Efficient Remote Working Teams - Visualization 

 Challenge 

 During these difficult times where COVID-19 pandemic has upturned lives making working from   office a health risk , my team and I like millions of others were forced to work from home . It has   been a year since we started working remotely and the team has been facing ongoing as well as   new challenges . For example , how can we maintain morale and high communication efficiency   with fully remote teams ? Working remotely for over a year now , the team members feel   disconnected with each other . Added to this was the complexity of having different backgrounds ,   unique cultural requirements , and different time zones . The team , being spread across three   continents , was tasked with addressing these challenges and come up with solutions that enable   them to seamlessly work from the safety of their homes . 

 Selection 

 Since this is a human centric problem , I chose to use visualization as a design thinking tool to help   us address these challenges . It allows participants to view the challenges from inside out rather   than from the outside viewpoint . The design thinking workshop , being a virtually conducted one ,   choosing visualization was the tool of choice for the design thinking workshop . The tool is also a   great way to focus , capture ideas and see the connections that would later enable us to be more   creative . Almost immediately , the team saw the benefits of visualization . Moreover , during the   exploration phase finding the right questions to the answers is critical and visualization helped us   do just that . 

 With the help of visualization or simply visual thinking , team members extrapolated possibilities   that might not have been easy to think of otherwise . In the video lecture , Angela Myer rightly   mentions that when we draw , we activate a different part of the brain than when we speak . Thus ,   we enhance creativity in ways we ca n’t use while having a discussion . This leads into more   generative ideas . 

 Application 

 Once the tool was selected , the team was divided into groups of 5 members each . Each group was   given a virtual dashboard . The team members were to visually describe their idea of an ideal   workstation , how they wish to do certain activities given the realistic challenges such as , the use of   different processes and tools , unique cultural requirements , and addressing different time zones .   with an image of a regular workstation to get started . Each member could then edit or append   objects or draw their thoughts into the dashboard . Additionally , we implemented photo images as a   part of visualization in the dashboard . These photo images of different team members and their   profile information provided a rich overview of the challenge each individual team member faces   and thus helped others empathize with them . 

 The Visualization tool helped the team create a deeper understanding of the underlying issues and   challenges while working remotely and explore member specific challenges and requirements . It   also gave team members a clear picture of the need for information , what value it creates and how   it effects the next phase . There was high level of engagement from team members to design a 

 better employee experience . The team members were designing solutions which they might be   using in the future . It created a sense of co - creation and confidence that when it will be eventually   implemented , there is already a certain level of employee buy - in on the initiatives that the team has   had a hand in designing . Keeping employees at the center of solving challenges with the goal of   building better workplace cultures paid off . 

 Insight 

 The understanding that comes with visualization of user information , such as user circumstances   and user specific needs , helps improve the overall performance of the design process and conveys   information to the entire group . To make this happen , the team members must understand each   other´s information needs . With the visualization tool , each individual creates maps of how a team   member will use a particular resource , connect with another team member and address a host of   challenges that appear in day to day tasks . The tool helped team members align other ’s thoughts   with themselves . It was widely believed that the tool enabled synthesizing new solutions and   create pictures of something that does n’t exist . 

 Approach 

 Visualization is a very responsive and compelling tool . It was instantly appreciated by team   members participating in the workshop for its efficiency and ease of use . 

 A key take - away for the team was to focus on identifying and understanding the problem to be   solved and keep an open mindset for future iterations . You ’ll never be able to solve every problem   and overcome every data use barrier in one workshop . We need to work continuously as we   progress with the remote work culture to develop specific solutions for unique problems . It is critical   to thoroughly understand barriers and challenges from team member perspectives so that the   solutions can be tweaked , and the most pressing issues addressed . 

 Another important aspect that we learnt was the need to engage the right group of stakeholders .   We had representation from different parts of the team . However , as the workshop progressed , we   soon realized that some solutions might be incomplete without the involvement of certain SMEs .   The step of identifying the ideal set of stakeholders is as critical as the problem statement itself and   needs to be addressed early in the process . 


