Process alignment through Mind Mapping

Challenge: Our organization has a turnover of $1B comprising of different product groups and  multiple customer order fulfilment modes(Locally manufactured goods, traded goods, Imported  goods).This complex network posed immense challenge in fulfilling orders which were non- revenue in nature( Customer replacements, Demo shipments etc.). There was an imminent need  to streamline this process across the businesses in line with the compliance requirements of tax  and legal framework. Since the knowledge base for each of these processes was fragmented  among multiple domains, personal, aligning the understanding of the process among the stake  holders was difficult and this was crucial before we could move forward to designing a simplified  elegant process flow.

Selection: Given that there was need to assimilate information from multiple sources and  develop a common baseline for the processes, a textual , verbal process depiction was out of  question. Moreover it was important to obtain sign-off on the understanding from across the key  functions. With this in mind, we felt that the right tool to be employed in this scenario would be  Mind Mapping. This fulfilled our requirement to pictorially capture the understanding of the  process from stake holders, ratify the understanding among them, and also leverage the  knowledge to identify potential opportunity (What ifs) all in a short time window.

Application: We set up a meeting in a conference room as a part of the workshop where we  assembled the draft processes of various streams of the order fulfilment, and depicted them in  chart form on the walls of the room. We had the members of the cross functional team walk  around the room to analyse the process, make corrections as deemed fit ( with of course  different colour highlighters each) based on their understanding of the process.Once this was  done, we had the entire team walk through the process and discuss on the conflicts in  understanding and ratifying them based on the data points, examples .Once this was done, we  were able to map the processes across different fulfilment modes , sign off on the understanding.  This also immensely helped in documenting the process, circulating among the execution team  for better understanding of the process and smooth execution of such orders.

Insight: We realized the immense power of this tool to speed up the process of aligning the  team both on the purpose of the project as well as helping the team to develop an understanding  of the point of view of the other functions/ stake holders. It was a tremendous success and  helped in achieving our ultimate objective of setting up and roll-out an elegant, compliant and a  transparent process to fulfil non-revenue orders across the organization.

Approach: While design thinking offers a wide choice of effective tools for driving breakthrough  solutions, I would definitely suggest Mind Mapping tool if there is a requirement to bring together  diverse stake holders, share knowledge of complex processes and develop a common base line  of process understanding. While this is most effective in a scenario where the key stake holders  can be assemble physically in a common location, this tool may not be as effective in cases,  where the key stake holders may not be able to be physically present in the same location.


Process alignment through Mind Mapping Challenge : Our organization has a turnover of $ 1B comprising of different product groups and multiple customer order fulfilment modes(Locally manufactured goods , traded goods , Imported goods).This complex network posed immense challenge in fulfilling orders which were non- revenue in nature ( Customer replacements , Demo shipments etc . ) . There was an imminent need to streamline this process across the businesses in line with the compliance requirements of tax and legal framework . Since the knowledge base for each of these processes was fragmented among multiple domains , personal , aligning the understanding of the process among the stake holders was difficult and this was crucial before we could move forward to designing a simplified elegant process flow . Selection : Given that there was need to assimilate information from multiple sources and develop a common baseline for the processes , a textual , verbal process depiction was out of question . Moreover it was important to obtain sign - off on the understanding from across the key functions . With this in mind , we felt that the right tool to be employed in this scenario would be Mind Mapping . This fulfilled our requirement to pictorially capture the understanding of the process from stake holders , ratify the understanding among them , and also leverage the knowledge to identify potential opportunity ( What ifs ) all in a short time window . Application : We set up a meeting in a conference room as a part of the workshop where we assembled the draft processes of various streams of the order fulfilment , and depicted them in chart form on the walls of the room . We had the members of the cross functional team walk around the room to analyse the process , make corrections as deemed fit ( with of course different colour highlighters each ) based on their understanding of the process . Once this was done , we had the entire team walk through the process and discuss on the conflicts in understanding and ratifying them based on the data points , examples .Once this was done , we were able to map the processes across different fulfilment modes , sign off on the understanding . This also immensely helped in documenting the process , circulating among the execution team for better understanding of the process and smooth execution of such orders . Insight : We realized the immense power of this tool to speed up the process of aligning the team both on the purpose of the project as well as helping the team to develop an understanding of the point of view of the other functions/ stake holders . It was a tremendous success and helped in achieving our ultimate objective of setting up and roll - out an elegant , compliant and a transparent process to fulfil non - revenue orders across the organization . Approach : While design thinking offers a wide choice of effective tools for driving breakthrough solutions , I would definitely suggest Mind Mapping tool if there is a requirement to bring together diverse stake holders , share knowledge of complex processes and develop a common base line of process understanding . While this is most effective in a scenario where the key stake holders can be assemble physically in a common location , this tool may not be as effective in cases , where the key stake holders may not be able to be physically present in the same location .