Example Reflection – Mind Mapping

Challenge  I work as a consultant for business agility in Spain. All my clients have been affected by the  limitations and confinement imposed by Covid-19. This client in particular is a utilities  company with focus on procuring water and sanitation services for more than 14 million users  in Spain.    As with most parts of the economy, my client was forced to shut down all their commercial  and customer care offices for more than 2 months now, due a very strict lockdown. This  affected mostly one particular client segment: senior citizens. Younger generations are used to  doing their interactions and paperwork online. Senior citizens in this country, however, are  more used to doing these tasks in person as part of their daily routines. Relatively simple task  such as logging into a website or searching for an invoice, seem to be particularly stressful for  this group.    The challenge was, then, to figure out how we can provide an effective customer care service  to this particular group, in replacement of the commercial offices. Such service needs to be  personal, cost effective and needs to simulate the “human touch” that was lost when  commercial offices went into lockdown.     This needed to be done in one week. We needed to come up with ideas to contribute like this  to an internal think tank, which was reviewing operations in the light of this “new normal”.      Selection  There was an abundance of quantitative data available in terms of client age groups, number  of interactions, type of inquiries, distribution by territory, etc.  We also had a number of  studies available on the requirements of different client segments, including senior citizens.  And we had some design criteria for the solution: it needed to be deployed relatively fast, it  had to required limited resources and it had to be a good substitute for this “human touch”  that had been lost by the closure of the commercial offices.    On top of that, all the exercise had to be done remotely since we were, ourselves, in lockdown  and could not get together in the same space.    The need to find a pattern and insights into all this data, together with the need to find a  creative insight, made me decide that Mind Mapping could the right tool. But with a twist,  since all interaction had to be online.       Application  I did a variation of what I learned in the course, divided into preparation and two sessions.    Preparation  1) I asked help to select group of 10 people from different phases of the customer care value  chain: managers, customer care representatives, IT staff, quality consultants, etc. I emphasized  that joining this exercise was voluntary.

2) Instead of laying out the data available, I prepared a dossier that I distributed electronically  among the participants. I also conducted a briefing session to explain the challenge, our  timeline, and the information that was sent to the group.    Session 1  3) I set up an online tool called Metro Retro. It allows managing individual and group post-its,  voting and grouping of post-its. Interestingly, it also allows for the contents of post-its to be  shared or to be hidden.  4) We all got together for a group session with Metro Retro. We did individual brainstorming  on post-its that were hidden to the rest of the participants, for about 25-30’.  5) We then shared our post-it notes and discussed what we meant by them. It was clear after a  while that there were some common ideas.  6) We grouped common ideas into themes and gave them a name.   7) We voted on what themes were the most promising. With the help of Metro Retro  functionality, each participant was given 3 votes to distribute among the 6 themes that  emerged. This was the end of the first session.    Session 2  8) For the 2 themes that had the most votes, we divided ourselves into two sub-groups to  study the themes further and gather insights. This was done in parallel, and we devoted about  1h to discuss what could be derived from this theme. Here the “so what“ question was  essential.  9) Each group came up with a couple of meaningful statements.  10) We all got together again under the same session, shared our conclusions and once again  voted the most promising.    The main idea that came up was simple but very powerful! Senior citizens might not be  computer savvy, but… they surely use Whatsapp videoconferences to chat with their family,  right? So why not use that same tool to care for their needs?      Insight  One of the things that I learned from this exercise is the importance of having a diverse group  working on the subject. Having people from different parts of the customer care value chain  was a huge asset. In many cases these people had never work together, in spite of the fact that  they belong to the same value chain.    It blew my mind how creative people can become… Ideas ranged from drones to teaming with  social workers to redefining web user experience. And we had fun!    An unexpected effect of this exercise was that one of the managers that was working in this  group saw the power of collectively thinking about the whole value chain, and wanted to  extend this to improving the efficiency and customer orientation of the whole customer care  process. So I have lots of work ahead.

Approach  It was hard to manage the times as it was hard to manage the tool at first. Doing Mind  Mapping online presented additional challenges which I did not anticipate enough.    For future sessions I would add a first step that will deal with getting acquainted with the  Metro Retro tool. Maybe doing a warm up exercise, just for the purpose of feeling comfortable  with the tool and its functionalities before doing the actual exercise. This will save us all time  and stress .    For the rest, it was a great experience.


