Mind mapping tool 

 Challenge : 

 I was recruited as a team lead or an Ass . Group leader while being a postdoc . Our group works in the   field of cancer research where we culture them in the lab , analyze them , identify drugs that inhibit   cancer growth and also identify possible ways to prevent metastasis in the future . We handle many   projects and the scope of the project includes technicians , who do routine laboratory work , interns   who work on short - term projects , PhDs who work on their doctoral theses on various topics and the   IT department which helps us with the maintenance of data , data protection , and security . The Idea   of any working group is to work as an effective team . The group I joined was more individuals than a   team , low on resources , no smooth flow of information , no communication , directionless and less   productive . The challenges included bringing them together as a team , optimizing resources to   increase project productivity , improve communication and streamline data management . 

 Selection : 

 Since the group was at “ What is ” stage , I used the Mind mapping tool to streamline the whole   process of project activities in the group . Briefly , Mind mapping is a design tool which looks for   patterns and insights in the whole process or a large data that is available and as explained in Week   3 of the “ Mind mapping tool ” lecture . 

 Application : 

 I first gathered the information on all the projects our group handled and spoke to the team   members one - on - one . I listed out the methods , the experiments and the tools they used for the   projects and the aims of their projects . I discussed my assessment and possibilities with my peers   and later spoke to all of the group members and discussed my findings with them . 

 There were 3 major areas identified for optimization 1 . Resource management 2 . Communication   and 3 . Standardizing operation procedures . Under resource management , I divided experimental   methods into 2 categories , 1 . Core methods : these are necessary for all the projects and is the   backbone of our group ’s projects and everyone has to learn and 2 . Individual : these are project   specific methods used for the projects of individual team members where they gain expertise and   will be the point of contacts for any help if need be .   For communicating the progress of each other ’s   projects effectively , I , as an acting group leader , introduced biannual progress reports and weekly   data clubs where specific problems hindering an experiment are discussed . Finally , for standardizing   the experimental procedures , we decided to write down all the experimental protocols , optimize   them together , save them electronically and use these protocols for future experiments . 

 Insight : 

 By applying the mind mapping tool . I could identify the key functional areas that were the core   issues affecting the productivity of our group . By identifying the core experiments and training   everyone in these we can avoid losing samples when the primary technician handling the   experiment is unavailable and therefore prevent any effect on the projects . With individual   experiment we now know the expertise of a person and therefore can approach the person for   expert advice when needed . The progress reports and data clubs will help the projects with   suggestions , ideas to improve the projects and in problem - solving when stuck . Standardizing the   experimental procedures will help avoid any bias when performing the experiments and also present 

 a working method to all the team members old and new members easily available making the team   an effectively functioning team . 

 Approach : 

 For any team to work effectively , it is always important to identify the pillars that make any team or   a project effective and viable in this instance it was core and specialized areas , the flow of   information ( communication ) and bringing uniformity to experimental approaches ( SOPs ) . For such   approaches , the mind mapping tool is a very good tool , defining the “ What is ” before transitioning   to   “ What if ” . 


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: Mind mapping tool 

 Challenge : 

 I was recruited as a team lead or an Ass . Group leader while being a postdoc . Our group works in the   field of cancer research where we culture them in the lab , analyze them , identify drugs that inhibit   cancer growth and also identify possible ways to prevent metastasis in the future . We handle many   projects and the scope of the project includes technicians , who do routine laboratory work , interns   who work on short - term projects , PhDs who work on their doctoral theses on various topics and the   IT department which helps us with the maintenance of data , data protection , and security . The Idea   of any working group is to work as an effective team . The group I joined was more individuals than a   team , low on resources , no smooth flow of information , no communication , directionless and less   productive . The challenges included bringing them together as a team , optimizing resources to   increase project productivity , improve communication and streamline data management . 

 Selection : 

 Since the group was at “ What is ” stage , I used the Mind mapping tool to streamline the whole   process of project activities in the group . Briefly , Mind mapping is a design tool which looks for   patterns and insights in the whole process or a large data that is available and as explained in Week   3 of the “ Mind mapping tool ” lecture . 

 Application : 

 I first gathered the information on all the projects our group handled and spoke to the team   members one - on - one . I listed out the methods , the experiments and the tools they used for the   projects and the aims of their projects . I discussed my assessment and possibilities with my peers   and later spoke to all of the group members and discussed my findings with them . 

 There were 3 major areas identified for optimization 1 . Resource management 2 . Communication   and 3 . Standardizing operation procedures . Under resource management , I divided experimental   methods into 2 categories , 1 . Core methods : these are necessary for all the projects and is the   backbone of our group ’s projects and everyone has to learn and 2 . Individual : these are project   specific methods used for the projects of individual team members where they gain expertise and   will be the point of contacts for any help if need be .   For communicating the progress of each other ’s   projects effectively , I , as an acting group leader , introduced biannual progress reports and weekly   data clubs where specific problems hindering an experiment are discussed . Finally , for standardizing   the experimental procedures , we decided to write down all the experimental protocols , optimize   them together , save them electronically and use these protocols for future experiments . 

 Insight : 

 By applying the mind mapping tool . I could identify the key functional areas that were the core   issues affecting the productivity of our group . By identifying the core experiments and training   everyone in these we can avoid losing samples when the primary technician handling the   experiment is unavailable and therefore prevent any effect on the projects . With individual   experiment we now know the expertise of a person and therefore can approach the person for   expert advice when needed . The progress reports and data clubs will help the projects with   suggestions , ideas to improve the projects and in problem - solving when stuck . Standardizing the   experimental procedures will help avoid any bias when performing the experiments and also present 

 a working method to all the team members old and new members easily available making the team   an effectively functioning team . 

 Approach : 

 For any team to work effectively , it is always important to identify the pillars that make any team or   a project effective and viable in this instance it was core and specialized areas , the flow of   information ( communication ) and bringing uniformity to experimental approaches ( SOPs ) . For such   approaches , the mind mapping tool is a very good tool , defining the “ What is ” before transitioning   to   “ What if ” .
### Output: 