Reflection on Mind Mapping | Jan Peters      Challenge  My Client is a European governmental institution embarking on a new way of working.  One where different Service Providers work in an ecosystem to collaboratively provide  end-to-end services to their IT users, bringing value to the Client. Being the Service  Integrator, my organisation takes over the operational responsibilities of the Service  Management processes, on behalf of the Client. For that to be possible the project  needed the to implement the Service Management framework and processes.     To be successful I realised that, more importantly, we also needed the engagement and  contribution of the Service Providers to collaborate and support each-other, playing as  one team. To reinforce that idea, we needed to introduce “Ecosystem Commitment” into  the contracts between the Client and the Service Providers.     The challenge was to establish common grounds with a diverse group of stakeholders  with the intention to emphasise how we would like to see all of us working, with respect  and consideration of the impact on each member, and where everyone is clear on  expected behaviours and outcomes.    Selection  This tangible result to achieve, the “Ecosystem Commitment” document, is empty at the  start with the intention to jointly discuss and agree during the first stage in the project.  Because it is not adding new metrics or services but rather taking a different perspective  and thinking on how we can achieve this commitment, we proposed to leverage the Mind  Mapping tools. As Mind Mapping is intuitive, creative, and engaging, we used Mind  Mapping to boil it down into a jointly agreed charter for how everyone will behave and  operate. Facilitated workshops, Mind Mapping and visualisation helped us to distil the  common grounds for the collaboration principles.    Application  Prior to the facilitated workshop we instilled the idea with the stakeholders that no-one  can pull off a delightful collaboration experience on their own and invited 35 participants,  in different roles, representing the ecosystem partners, to discover what it would look  like. At the start we have made a lot of inputs available to the participants such as:  Strategic Objectives, Statement of Works, Service Level Agreement, Governance  Exhibits, RASCI Matrices, Key personnel and the different views and understanding on  ecosystem collaboration from the Service providers.

Powerful live-cartooning facilitated from ComicHouse  (https://comichouse.nl/category/live-cartooning/)  helped us clarify and it immediately led us to new   discussions and to new insights. All of which were  collated and then grouped.     The participants were grouped into mixed teams across  the Service Providers and assigned to have a discussion  related to collaboration rules and principles. We used  the Mural canvas,  online whiteboard

(https://mural.com), to collaborate with the teams,  to collate and combine virtual post-its.  In the plenary  session, teams reported-out and the workshop was  successfully concluded with a set of 10 collaboration  principles (rules) we could all jointly agree upon.

ComicHouse Cartoon

Mural Canvas

Insights & Approach  Due to Covid-19 restrictions we needed to convene fully remote workshops, we used MS  Teams (with separate breakouts) and collaboration tools. Most of the participants did not  know each other beforehand and yet we decided not to waste time on introduction  rounds. We expected such introductions to occur organically during the workshops and  we have learned that it did.     We also learned it is a good idea to share the objectives (i.e. establishing collaboration  rules and principles) prior to the workshop with all participants. It turned out most of  them came with a prepared mindset, were able to browse the input materials, and  quickly further develop their views into the principles that we were aiming for.     The Mural canvas provided the diverse group of participants a central point, it enabled  their discussions and the sharing and exchanging of (virtual) Post-it memos. The  powerful visualisation tools (ComicHouse) helped us exchanging ideas, sharing insights  and, as an extra benefit, it provided us with a lot of graphics. The Service Providers can  now use the graphics even beyond the workshop to evangelize the behaviour principles  we had established in their respective organisations.     I have learned Mind Mapping provides for a structured approach for establishing common  grounds (with great contribution from powerful visualisation) and in future I would  structure the flow of the workshops even more to get the most out of it. I believe an  even better output quality can be achieved when leveraging more Mind Mapping  resources than we have done in this case.      Although we were restricted in many ways (working remotely), the results were no less  than we have previously experienced in pre-Covid on-site workshops, thanks to Mind  Mapping.


