solutions which are feasible and  have analysed if the problem could be solved with the already available assets at our disposal and  analysed the cost factors to the ease of the solution through which we will be able to shortlist a  solution

Post which we will draw the revised graphic that depicts the implementation of the shortlisted  solution that incorporates the team’s feedback and proposed changes that they agreed to as a group

Insights & Approach

The main pointer that we need to keep in mind is as a moderator of the session one needs to have  an open mind and not be partial to anything and hence the reason moderator is never a decision  maker and all he/she does is facilitate the session and abide by the participants decisions

Other pointer is it’s not a group discussion each and every participant’s opinion in the session is  designated in a particular category as in this case feasible solution but no internal solution that we  can leverage etc.

In addition yet again it underlies the importance of visualisation tool and how it makes the job easy  and helps to get everyone on the same page without a differing opinion and this graphic keeps on  changing dynamically based on the participants opinion and it serves a focal point for all discussions  that allows them to share their perspectives and develop insights into potential root causes of their  problems thereby reinforcing their understanding of the problem they are working to solve

Visualisation also helps to identify any shortcomings in the problem statement or that the data we  have so far i.e. is there anything additional to be added to the graphic and in what areas they need  to obtain information etc.

Thank you!

