Reflection – Visualization

Challenge     I’m working as a Project Manager, developing Solar Energy Projects in Chile -mid size  Zayed University. The company where I work on is going through a fast pace growth  process while facing bigger and more complex projects. I’m an entry level Industrial  Engineer -with limited experience in the field- in charge of the most important (bigger) solar  project of the company, which requires approval of an Environmental Impact Statement  (EIS). Obtaining an EIS approval considers (at least) a 12 months multi-disciplinary  challenging process which I needed to fully understand for planning, budgeting and having  successful, on time, quality and within budget results.      Selection    So far at the company, there is one EIS Eolic Project experience (on course at the moment)  but none documentation or previous work regarding understanding the whole process, its  parts, critical paths, resources, inputs, etc. Then, I decided to begin an information gathering  process involving the environmental, engineering and management areas of the company.  Then the Visualization Tool came in the form of a flowchart.     Application     Thankfully, our in-house environmental team has enough experience and knowledge  regarding EISs. So given it was mainly an environmental subject, first thing was getting  together on a meeting room with the environmental team and then genuinely we started  this conversation about “what is?” – I really knew very little about it. So, I began taking  notes for a few minutes until my “industrial spirit” came out and I took a whiteboard marker  to begin the creation of this flowchart throughout a flourishing iteration process. We  started setting the main parts of an EIS and, as the flowchart got shaped, we were able to  ask questions regarding internal previous process needed, inputs, outputs, critical tasks and  a bunch of other details. Then this first flowchart was shared with the development  manager and engineering staff getting further feedback and additional iterations. It was  definitely a very exiting experience for me at the moment, I felt like creating value to the  company.          Insight     By applying the Visualization tool, we were quickly able to get a clear (easy) understanding  of an EIS framework. Then, through a Q&A iteration process, getting to know which were  the key tasks, how they relate to each other, which inputs are needed, internal and external  resources that need to be planned, among others.   Maybe the most basic insight is to realize how visualizing -even just a basic chart with little  info.- gives this new perspective which leads to broad and deeper understanding of the

issue. Even those experts in the subject were able to get new perspectives and deeper  understanding.  An additional insight is we were able to check the fundamental of involving various  stakeholders and points of view to create the most value and insights.   Finally, the created flowchart allows project managers and staff from different areas of the  company to better understanding the key process for the company by a friendly and easy  way.     Approach    If going through a similar process again I would take few minutes to prepare a presentation  and formally show the company staff and managers the created material, insights and  value. Nevertheless, the created chart has all essential information on it, its key to verbally  communicate in order to assure a good understanding. Many workmates and manager  don’t take the time to look closer and get the insights of the work done.

