Visualization tool in world of science!

Challenge and Selection

As a geoscience researcher working in a public sector one of my main tasks is to promote and develop new  ideas for solving problems in a more efficient and creative way. I am the only person working with big data  in  our  organization  and  therefore  one  of  my  main  challenges  before  taking  this  course  was  how  to  communicate my ideas to our  teams in a more  concrete and  tangible way  so that we  would achieve a  common understanding and how to increase the chance of getting those ideas approved for implementation.  I am not coming from a business world, and I always had this wrong impression that being a researcher I lack  the skill of selling my ideas!

After taking this course I found the visualization tool as the most convenient method that works for me. I am  a visual person and I can always imagine and picture the outcome of my ideas, but I have never thought of  drawing them and sharing them with colleagues in the course of conversation  to help them understand me  easier instead of exhausting them with describing complex technical methods. I finally understood they don’t  care what method I use and how it works but simply how can that method makes their life easier and why  they should be interested to apply it. I only needed to apply a better communication tool!

Application

I made a powerpoint to present for our department for one of the projects I was involved in. I started with  the challenges we were dealing with, why it was important to address them, and how the method I was  suggesting could have fit us best. This time, instead of using formulas and a lot of unnecessary text; I filled  the powerpoint with charts, photos and videos showing how the same technique was used among different  applications in industry. I finished my talk by providing some statistical information regarding the amount of  money that was saved by the ones applying it in other fields. After I was done, I asked if there were any  questions to the approach and for the first time in 6 years, I experienced that 10 colleagues raised their  hands! It was amazing hearing different people’s perspectives and how they could see the method work for  even other problems, which I would have never think of! To answer some of the questions I started to draw  on the white board, and when I couldn’t follow some of the questions, my colleagues would come to the  board and draw what they meant! We had the most interactive session and I got a lot of great feedback after  the meeting and was asked to prepare another talk for the upcoming week to address some of the concerns  regarding implementation of the idea.

So, I designed several solutions each of which had their own pros and cons depending on the budget we were  willing to invest. I printed them out and used a magnet to attach them to the board in the next meeting. I  started by listing the pros and cons of each individual solution and added more points to it as we were  discussing them in the meeting. After half an hour, it was already clear for us that two of the solutions would  have not been possible to apply at current stage and we were left with two options. We agreed on different  variables that could have affect the outcome and how we could avoid certain risks. We decided to try the  solution with highest votes. Then we broke the tasks to several milestones and defined a deadline (with a  safe buffer) for each of them. By end of the session it was clear, which of us would take over different tasks.

We agreed on reporting the status of progress on a weekly basis on our lunch break meetings, where each  of us had 5 minutes to inform others about any new updates and a more detailed report every three months  for our director.

Insight and approach

Using the visualization tool was a game changer for me. Instead of feeling frustrated that my colleagues don’t  understand the full potential of my ideas, now I am aware of what I have been missing all this time. It is  fascinating and inspiring to share insights and to learn from one another during the design, development and  implementation of new ideas. Visualization simplifies all these steps. The graphics enable more interactive  sessions and involves the users of the approach\service from the very beginning in all the steps. A clearer  understanding of the outcome can be reached using this approach. It is easier to identify potential problems  and avoid them if different experts can share their experiences. One can identify the missing parts of the  puzzle,  which  can  simply  be  the  manpower  to  implement  the  idea,  certain  skills  that  must  be  learned,  different trainings which would be required to guarantee that the service would be applicable by non‐expert  users, etc. Also, a more reasonable budget estimation can be achieved if the whole process and the exact  tasks required are clear for everyone.

Now that I have understood the full potential of applying this technique, I would use it for any future project.  It will save me a lot of time and I would not need to take over the full risk of doing something that is not of  need for my organization. For future application of this method, I will try to better understand the challenges  before suggesting potential solutions. During the course of using this method I noticed two of my solutions  were not relevant as I didn’t fully incorporate all the variables that could affect the outcome. To achieve this  goal, I will spend more time digging into all these aspects before designing the solution and by involving  different experts from each group and have a brainstorming. I appreciate any comment that challenges my  ideas and I think it worth the time.


