I had the opportunity to introduce mind-mapping technique to a subordinate the other day. What seems to be common sense and straight forward turn out to be something similar to a revelation.
This subordinate was having difficulties in managing her assignments. When the workload is great, she will gladly choose the easiest to complete and push aside those that is more difficult. Not being properly supervised for ages, she got away with doing things at her preferred pace and quality. But then, disaster struck... she's now reporting to me.
I started by asking her to list down all the pending tasks and by looking at the sheer number, she almost fainted. I know for a fact that she is not dumb. She holds bachelor and a master degree. The only thing is she was not properly guided in her journey into the business and commercial world.
To alleviate her pain, I taught her the simple technique of mind mapping so that she could categorize, prioritize and subsequently organize herself. While initially she accepted the task in view that I'm her boss, she later started to try out the technique.
Day passes by with no real feedback from her on the subject. Only in the last few days, I feel so valued. She had applied the technique on two of her important assignment and the outcome was predictably much better than she could ever achieved before. For her, it's an experience of joy that she had never felt even after many-many years with the company.
As her boss, I'm happy that she's developing and growing. It goes to show, if you care for someone, be with them and help them out. Sometime, a simple technique that we took for granted could change a persons' live.
