Science is a very logical subject, with many of the best minds working practically and systematically through problems in order to reach a solution. But some people prefer not to work in this linear way. I definitely don’t, and whether or not you work in a science-led company like GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), it’s essential to adapt working practices and systems to suit the people in the organisation in order to achieve the best results.
Working within a team of 13 people at GSK, we provide back-end support to over 200 of the company’s senior executives. This means that there can be numerous projects running at any one time, making it essential to have a system that makes project management easier. From experience, many traditional project management programmes can be quite linear and awkward to use; so capturing information in a presentation style, although time consuming, has always been my preferred way of working. It made it much easier for me to bring together, process and work with the information, but did not allow for easy progression or review with everyone involved.
It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with dyslexia in 2008 that visualisation software generally, but more specifically Mindjet, was recommended to suit my way of working. It allowed me to map things out in a non-linear way that suits me, whilst the way it integrates with Microsoft Office tools means that I can attach or add in documents that other people have created and have them easily to hand in the right place.
The combination of functionalities provided by Mindjet means my working method integrates well with the team and compliments people who prefer a more traditional way of working. It also allows me to easily prioritise my work load, and clearly show when each task is completed. I can now capture information quickly and simply, without having to spend lots of time copying from one tool to another, so straight forward tasks such as building presentations takes half the time, now that I have easy access to all the information.
With so many people bringing different working styles to one project, it makes office life a lot easier when you have a solution that brings all the information together ; allowing the team to work collaboratively, solve issues quickly and ultimately save time. For us, this is Mindjet.