Reflection – Mind Mapping    Challenge     I work for an IT Captive center of one of the leading global banks. In the last 3  years, there has been an increasing focus on building an end-to-end design  and programme/platform capability in India. This has led to a continuous  increase in business expectations from the Indian captive center to deliver  more for less. Due to cost pressures at the organization level, there is a need  to improve the overall cost of delivery and make the unit more efficient.    It was a tough challenge as all the resources were gainfully deployed and  delivering to the expected time, cost and quality parameters. On some  occasions, they were even stretching to meet the increased business  demands. The challenge is to assess the operational efficiencies and suggest  ways to reduce the cost of delivery by cutting slack and innovative thinking.    Selection    To understand the current state, we collected data from 41 representative  projects on about 30+ cost/operating KPIs, surveyed ~325 respondents  across India and other locations and interviewed ~25 of them for more in- depth discussions. This was aimed at collecting data on key financial &  operational metrics namely, fully loaded man day rate, span of control,  utilization etc., and maturity of operating practices, such as, requirement  gathering, resource planning, supplier engagement, to name a few. We also  collected the industry data for similar captives in India to benchmark the  efficiency of our unit against these captives.    With the huge amount of data collected during the exploration phase, there  was a need to cleanse this data into information & insights, which can lead to  generating of creative ideas. I had two options, either to use mind mapping  tool here because that is what mind mapping tool does well or traditional way  of sharing the outcomes & recommendations for discussions/idea generation.  I proposed data mapping tool because it engages & aligns stakeholders in  understanding the current design challenge & creative idea generation.    Application    I invited key stakeholders (~25) for a half-day session for creative ideation. I  also requested them to be acquainted with the challenge & data beforehand.   Boardroom (tables laid-out with 5 chairs) was booked with enough sticky  notes, bold markers and clipboards.    Since we had lot of information to share in a limited time, I proposed to create  visual representation of data as it stimulates individual’s brain in a faster and  more understandable way than textual information. There is no better way to  share visual information than the art-gallery style. With art gallery approach in  mind, all the data collected (direct & Indirect cost, organization design,  interview outcomes, supplier mix, software development life cycle operating

procedures and utilization) was put up on the walls. I shared the data  collection methodology with stakeholders and took them though the displayed  content. I allowed them to spend 20 minutes to browse through the visual  representations and requested them to make a note of what fits-in, what  doesn’t and any representation/data item which they believe might give them  good ideas.    Next step, they were asked to return to the table to review their own sticky  notes and group them into themed clusters on their clipboard. Thereafter, the  sharing started in group in terms of various themes and underlying  improvement ideas (sticky notes) related to that theme. These were all placed  on different walls in the boardroom including the outliers. Largely the themes  were Project Delivery & Customer Interactions, Spans & Layers, Cost  optimization, Supplier efficiency and automation. Then, we started creating  insight statements based on their observations. In order to make it more  meaningful, I kept asking “So what?” multiple times to ensure that the initial  ideas were probed further and deeper insights were brought through.    Insight    By applying mind mapping tool, we came out with some hidden opportunities  to enhance efficiencies and reduce costs. These were,   1) We identified many redundant/overlapping roles across geographies, for  example, there were more than one Project Managers for the same project  across geographies to provide locational oversight, which is an inefficient  model as this was not keeping them fully occupied.  2) Fragmented supplier base with no accountability i.e. only resource  augmentation was being achieved from suppliers, overhead cost of managing  the outcome was still with us despite paying the suppliers.    Further deep dive gave us additional unarticulated insights like inefficient  organization model leading to reduced accountability, low motivation and  engagement level of the staff. With fragmented supplier base, they were not  willing to invest in/offer better price because they did not see our work as a  big account.     Approach    All the stakeholders appreciated the effort and the time spent and found it a  highly engaging, intuitive and creative process. They also suggested using  Mind Mapping tool for future idea-generation workshops rather than traditional  ways of analyzing the data and proposing multiple solutions. They really  enjoyed the learning process, found it very fast & can be easily adapt to wide  variety of tasks.    We followed through these ideas & insights and initiated few strategic  initiatives to overcome inefficiencies & cost challenges by way of supplier  consolidation programme, efficient & cost effective global operating model etc.  These initiatives have the potential to save GBP 1 million in the next 2 years  for the unit.


