Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge

Leading a team for the annual creation, development, and implementation of the hiring process for 300  positions on a college campus can be a daunting task. When I first joined the company, when I would ask  a question about how we recruited or hired our staff and question to my team (comprised of staff and  students) ‘why that way?’ I was almost always told “that’s they way we’ve done it.” Reviewing data from  the previous 5 years, I could see that the rate and quality of applications for the positions had declined  steadily and we needed to rethink our processes and not keep doing it the same way we always had,  which required new levels of buy-in from my team and thinking in ways we had not before. Our  employees were front line staff for customer service, crisis response, and being leaders within their  communities so a decline in their skills and abilities truly was impacting the experience of the others on  our campus, which was showing through satisfaction surveys and feedback groups we had held.

Selection

I had used visualization and mind mapping in previous positions in order to find themes and patterns  and knew these may assist in creating new hiring marketing, interview questions and process, and hiring  experiences. I knew that I needed to lead this team from the “what is…” and “this is how it’s always  been” to the “what if…” mindset. In order to do that, I chose mind mapping and created a plan to lead  the group through it.

Application and Insight

In our first meeting, I broached the topic of wanting to move from the “what is” and has been to a more  innovative approach of “what if we did….” There was quite a bit of resistance from people – much of it  was couched in “why fix/change it if it’s working?” I didn’t want to give in to the mindset as I knew we  could make our process better by looking at what we could do and challenged them to work alongside  of me. I went as far to say “let’s try something different this year and if it doesn’t work we’ll do it the old  way again next year.” Giving that concession seemed to relax them and we moved into weeks of mind  mapping exercises. We put post-it notes up around the room, talked about why some ideas were more  feasible than others, challenged and supported each other on thoughts and moved from a team that  worked on autopilot to an engaged group of people with a passion for the work. We put some ideas on  the side for future years and created a proposal for the executive team that included 3 different  timelines for marketing, interviewing, and hiring our staff – none of which included the process from the  previous year.

By using mind mapping with our team we were able to move our marketing, interviewing, and hiring  process from a place of stagnation into an area where we were able to work better with applicants from  the first contact through hiring. The team started with ¾ full-time staff and ¼ student staff, but when  word got around to student staff that we were seriously diving into the recruitment and hiring  processes, many more students staff began to come, which gave us much more insight as to what their  true experience and thoughts were. It allowed us to get unfettered feedback as to what we had been  doing well in past iterations, but also what could be. Having the post-its on the walls every meeting so

Reflection – Mind Mapping

we could add and refer back to them was very helpful as well – especially as our meetings were required  to be open to the public and we never knew when a new person or group would attend.

Moving into the next year the team had gained so much interest for the innovations and changes we  had made that we had to create a maximum number of members and attendees so that we could  continue to move forward. I believe we were a success as we moved from the “what is” into the “what  if” by mind mapping and the results could be seen through the quality, quantity, and satisfaction of the  candidates. And because we were doing something that other teams were not – changing and leaning  into the excitement of innovation through design thinking.

Approach

This course has assisted me in seeing the value of the growth mindset and how important the process of  design thinking is within a company. Mind mapping, at the time and in the space we were in at the time,  was the best way to be able to move my team from “what is” into the “what if” and the results paid off  tenfold. They were more engaged in the process, so much so that their supervisees started attending  our team meetings to see what was going on. I had one attendee afterward share that they were taking  the mind mapping exercises to a group project as it worked so well within our team – and they ended up  working better together and getting the top score.

In higher education, in the role that I hold, I do not have a lot of opportunities for learning launches (as  we’re highly regulated and frequently only have one time to try something, so it’s ‘sink or swim’) but  incorporating visualization, storytelling, and mind mapping will continue to be a part of my approach in  the teams that I lead and work within.


Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge Leading a team for the annual creation , development , and implementation of the hiring process for 300 positions on a college campus can be a daunting task . When I first joined the company , when I would ask a question about how we recruited or hired our staff and question to my team ( comprised of staff and students ) ‘ why that way ? ’ I was almost always told “ that ’s they way we ’ve done it . ” Reviewing data from the previous 5 years , I could see that the rate and quality of applications for the positions had declined steadily and we needed to rethink our processes and not keep doing it the same way we always had , which required new levels of buy - in from my team and thinking in ways we had not before . Our employees were front line staff for customer service , crisis response , and being leaders within their communities so a decline in their skills and abilities truly was impacting the experience of the others on our campus , which was showing through satisfaction surveys and feedback groups we had held . Selection I had used visualization and mind mapping in previous positions in order to find themes and patterns and knew these may assist in creating new hiring marketing , interview questions and process , and hiring experiences . I knew that I needed to lead this team from the “ what is … ” and “ this is how it ’s always been ” to the “ what if … ” mindset . In order to do that , I chose mind mapping and created a plan to lead the group through it . Application and Insight In our first meeting , I broached the topic of wanting to move from the “ what is ” and has been to a more innovative approach of “ what if we did … . ” There was quite a bit of resistance from people – much of it was couched in “ why fix / change it if it ’s working ? ” I did n’t want to give in to the mindset as I knew we could make our process better by looking at what we could do and challenged them to work alongside of me . I went as far to say “ let ’s try something different this year and if it does n’t work we ’ll do it the old way again next year . ” Giving that concession seemed to relax them and we moved into weeks of mind mapping exercises . We put post - it notes up around the room , talked about why some ideas were more feasible than others , challenged and supported each other on thoughts and moved from a team that worked on autopilot to an engaged group of people with a passion for the work . We put some ideas on the side for future years and created a proposal for the executive team that included 3 different timelines for marketing , interviewing , and hiring our staff – none of which included the process from the previous year . By using mind mapping with our team we were able to move our marketing , interviewing , and hiring process from a place of stagnation into an area where we were able to work better with applicants from the first contact through hiring . The team started with ¾ full - time staff and ¼ student staff , but when word got around to student staff that we were seriously diving into the recruitment and hiring processes , many more students staff began to come , which gave us much more insight as to what their true experience and thoughts were . It allowed us to get unfettered feedback as to what we had been doing well in past iterations , but also what could be . Having the post - its on the walls every meeting so Reflection – Mind Mapping we could add and refer back to them was very helpful as well – especially as our meetings were required to be open to the public and we never knew when a new person or group would attend . Moving into the next year the team had gained so much interest for the innovations and changes we had made that we had to create a maximum number of members and attendees so that we could continue to move forward . I believe we were a success as we moved from the “ what is ” into the “ what if ” by mind mapping and the results could be seen through the quality , quantity , and satisfaction of the candidates . And because we were doing something that other teams were not – changing and leaning into the excitement of innovation through design thinking . Approach This course has assisted me in seeing the value of the growth mindset and how important the process of design thinking is within a company . Mind mapping , at the time and in the space we were in at the time , was the best way to be able to move my team from “ what is ” into the “ what if ” and the results paid off tenfold . They were more engaged in the process , so much so that their supervisees started attending our team meetings to see what was going on . I had one attendee afterward share that they were taking the mind mapping exercises to a group project as it worked so well within our team – and they ended up working better together and getting the top score . In higher education , in the role that I hold , I do not have a lot of opportunities for learning launches ( as we ’re highly regulated and frequently only have one time to try something , so it ’s ‘ sink or swim ’ ) but incorporating visualization , storytelling , and mind mapping will continue to be a part of my approach in the teams that I lead and work within .