REFLECTION - MIND MAPPING

CHALLENGE:

My job is to define the implementation of a software solution for managing network infrastructure. Software is installed but it requires a large number of customizations, such as what are the most important  information  that  should  be  highlighted  on  the  screen,  what  types  of  technical  and management reporting, what functions should be deployed or not, define how users will interact with the systems. I have a very large team working on each project, from 15 to 30 depending on the complexity and time frame we have to implement. Teams are divided by knowledge competence, some of which will interview  the end user, others  will interview  the various  technology areas  users, managers  and directors. The amount of information is immense, and even if there is standardization in the questions, we often do not get the desired result, and we often need to redo the interviews or redo the work when we realize that we are doing it in a way that the client does not want.

SELECTION

I tried several techniques and tools to organize the information of the various groups but they were all very laborious, complicated and the result was still very confusing most of the time. The rework was frequent, costing much time and money of all. Mind Mapping has proven to be a very powerful tool because it allows information to be organized in a logical,  visual  and  easily  understood  way.  By  being  visual  it  eliminates  the  large  amount  of spreadsheets and reports, which make it difficult to understand because of its complexity.

APPLICATION, INSIGHT & APPROACH

When I used Mind Mapping for the first time, I did not warn anyone in advance. The meeting agenda was to consolidate the information of 12 teams and define the work groups according to the results of the technical interviews and with the managers. Great chance to be a confusing and tiring meeting. I told everyone I would not use traditional systems and went to the whiteboard. A very large white board! I asked the groups to start reading their reports and began to create a Mind Map with the information. They quickly realized that the information was being placed clearly, and every comment, suggestion, or conclusion was added to the map, using various colors and even drawings. In the end, for the first time we had a clear view of the needs of each area based on the information collected.  We  needed  to  do  very  few  additional  interviews,  and  now  every  team  had  a  clear understanding of the whole project. Using Mind Mapping was just the beginning. We are all studying Design Thinking and we will certainly change our way of creating and defining projects even more.