Reflection – Mind Mapping Challenge I work for an IT Captive center of one of the leading global banks . In the last 3 years , there has been an increasing focus on building an end - to - end design and programme / platform capability in India . This has led to a continuous increase in business expectations from the Indian captive center to deliver more for less . Due to cost pressures at the organization level , there is a need to improve the overall cost of delivery and make the unit more efficient . It was a tough challenge as all the resources were gainfully deployed and delivering to the expected time , cost and quality parameters . On some occasions , they were even stretching to meet the increased business demands . The challenge is to assess the operational efficiencies and suggest ways to reduce the cost of delivery by cutting slack and innovative thinking . Selection To understand the current state , we collected data from 41 representative projects on about 30 + cost / operating KPIs , surveyed ~325 respondents across India and other locations and interviewed ~25 of them for more in- depth discussions . This was aimed at collecting data on key financial & operational metrics namely , fully loaded man day rate , span of control , utilization etc . , and maturity of operating practices , such as , requirement gathering , resource planning , supplier engagement , to name a few . We also collected the industry data for similar captives in India to benchmark the efficiency of our unit against these captives . With the huge amount of data collected during the exploration phase , there was a need to cleanse this data into information & insights , which can lead to generating of creative ideas . I had two options , either to use mind mapping tool here because that is what mind mapping tool does well or traditional way of sharing the outcomes & recommendations for discussions / idea generation . I proposed data mapping tool because it engages & aligns stakeholders in understanding the current design challenge & creative idea generation . Application I invited key stakeholders ( ~25 ) for a half - day session for creative ideation . I also requested them to be acquainted with the challenge & data beforehand . Boardroom ( tables laid - out with 5 chairs ) was booked with enough sticky notes , bold markers and clipboards . Since we had lot of information to share in a limited time , I proposed to create visual representation of data as it stimulates individual ’s brain in a faster and more understandable way than textual information . There is no better way to share visual information than the art - gallery style . With art gallery approach in mind , all the data collected ( direct & Indirect cost , organization design , interview outcomes , supplier mix , software development life cycle operating procedures and utilization ) was put up on the walls . I shared the data collection methodology with stakeholders and took them though the displayed content . I allowed them to spend 20 minutes to browse through the visual representations and requested them to make a note of what fits - in , what does n’t and any representation / data item which they believe might give them good ideas . Next step , they were asked to return to the table to review their own sticky notes and group them into themed clusters on their clipboard . Thereafter , the sharing started in group in terms of various themes and underlying improvement ideas ( sticky notes ) related to that theme . These were all placed on different walls in the boardroom including the outliers . Largely the themes were Project Delivery & Customer Interactions , Spans & Layers , Cost optimization , Supplier efficiency and automation . Then , we started creating insight statements based on their observations . In order to make it more meaningful , I kept asking “ So what ? ” multiple times to ensure that the initial ideas were probed further and deeper insights were brought through . Insight By applying mind mapping tool , we came out with some hidden opportunities to enhance efficiencies and reduce costs . These were , 1 ) We identified many redundant / overlapping roles across geographies , for example , there were more than one Project Managers for the same project across geographies to provide locational oversight , which is an inefficient model as this was not keeping them fully occupied . 2 ) Fragmented supplier base with no accountability i.e. only resource augmentation was being achieved from suppliers , overhead cost of managing the outcome was still with us despite paying the suppliers . Further deep dive gave us additional unarticulated insights like inefficient organization model leading to reduced accountability , low motivation and engagement level of the staff . With fragmented supplier base , they were not willing to invest in / offer better price because they did not see our work as a big account . Approach All the stakeholders appreciated the effort and the time spent and found it a highly engaging , intuitive and creative process . They also suggested using Mind Mapping tool for future idea - generation workshops rather than traditional ways of analyzing the data and proposing multiple solutions . They really enjoyed the learning process , found it very fast & can be easily adapt to wide variety of tasks . We followed through these ideas & insights and initiated few strategic initiatives to overcome inefficiencies & cost challenges by way of supplier consolidation programme , efficient & cost effective global operating model etc . These initiatives have the potential to save GBP 1 million in the next 2 years for the unit .