Example Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge I work as a consultant for business agility in Spain . All my clients have been affected by the limitations and confinement imposed by Covid-19 . This client in particular is a utilities company with focus on procuring water and sanitation services for more than 14 million users in Spain . As with most parts of the economy , my client was forced to shut down all their commercial and customer care offices for more than 2 months now , due a very strict lockdown . This affected mostly one particular client segment : senior citizens . Younger generations are used to doing their interactions and paperwork online . Senior citizens in this country , however , are more used to doing these tasks in person as part of their daily routines . Relatively simple task such as logging into a website or searching for an invoice , seem to be particularly stressful for this group . The challenge was , then , to figure out how we can provide an effective customer care service to this particular group , in replacement of the commercial offices . Such service needs to be personal , cost effective and needs to simulate the “ human touch ” that was lost when commercial offices went into lockdown . This needed to be done in one week . We needed to come up with ideas to contribute like this to an internal think tank , which was reviewing operations in the light of this “ new normal ” . Selection There was an abundance of quantitative data available in terms of client age groups , number of interactions , type of inquiries , distribution by territory , etc . We also had a number of studies available on the requirements of different client segments , including senior citizens . And we had some design criteria for the solution : it needed to be deployed relatively fast , it had to required limited resources and it had to be a good substitute for this “ human touch ” that had been lost by the closure of the commercial offices . On top of that , all the exercise had to be done remotely since we were , ourselves , in lockdown and could not get together in the same space . The need to find a pattern and insights into all this data , together with the need to find a creative insight , made me decide that Mind Mapping could the right tool . But with a twist , since all interaction had to be online . Application I did a variation of what I learned in the course , divided into preparation and two sessions . Preparation 1 ) I asked help to select group of 10 people from different phases of the customer care value chain : managers , customer care representatives , IT staff , quality consultants , etc . I emphasized that joining this exercise was voluntary . 2 ) Instead of laying out the data available , I prepared a dossier that I distributed electronically among the participants . I also conducted a briefing session to explain the challenge , our timeline , and the information that was sent to the group . Session 1 3 ) I set up an online tool called Metro Retro . It allows managing individual and group post - its , voting and grouping of post - its . Interestingly , it also allows for the contents of post - its to be shared or to be hidden . 4 ) We all got together for a group session with Metro Retro . We did individual brainstorming on post - its that were hidden to the rest of the participants , for about 25 - 30 ’ . 5 ) We then shared our post - it notes and discussed what we meant by them . It was clear after a while that there were some common ideas . 6 ) We grouped common ideas into themes and gave them a name . 7 ) We voted on what themes were the most promising . With the help of Metro Retro functionality , each participant was given 3 votes to distribute among the 6 themes that emerged . This was the end of the first session . Session 2 8) For the 2 themes that had the most votes , we divided ourselves into two sub - groups to study the themes further and gather insights . This was done in parallel , and we devoted about 1h to discuss what could be derived from this theme . Here the “ so what “ question was essential . 9 ) Each group came up with a couple of meaningful statements . 10 ) We all got together again under the same session , shared our conclusions and once again voted the most promising . The main idea that came up was simple but very powerful ! Senior citizens might not be computer savvy , but … they surely use Whatsapp videoconferences to chat with their family , right ? So why not use that same tool to care for their needs ? Insight One of the things that I learned from this exercise is the importance of having a diverse group working on the subject . Having people from different parts of the customer care value chain was a huge asset . In many cases these people had never work together , in spite of the fact that they belong to the same value chain . It blew my mind how creative people can become … Ideas ranged from drones to teaming with social workers to redefining web user experience . And we had fun ! An unexpected effect of this exercise was that one of the managers that was working in this group saw the power of collectively thinking about the whole value chain , and wanted to extend this to improving the efficiency and customer orientation of the whole customer care process . So I have lots of work ahead . Approach It was hard to manage the times as it was hard to manage the tool at first . Doing Mind Mapping online presented additional challenges which I did not anticipate enough . For future sessions I would add a first step that will deal with getting acquainted with the Metro Retro tool . Maybe doing a warm up exercise , just for the purpose of feeling comfortable with the tool and its functionalities before doing the actual exercise . This will save us all time and stress . For the rest , it was a great experience .