Reflection on Mind Mapping | Jan Peters Challenge My Client is a European governmental institution embarking on a new way of working . One where different Service Providers work in an ecosystem to collaboratively provide end - to - end services to their IT users , bringing value to the Client . Being the Service Integrator , my organisation takes over the operational responsibilities of the Service Management processes , on behalf of the Client . For that to be possible the project needed the to implement the Service Management framework and processes . To be successful I realised that , more importantly , we also needed the engagement and contribution of the Service Providers to collaborate and support each - other , playing as one team . To reinforce that idea , we needed to introduce “ Ecosystem Commitment ” into the contracts between the Client and the Service Providers . The challenge was to establish common grounds with a diverse group of stakeholders with the intention to emphasise how we would like to see all of us working , with respect and consideration of the impact on each member , and where everyone is clear on expected behaviours and outcomes . Selection This tangible result to achieve , the “ Ecosystem Commitment ” document , is empty at the start with the intention to jointly discuss and agree during the first stage in the project . Because it is not adding new metrics or services but rather taking a different perspective and thinking on how we can achieve this commitment , we proposed to leverage the Mind Mapping tools . As Mind Mapping is intuitive , creative , and engaging , we used Mind Mapping to boil it down into a jointly agreed charter for how everyone will behave and operate . Facilitated workshops , Mind Mapping and visualisation helped us to distil the common grounds for the collaboration principles . Application Prior to the facilitated workshop we instilled the idea with the stakeholders that no - one can pull off a delightful collaboration experience on their own and invited 35 participants , in different roles , representing the ecosystem partners , to discover what it would look like . At the start we have made a lot of inputs available to the participants such as : Strategic Objectives , Statement of Works , Service Level Agreement , Governance Exhibits , RASCI Matrices , Key personnel and the different views and understanding on ecosystem collaboration from the Service providers . Powerful live - cartooning facilitated from ComicHouse ( https://comichouse.nl/category/live-cartooning/ ) helped us clarify and it immediately led us to new discussions and to new insights . All of which were collated and then grouped . The participants were grouped into mixed teams across the Service Providers and assigned to have a discussion related to collaboration rules and principles . We used the Mural canvas , online whiteboard ( https://mural.com ) , to collaborate with the teams , to collate and combine virtual post - its . In the plenary session , teams reported - out and the workshop was successfully concluded with a set of 10 collaboration principles ( rules ) we could all jointly agree upon . ComicHouse Cartoon Mural Canvas Insights & Approach Due to Covid-19 restrictions we needed to convene fully remote workshops , we used MS Teams ( with separate breakouts ) and collaboration tools . Most of the participants did not know each other beforehand and yet we decided not to waste time on introduction rounds . We expected such introductions to occur organically during the workshops and we have learned that it did . We also learned it is a good idea to share the objectives ( i.e. establishing collaboration rules and principles ) prior to the workshop with all participants . It turned out most of them came with a prepared mindset , were able to browse the input materials , and quickly further develop their views into the principles that we were aiming for . The Mural canvas provided the diverse group of participants a central point , it enabled their discussions and the sharing and exchanging of ( virtual ) Post - it memos . The powerful visualisation tools ( ComicHouse ) helped us exchanging ideas , sharing insights and , as an extra benefit , it provided us with a lot of graphics . The Service Providers can now use the graphics even beyond the workshop to evangelize the behaviour principles we had established in their respective organisations . I have learned Mind Mapping provides for a structured approach for establishing common grounds ( with great contribution from powerful visualisation ) and in future I would structure the flow of the workshops even more to get the most out of it . I believe an even better output quality can be achieved when leveraging more Mind Mapping resources than we have done in this case . Although we were restricted in many ways ( working remotely ) , the results were no less than we have previously experienced in pre - Covid on - site workshops , thanks to Mind Mapping .