Reflection – Mind Mapping 

 Challenge 

 The challenge is for approximately twelve support representatives with varying skill levels and   knowledge sets across various specialized support groups within a single department to move   past the mindset of “ this is the way we ’ve always done it ” . When approached with thinking   about the possibilities of change , they immediately revert to what used to work ( 20 years ago   before new technology ) or insist that if they only make one or two little changes all their   problems would be solved . This change usually only accommodates one of the three groups   and does not encompass the potential impacts this will have on development or the customer . 

 The other challenge is , this group works with financial institutions , so the cases they receive   need to be resolved expeditiously . Some issues are enhancement request and do not require   immediate action to be taken ; however , there are cases which will impact the financial   institution thereby impacting the person trying to manage their personal or commercial   banking account . These cases require a more expedient response , so having an agreed upon   case management process or system is needed . 

 Selection 

 For this challenge we opted to use Mind Mapping to help get them out of their old way of   thinking and to help bring into light which area(s ) house the true root cause of their issue . Mind   Mapping can also help spark ideas , establish more clearly defined criteria , and will help show   the group areas that overlap , their commonalities as they work through the process . 

 Application 

 We gave each person a sticky pad and gave them 10 minutes to write down the various areas   they feel are causing their issues . They wrote things such as : Knowledge , Education , Not Enough   Resources , Training , Need More Time , just to name a few . Once their time was up we placed   them all on a large white board , then asked the group to see look for similarities in their issues   and to categorize them . 

 Insight 

 We immediately noticed a common theme , which had majority of the sticky notes under them ,   and that was Knowledge , Education and Training . These had 80 % of the sticky notes that were   placed on the board . Now it was time to dive into this further by getting the group to also come   to the same conclusion that majority of their issues were under a very similar category . 

 Next we had the group look over their categories once again to see if there were any other   areas they could consolidate due to similarities in nature . This was done by asking open - ended   questions such as , “ what is the difference between your Knowledge category ( or bucket ) and 

 your Training and Education categories ? Please explain why they should or should not be in one   bucket . ” 

 This of course prompted further discussion into how they are the same terms being used for   different phases of the process . Education was used for people assigning the cases , because   they need to have more information and understanding of that information to properly assign   the case . Training was explained as more people need to be cross - trained in other areas of the   group , so they can better manage the case backlog . Knowledge was use for ‘ shared knowledge ’ ,   as in wanting a library or something were people can share case knowledge in one common   area , to make it easier to duplicate the situation without starting from scratch again . 

 Approach 

 Using Mind Mapping really opened the group ’s eyes across the board to the fact that they were   all speaking the same language using different terms . It opened more discussion on knowledge   sharing , training opportunities and various ideas came up on how this can possibly happen .   Some ideas were vetted out enough to take to their managers to discuss plans for an   experiment . 

 These all lead to an understanding they are a group working towards a common goal even if   they were using different terminology . This is also leading to ideas to do short experiments to   see what could work and what might not work for the group . The best part they are now   collaborating , and no longer siloed in their thinking . 


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: Reflection – Mind Mapping 

 Challenge 

 The challenge is for approximately twelve support representatives with varying skill levels and   knowledge sets across various specialized support groups within a single department to move   past the mindset of “ this is the way we ’ve always done it ” . When approached with thinking   about the possibilities of change , they immediately revert to what used to work ( 20 years ago   before new technology ) or insist that if they only make one or two little changes all their   problems would be solved . This change usually only accommodates one of the three groups   and does not encompass the potential impacts this will have on development or the customer . 

 The other challenge is , this group works with financial institutions , so the cases they receive   need to be resolved expeditiously . Some issues are enhancement request and do not require   immediate action to be taken ; however , there are cases which will impact the financial   institution thereby impacting the person trying to manage their personal or commercial   banking account . These cases require a more expedient response , so having an agreed upon   case management process or system is needed . 

 Selection 

 For this challenge we opted to use Mind Mapping to help get them out of their old way of   thinking and to help bring into light which area(s ) house the true root cause of their issue . Mind   Mapping can also help spark ideas , establish more clearly defined criteria , and will help show   the group areas that overlap , their commonalities as they work through the process . 

 Application 

 We gave each person a sticky pad and gave them 10 minutes to write down the various areas   they feel are causing their issues . They wrote things such as : Knowledge , Education , Not Enough   Resources , Training , Need More Time , just to name a few . Once their time was up we placed   them all on a large white board , then asked the group to see look for similarities in their issues   and to categorize them . 

 Insight 

 We immediately noticed a common theme , which had majority of the sticky notes under them ,   and that was Knowledge , Education and Training . These had 80 % of the sticky notes that were   placed on the board . Now it was time to dive into this further by getting the group to also come   to the same conclusion that majority of their issues were under a very similar category . 

 Next we had the group look over their categories once again to see if there were any other   areas they could consolidate due to similarities in nature . This was done by asking open - ended   questions such as , “ what is the difference between your Knowledge category ( or bucket ) and 

 your Training and Education categories ? Please explain why they should or should not be in one   bucket . ” 

 This of course prompted further discussion into how they are the same terms being used for   different phases of the process . Education was used for people assigning the cases , because   they need to have more information and understanding of that information to properly assign   the case . Training was explained as more people need to be cross - trained in other areas of the   group , so they can better manage the case backlog . Knowledge was use for ‘ shared knowledge ’ ,   as in wanting a library or something were people can share case knowledge in one common   area , to make it easier to duplicate the situation without starting from scratch again . 

 Approach 

 Using Mind Mapping really opened the group ’s eyes across the board to the fact that they were   all speaking the same language using different terms . It opened more discussion on knowledge   sharing , training opportunities and various ideas came up on how this can possibly happen .   Some ideas were vetted out enough to take to their managers to discuss plans for an   experiment . 

 These all lead to an understanding they are a group working towards a common goal even if   they were using different terminology . This is also leading to ideas to do short experiments to   see what could work and what might not work for the group . The best part they are now   collaborating , and no longer siloed in their thinking .
### Output: 