Visualization tool in world of science ! Challenge and Selection As a geoscience researcher working in a public sector one of my main tasks is to promote and develop new ideas for solving problems in a more efficient and creative way . I am the only person working with big data in our organization and therefore one of my main challenges before taking this course was how to communicate my ideas to our teams in a more concrete and tangible way so that we would achieve a common understanding and how to increase the chance of getting those ideas approved for implementation . I am not coming from a business world , and I always had this wrong impression that being a researcher I lack the skill of selling my ideas ! After taking this course I found the visualization tool as the most convenient method that works for me . I am a visual person and I can always imagine and picture the outcome of my ideas , but I have never thought of drawing them and sharing them with colleagues in the course of conversation to help them understand me easier instead of exhausting them with describing complex technical methods . I finally understood they do n’t care what method I use and how it works but simply how can that method makes their life easier and why they should be interested to apply it . I only needed to apply a better communication tool ! Application I made a powerpoint to present for our department for one of the projects I was involved in . I started with the challenges we were dealing with , why it was important to address them , and how the method I was suggesting could have fit us best . This time , instead of using formulas and a lot of unnecessary text ; I filled the powerpoint with charts , photos and videos showing how the same technique was used among different applications in industry . I finished my talk by providing some statistical information regarding the amount of money that was saved by the ones applying it in other fields . After I was done , I asked if there were any questions to the approach and for the first time in 6 years , I experienced that 10 colleagues raised their hands ! It was amazing hearing different people ’s perspectives and how they could see the method work for even other problems , which I would have never think of ! To answer some of the questions I started to draw on the white board , and when I could n’t follow some of the questions , my colleagues would come to the board and draw what they meant ! We had the most interactive session and I got a lot of great feedback after the meeting and was asked to prepare another talk for the upcoming week to address some of the concerns regarding implementation of the idea . So , I designed several solutions each of which had their own pros and cons depending on the budget we were willing to invest . I printed them out and used a magnet to attach them to the board in the next meeting . I started by listing the pros and cons of each individual solution and added more points to it as we were discussing them in the meeting . After half an hour , it was already clear for us that two of the solutions would have not been possible to apply at current stage and we were left with two options . We agreed on different variables that could have affect the outcome and how we could avoid certain risks . We decided to try the solution with highest votes . Then we broke the tasks to several milestones and defined a deadline ( with a safe buffer ) for each of them . By end of the session it was clear , which of us would take over different tasks . We agreed on reporting the status of progress on a weekly basis on our lunch break meetings , where each of us had 5 minutes to inform others about any new updates and a more detailed report every three months for our director . Insight and approach Using the visualization tool was a game changer for me . Instead of feeling frustrated that my colleagues do n’t understand the full potential of my ideas , now I am aware of what I have been missing all this time . It is fascinating and inspiring to share insights and to learn from one another during the design , development and implementation of new ideas . Visualization simplifies all these steps . The graphics enable more interactive sessions and involves the users of the approach\service from the very beginning in all the steps . A clearer understanding of the outcome can be reached using this approach . It is easier to identify potential problems and avoid them if different experts can share their experiences . One can identify the missing parts of the puzzle , which can simply be the manpower to implement the idea , certain skills that must be learned , different trainings which would be required to guarantee that the service would be applicable by non‐expert users , etc . Also , a more reasonable budget estimation can be achieved if the whole process and the exact tasks required are clear for everyone . Now that I have understood the full potential of applying this technique , I would use it for any future project . It will save me a lot of time and I would not need to take over the full risk of doing something that is not of need for my organization . For future application of this method , I will try to better understand the challenges before suggesting potential solutions . During the course of using this method I noticed two of my solutions were not relevant as I did n’t fully incorporate all the variables that could affect the outcome . To achieve this goal , I will spend more time digging into all these aspects before designing the solution and by involving different experts from each group and have a brainstorming . I appreciate any comment that challenges my ideas and I think it worth the time .