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 Mind Mapping Tool 

 Challenge & Selection 

 I work in a large technology company . We ’re looking for a new Training Management tool instead of the   existing tool which currently does not meet the organization ’s needs . The tool involves many   stakeholders from different groups and functions . 

 Over the past year , many complaints have been made regarding the current tools issues ( bugs ) , and   mainly lack of compliance to today ’s training requirements . People are not happy with the current   solution , and hope for a better one as soon as possible . We need to address the needs of the trainees ,   their managers , content managers and information system personnel . Another business requirement is   business intelligence , or analysis of the data . 

 I think a mind mapping exercise would bring together the different requirements , expectations ,   experiences , pains and needs of the various populations which use the tool . We need to address both   the frontend and backend business processes . Leading such a journey where all participants define their   needs , and share with others , would help improve the design of the new system and provide a more   wholesome business solution . 

 Application 

 I will create a list of people of each stakeholder group : 

    Employees ( Trainees ) 

    Managers of trainees 

    Content managers ( connect experts who define the courses / tasks ) 

    Executives ( managers who pull the data and need to get insights about progress , problem areas   etc . ) 

    Information system professionals ( developers , project managers , quality assurance , integrators ) 

 I will conduct a session to explain all stakeholders , what is required from them in the mapping ( analysis )   process . I would show an example of a mapping of another process / system , so the mapping concept and   exercise is clear , but people are not “ fixed ” ( limited to ) on the exact items in the sample . 

 Then , I will schedule a session ( ~3 hours ) , where each group meets and internally goes over each   participant ’s mappings . For example : all the content managers meet , and go over each mapping . The   deliverable of this session is to create 1 map of all the agreed items all the content managers think may   be relevant ( they do n’t have to agree on everything . Items would be discussed later with the other   teams ) . The IT professionals meet as a separate group , and provide a map of their own . 

 The next step would be to create mixed groups , where each participant “ advocates ” for the needs and   views of his base group . The final step is when all groups meet in one room and conduct a discussion 

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 about all the inputs and insights which were revealed in the prior meetings . The deliverable is a set of   high - level requirements which encompasses and supports all major needs of all stakeholder groups . 

 Insight & Approach 

 The process which brings all stakeholders together to a discussion , where issues and new ideas surface ,   is crucial to the success of any large scale project ( software or not ) . Sharing information , understanding   others ’ point of views and needs are a must . Sharing information visually is a powerful tool and is   intuitive and easy to grasp . Marking clearly the different entities , different flows of information ,   different needs of showing / collecting / analyzing the data is very helpful for every stakeholder to   understand his / her own needs , and their relationships to the needs of other stakeholders , which them   may not even be aware of . ( For example , the way the data is defined in the database would make it easy   or difficult to pull later for analysis purposes ) . 

 In terms of improvement in the future , a possible variation of the process would be to shorten it , by   skipping the 2nd step where all stakeholders of the same domain meet . The main step would now only   be mixed groups ( one person from each stakeholder group ) . This method might result in more openness   to ideas and concepts of others , instead of arriving ready with strong positions after completing the   meeting of each stakeholder group separately . 

 * Example of Mind Mapping from the Coursera course 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Page 1 of 2 

 Mind Mapping Tool 

 Challenge & Selection 

 I work in a large technology company . We ’re looking for a new Training Management tool instead of the   existing tool which currently does not meet the organization ’s needs . The tool involves many   stakeholders from different groups and functions . 

 Over the past year , many complaints have been made regarding the current tools issues ( bugs ) , and   mainly lack of compliance to today ’s training requirements . People are not happy with the current   solution , and hope for a better one as soon as possible . We need to address the needs of the trainees ,   their managers , content managers and information system personnel . Another business requirement is   business intelligence , or analysis of the data . 

 I think a mind mapping exercise would bring together the different requirements , expectations ,   experiences , pains and needs of the various populations which use the tool . We need to address both   the frontend and backend business processes . Leading such a journey where all participants define their   needs , and share with others , would help improve the design of the new system and provide a more   wholesome business solution . 

 Application 

 I will create a list of people of each stakeholder group : 

    Employees ( Trainees ) 

    Managers of trainees 

    Content managers ( connect experts who define the courses / tasks ) 

    Executives ( managers who pull the data and need to get insights about progress , problem areas   etc . ) 

    Information system professionals ( developers , project managers , quality assurance , integrators ) 

 I will conduct a session to explain all stakeholders , what is required from them in the mapping ( analysis )   process . I would show an example of a mapping of another process / system , so the mapping concept and   exercise is clear , but people are not “ fixed ” ( limited to ) on the exact items in the sample . 

 Then , I will schedule a session ( ~3 hours ) , where each group meets and internally goes over each   participant ’s mappings . For example : all the content managers meet , and go over each mapping . The   deliverable of this session is to create 1 map of all the agreed items all the content managers think may   be relevant ( they do n’t have to agree on everything . Items would be discussed later with the other   teams ) . The IT professionals meet as a separate group , and provide a map of their own . 

 The next step would be to create mixed groups , where each participant “ advocates ” for the needs and   views of his base group . The final step is when all groups meet in one room and conduct a discussion 

 Page 2 of 2 

 about all the inputs and insights which were revealed in the prior meetings . The deliverable is a set of   high - level requirements which encompasses and supports all major needs of all stakeholder groups . 

 Insight & Approach 

 The process which brings all stakeholders together to a discussion , where issues and new ideas surface ,   is crucial to the success of any large scale project ( software or not ) . Sharing information , understanding   others ’ point of views and needs are a must . Sharing information visually is a powerful tool and is   intuitive and easy to grasp . Marking clearly the different entities , different flows of information ,   different needs of showing / collecting / analyzing the data is very helpful for every stakeholder to   understand his / her own needs , and their relationships to the needs of other stakeholders , which them   may not even be aware of . ( For example , the way the data is defined in the database would make it easy   or difficult to pull later for analysis purposes ) . 

 In terms of improvement in the future , a possible variation of the process would be to shorten it , by   skipping the 2nd step where all stakeholders of the same domain meet . The main step would now only   be mixed groups ( one person from each stakeholder group ) . This method might result in more openness   to ideas and concepts of others , instead of arriving ready with strong positions after completing the   meeting of each stakeholder group separately . 

 * Example of Mind Mapping from the Coursera course
### Output: 