Reflection-visualization tool

1. Challenge

The challenge I have decided to work on is as follows:

I have to coordinate and manage the work of a team of seven people (including myself as I will also  be providing input) stemming from various different professional backgrounds (consulting, academia,  business), having different levels of experience (1 junior consultant, 1 junior academic researcher, 2  confirmed academic researchers, 2 experienced consultants, 1 senior professional) and different  specific professional expertise.

The project the team has to work on is a consulting assignment covering different sub-topics to be  included in a general framework of global objectives.

The challenge is threefold:

1) I have never worked before with all the members of the present team, i.e. this is a

completely new team architecture (I have worked closely with one of the team members for  many years; as for the rest of the team, I know their expertise and professional background  but I have not worked with them yet).

2) I have to make sure that each member of the team (including myself) will be providing the

adequate input according to his own expertise, and let’s say professional comfort zone.

3) I have to make sure that the overall objectives of the consulting assignment are achieved in

due time and accurately.

The project is about to start very soon and I am currently preparing all the working tools and project  management tools. I still have some time to figure out how to dispatch the work between all the  team members but I have to be ready when the project will be kicking off.

2. Selection

In order to better figure out how to work this out, I have decided to use the visualization tool. Firstly,  because I am used to do drawings for my own work, i.e., this is a kind of routine for me, especially  when I am stuck with something, or when I am looking for new ideas, or for simply organizing my  ideas, I start sketching and drawing (though I am not an artist at all, so I guess my drawings are surely  not beautiful but they tend to be useful to me) and things become clearer. Secondly, regarding my  present challenge, I realized that although I have the resumes of all the team members, hence  knowing what they can do and where they can provide added value, I had to link their professional  expertise to the objectives of the global consulting project. Instead of making text lists, I thought that  it would be easier for me to visualize the project and the team members input. The visualization tool  clearly helps make things more concrete, as we have seen in module 1 of the MOOC.

3. Application

The team had a meeting last week and I started to draw on a white board in order to show the team  members how we could dispatch the work between us.

On the left-side of the white board, I listed the various objectives of the project plus the various sub- topics linked to each general objective. On the right-side of the white board, I listed the names of  each team member plus specific expertise linked to each team member.

For each team member, I chose a visual icon and a specific color (example: junior consultant = Blue  circle, senior professional = Red star etc.…). Then, I asked each team member to draw his visual icon  in front of the different subjects and sub-topics of the project he considers he would be adding value.

At the end of the drawing session, we found out that each topic and sub-topic of the global project  had been covered, but what was more interesting was that for each topic we could see directly who  would be most in charge, and also where each team member would be providing input or not.

4. Insight

We found out that this drawing session was quite effective as everyone would agree on where to  provide input and what his work would be focusing on.

However, I would say that the drawing session could work between us because everybody did it in a  very honest way, without trying to gain more topics (or fewer topics) to work on, and that the  general climate of the meeting was undoubtedly marked by the results we would strive to achieve  for our client. In other words, we had all in mind to serve our client the best way, and we did not take  into account personal objectives and potential competition issues between the various team  members. Hence, I would not recommend using this approach when dealing with a competitive team  spirit, which can be often the case within organizations.

5. Approach

When thinking of an alternative approach to the visualization tool we used, I would possibly refer to  the learning launch tool, i.e. conducting a small experiment.

Regarding the present challenge, we could have for example pick up a sub-topic and try to see which  team member(s) would be providing added value during a kind of brainstorming session and working  simulation session. But this would have been more time consuming and I am not convinced that in  this precise case it would have been as useful as the visualization tool, especially because we are in a  preparation phase and not a production phase of the project.

Another option, we could have used a mind mapping tool, which is different from the visualization  tool, but this would have possibly added complexity to the process. The visualization tool is very  simple and in this present challenge it appeared to be enough for getting results. I believe that in  other cases, the mind mapping tool would have been more adequate, especially when looking at

several issues/challenges at the same time. This time, we had solely to focus on work dispatching and  the visualization tool was very useful and very adequate.