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: Efficient Remote Working Teams - Visualization 

 Challenge 

 During these difficult times where COVID-19 pandemic has upturned lives making working from   office a health risk , my team and I like millions of others were forced to work from home . It has   been a year since we started working remotely and the team has been facing ongoing as well as   new challenges . For example , how can we maintain morale and high communication efficiency   with fully remote teams ? Working remotely for over a year now , the team members feel   disconnected with each other . Added to this was the complexity of having different backgrounds ,   unique cultural requirements , and different time zones . The team , being spread across three   continents , was tasked with addressing these challenges and come up with solutions that enable   them to seamlessly work from the safety of their homes . 

 Selection 

 Since this is a human centric problem , I chose to use visualization as a design thinking tool to help   us address these challenges . It allows participants to view the challenges from inside out rather   than from the outside viewpoint . The design thinking workshop , being a virtually conducted one ,   choosing visualization was the tool of choice for the design thinking workshop . The tool is also a   great way to focus , capture ideas and see the connections that would later enable us to be more   creative . Almost immediately , the team saw the benefits of visualization . Moreover , during the   exploration phase finding the right questions to the answers is critical and visualization helped us   do just that . 

 With the help of visualization or simply visual thinking , team members extrapolated possibilities   that might not have been easy to think of otherwise . In the video lecture , Angela Myer rightly   mentions that when we draw , we activate a different part of the brain than when we speak . Thus ,   we enhance creativity in ways we ca n’t use while having a discussion . This leads into more   generative ideas . 

 Application 

 Once the tool was selected , the team was divided into groups of 5 members each . Each group was   given a virtual dashboard . The team members were to visually describe their idea of an ideal   workstation , how they wish to do certain activities given the realistic challenges such as , the use of   different processes and tools , unique cultural requirements , and addressing different time zones .   with an image of a regular workstation to get started . Each member could then edit or append   objects or draw their thoughts into the dashboard . Additionally , we implemented photo images as a   part of visualization in the dashboard . These photo images of different team members and their   profile information provided a rich overview of the challenge each individual team member faces   and thus helped others empathize with them . 

 The Visualization tool helped the team create a deeper understanding of the underlying issues and   challenges while working remotely and explore member specific challenges and requirements . It   also gave team members a clear picture of the need for information , what value it creates and how   it effects the next phase . There was high level of engagement from team members to design a 

 better employee experience . The team members were designing solutions which they might be   using in the future . It created a sense of co - creation and confidence that when it will be eventually   implemented , there is already a certain level of employee buy - in on the initiatives that the team has   had a hand in designing . Keeping employees at the center of solving challenges with the goal of   building better workplace cultures paid off . 

 Insight 

 The understanding that comes with visualization of user information , such as user circumstances   and user specific needs , helps improve the overall performance of the design process and conveys   information to the entire group . To make this happen , the team members must understand each   other´s information needs . With the visualization tool , each individual creates maps of how a team   member will use a particular resource , connect with another team member and address a host of   challenges that appear in day to day tasks . The tool helped team members align other ’s thoughts   with themselves . It was widely believed that the tool enabled synthesizing new solutions and   create pictures of something that does n’t exist . 

 Approach 

 Visualization is a very responsive and compelling tool . It was instantly appreciated by team   members participating in the workshop for its efficiency and ease of use . 

 A key take - away for the team was to focus on identifying and understanding the problem to be   solved and keep an open mindset for future iterations . You ’ll never be able to solve every problem   and overcome every data use barrier in one workshop . We need to work continuously as we   progress with the remote work culture to develop specific solutions for unique problems . It is critical   to thoroughly understand barriers and challenges from team member perspectives so that the   solutions can be tweaked , and the most pressing issues addressed . 

 Another important aspect that we learnt was the need to engage the right group of stakeholders .   We had representation from different parts of the team . However , as the workshop progressed , we   soon realized that some solutions might be incomplete without the involvement of certain SMEs .   The step of identifying the ideal set of stakeholders is as critical as the problem statement itself and   needs to be addressed early in the process .
### Output: 