Example Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge: I work as a Manager-People Operations at an Ed-Tech start-up. My stakeholders are  largely employees at all levels and the Leadership team too. As a growing organization, we have  always faced challenges with the First-Time Managers effectiveness on the floor. Not that they were  bad at their work but largely being Managers for the first time has its own downside.  They were expected to change their focus from being an individual contributor to a team driver;  which means managing their team members, their performances, accountability, displaying  authority, delegating, managing conflict, mentoring, developing and coaching the team etc. As a  result, we wanted to develop an exhaustive training which would help our first-time managers  (quorum of 15) to be coached in such a way that they can be good coaches for their teams.

Selection: In order to do this exercise, I chose Mind Mapping Tool as this tool will offer creative and  graphical way to represent ideas and concepts which helps in structuring information, analysing,  comprehending, synthesizing and generating new ideas. As per the video Lecture by Iris Donovan,  this tool is very creative in translating observations into insights and insights into design criteria.

Application: We began First-Time Managers training by creating the data with the names of the  participants, department, designation, number of direct reports etc. After having designed the table  of contents in the training, which included formal process training and fundamentals of team  building, we wanted to help our Managers to identify their own strengths and areas of improvement  as part of this exercise. For which we used Johari Window activity. The Johari window is a technique  that helps people better understand their relationship with themselves and others. We tweaked this  exercise by getting the Managers to talk to 3 or more stakeholders (Immediate Manager/Ex- Manager, 2 team members, 1 external stakeholder) to describe their personality. We also briefed  them about Mind Mapping tool to structure their thoughts as per the objectives.

As a result of this exercise, the inputs were collated in 4 larger sections: Open Area (an attribute  which says I know and You know), Blind Area (I don’t know and You know), Hidden Area (I know and  you don’t know) and Unknown Area (Both don’t know).

Using Mind mapping process, we analysed the observations to capture and represent the personality  inputs received by the managers. It was indeed an engaging technique, being more intuitive and  creative.

Insights: Once this data collating exercise was completed, managers were invited to a meeting  room in order to develop a common mind among them about the reality of the design challenge  they were facing managing their respective teams.

Conversation broke out by discussing the Open Area which by large showcased the attributes which  got them promoted. Environment was full on high energy. Attributes were written down on the  white board. Similarly discussed on Blind Area and wrote them down on the board. This exercise  continued until the Hidden Area and Unknown Area were also written down on the board.

Through mind mapping, the managers started extracting meaning from the data in a way that let  patterns and insights emerge. Patterns and insights which otherwise would have been missed, as  they would have gone about as a piecemeal through the data. This continued until meaningful  insight statements emerged.

This made the Managers draw insights about: Which are the common attributes in all of them?  Which attribute was an outlier? Which attributes requires them to work on? Which needs corrective  action? Which attributes weren’t being exercised? etc.

Towards the end of the exercise, we were able to arrive at an exhaustive lists of attributes which are  good to have, must have, do not have, good to avoid, good to cultivate etc.

A meaningful discussion which made managers introspect themselves and arrived at the conclusion  that they should start working on those insights consciously. After this exercise, we have had  multiple sessions to work on the attributes to develop collectively through role plays and discussing  on real-time issues on the floor. Also we conducted Individual Development Plans (IDP) to help the  managers to work on their weak areas separately with subject matter experts.

Approach: Next time, we would work both on Mind Mapping tool and Storytelling tool. This is  largely to see the effectiveness of the insights collated to that of the collated data with the new set  of first-time managers.


Example Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge : I work as a Manager - People Operations at an Ed - Tech start - up . My stakeholders are largely employees at all levels and the Leadership team too . As a growing organization , we have always faced challenges with the First - Time Managers effectiveness on the floor . Not that they were bad at their work but largely being Managers for the first time has its own downside . They were expected to change their focus from being an individual contributor to a team driver ; which means managing their team members , their performances , accountability , displaying authority , delegating , managing conflict , mentoring , developing and coaching the team etc . As a result , we wanted to develop an exhaustive training which would help our first - time managers ( quorum of 15 ) to be coached in such a way that they can be good coaches for their teams . Selection : In order to do this exercise , I chose Mind Mapping Tool as this tool will offer creative and graphical way to represent ideas and concepts which helps in structuring information , analysing , comprehending , synthesizing and generating new ideas . As per the video Lecture by Iris Donovan , this tool is very creative in translating observations into insights and insights into design criteria . Application : We began First - Time Managers training by creating the data with the names of the participants , department , designation , number of direct reports etc . After having designed the table of contents in the training , which included formal process training and fundamentals of team building , we wanted to help our Managers to identify their own strengths and areas of improvement as part of this exercise . For which we used Johari Window activity . The Johari window is a technique that helps people better understand their relationship with themselves and others . We tweaked this exercise by getting the Managers to talk to 3 or more stakeholders ( Immediate Manager / Ex- Manager , 2 team members , 1 external stakeholder ) to describe their personality . We also briefed them about Mind Mapping tool to structure their thoughts as per the objectives . As a result of this exercise , the inputs were collated in 4 larger sections : Open Area ( an attribute which says I know and You know ) , Blind Area ( I do n’t know and You know ) , Hidden Area ( I know and you do n’t know ) and Unknown Area ( Both do n’t know ) . Using Mind mapping process , we analysed the observations to capture and represent the personality inputs received by the managers . It was indeed an engaging technique , being more intuitive and creative . Insights : Once this data collating exercise was completed , managers were invited to a meeting room in order to develop a common mind among them about the reality of the design challenge they were facing managing their respective teams . Conversation broke out by discussing the Open Area which by large showcased the attributes which got them promoted . Environment was full on high energy . Attributes were written down on the white board . Similarly discussed on Blind Area and wrote them down on the board . This exercise continued until the Hidden Area and Unknown Area were also written down on the board . Through mind mapping , the managers started extracting meaning from the data in a way that let patterns and insights emerge . Patterns and insights which otherwise would have been missed , as they would have gone about as a piecemeal through the data . This continued until meaningful insight statements emerged . This made the Managers draw insights about : Which are the common attributes in all of them ? Which attribute was an outlier ? Which attributes requires them to work on ? Which needs corrective action ? Which attributes were n’t being exercised ? etc . Towards the end of the exercise , we were able to arrive at an exhaustive lists of attributes which are good to have , must have , do not have , good to avoid , good to cultivate etc . A meaningful discussion which made managers introspect themselves and arrived at the conclusion that they should start working on those insights consciously . After this exercise , we have had multiple sessions to work on the attributes to develop collectively through role plays and discussing on real - time issues on the floor . Also we conducted Individual Development Plans ( IDP ) to help the managers to work on their weak areas separately with subject matter experts . Approach : Next time , we would work both on Mind Mapping tool and Storytelling tool . This is largely to see the effectiveness of the insights collated to that of the collated data with the new set of first - time managers .