Reflection - visualization tool 1 . Challenge The challenge I have decided to work on is as follows : I have to coordinate and manage the work of a team of seven people ( including myself as I will also be providing input ) stemming from various different professional backgrounds ( consulting , academia , business ) , having different levels of experience ( 1 junior consultant , 1 junior academic researcher , 2 confirmed academic researchers , 2 experienced consultants , 1 senior professional ) and different specific professional expertise . The project the team has to work on is a consulting assignment covering different sub - topics to be included in a general framework of global objectives . The challenge is threefold : 1 ) I have never worked before with all the members of the present team , i.e. this is a completely new team architecture ( I have worked closely with one of the team members for many years ; as for the rest of the team , I know their expertise and professional background but I have not worked with them yet ) . 2 ) I have to make sure that each member of the team ( including myself ) will be providing the adequate input according to his own expertise , and let ’s say professional comfort zone . 3 ) I have to make sure that the overall objectives of the consulting assignment are achieved in due time and accurately . The project is about to start very soon and I am currently preparing all the working tools and project management tools . I still have some time to figure out how to dispatch the work between all the team members but I have to be ready when the project will be kicking off . 2 . Selection In order to better figure out how to work this out , I have decided to use the visualization tool . Firstly , because I am used to do drawings for my own work , i.e. , this is a kind of routine for me , especially when I am stuck with something , or when I am looking for new ideas , or for simply organizing my ideas , I start sketching and drawing ( though I am not an artist at all , so I guess my drawings are surely not beautiful but they tend to be useful to me ) and things become clearer . Secondly , regarding my present challenge , I realized that although I have the resumes of all the team members , hence knowing what they can do and where they can provide added value , I had to link their professional expertise to the objectives of the global consulting project . Instead of making text lists , I thought that it would be easier for me to visualize the project and the team members input . The visualization tool clearly helps make things more concrete , as we have seen in module 1 of the MOOC . 3 . Application The team had a meeting last week and I started to draw on a white board in order to show the team members how we could dispatch the work between us . On the left - side of the white board , I listed the various objectives of the project plus the various sub- topics linked to each general objective . On the right - side of the white board , I listed the names of each team member plus specific expertise linked to each team member . For each team member , I chose a visual icon and a specific color ( example : junior consultant = Blue circle , senior professional = Red star etc . … ) . Then , I asked each team member to draw his visual icon in front of the different subjects and sub - topics of the project he considers he would be adding value . At the end of the drawing session , we found out that each topic and sub - topic of the global project had been covered , but what was more interesting was that for each topic we could see directly who would be most in charge , and also where each team member would be providing input or not . 4 . Insight We found out that this drawing session was quite effective as everyone would agree on where to provide input and what his work would be focusing on . However , I would say that the drawing session could work between us because everybody did it in a very honest way , without trying to gain more topics ( or fewer topics ) to work on , and that the general climate of the meeting was undoubtedly marked by the results we would strive to achieve for our client . In other words , we had all in mind to serve our client the best way , and we did not take into account personal objectives and potential competition issues between the various team members . Hence , I would not recommend using this approach when dealing with a competitive team spirit , which can be often the case within organizations . 5 . Approach When thinking of an alternative approach to the visualization tool we used , I would possibly refer to the learning launch tool , i.e. conducting a small experiment . Regarding the present challenge , we could have for example pick up a sub - topic and try to see which team member(s ) would be providing added value during a kind of brainstorming session and working simulation session . But this would have been more time consuming and I am not convinced that in this precise case it would have been as useful as the visualization tool , especially because we are in a preparation phase and not a production phase of the project . Another option , we could have used a mind mapping tool , which is different from the visualization tool , but this would have possibly added complexity to the process . The visualization tool is very simple and in this present challenge it appeared to be enough for getting results . I believe that in other cases , the mind mapping tool would have been more adequate , especially when looking at several issues / challenges at the same time . This time , we had solely to focus on work dispatching and the visualization tool was very useful and very adequate .