Background
Ernst & Young is one of the world's largest consultancy businesses, employing almost 150 000 people globally in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services.
Its advisory department improves client performance while managing the risk associated with such change.
Challenge
As Executive Director in the IT advisory department, Max Osterlund is tasked with finding ways to make his clients' IT more efficient while ensuring that their business is not adversely affected during the changes. As such, he spends a lot of his time breaking down problems and working out how to solve them with his team.
“We do a lot of brainstorming and coming up with ideas,” says Osterlund. “Collating that information and presenting it in a way that's visually stimulating, while including all the key data, can take as much time as coming up with the ideas. In an ideas-driven business, this could really slow us down.”
Being in the professional services business, time is money for Osterlund and his team. They needed the ability to capture information and present it quickly and effectively, solving clients' problems faster than the competition.
Solution
Osterlund came across MindManager while looking for a tool that could quickly grab and present information in an interesting way.
“It's a fantastic tool for breaking down problems, which is a key part of the consultancy we offer. By using MindManager, we can quickly find the problem, break it down and then structure the project plan around it, making it a good start-up tool when planning projects with clients.
“With MindManager, we're able to plan, sell to client and then incorporate the signed off ideas into the project plans, without using different software and bits of paper - it's all in one mindmap. It provides a picture of a project in one page, allowing us to switch between macro and micro views of the project rapidly.”
Results
Osterlund and his team were so taken with MindManager that the IT advisory department now holds 130 licences, and it has become the default tool for a number of tasks, including taking meeting minutes and capturing notes in brainstorming sessions.
It is also used internally in different departments, for example, within human resources. The HR team has a mindmap on the Ernst & Young intranet, showing who is responsible for each area that falls under its remit, ensuring all enquiries go to the right person, and saving both the enquirer and answerer time.
Osterlund says: “MindManager allows us a freedom of expression which, while not missing before, was certainly harder to capture. It's become our de facto tool for starting projects, and any problem or challenge we face often gets put into a mindmap. A lot of our clients are looking for us to advise them on how to be more efficient, and MindManager has allowed us to achieve that goal in our creative thinking and presentations.
Project management
Company
* Ernst & Young Norway
Industry
* Consultancy
Location
* Oslo, Norway
Product
* MindManager
Business problem:
* Used post-it notes, Word, Excel in the planning of projects - different elements that did not integrate naturally, leading to time-consuming conversion tasks and writing up of ideas.
* The process of planning projects and presenting ideas took time and different formats - Word, PowerPoint, etc.
* Took time to break down problems and work out solutions.
Solution:
* Using MindManager to break down problems - has become a key part of the consultancy.
* 150 licences in use.
* Used internally as well as externally.
* Integrates with MS Project, making it useful for project planning.
* Provides macro and micro views of projects.
Results:
* Able to plan, sell to client and incorporate with project plans rapidly.
* Presents information in visually stimulating way - clients that haven't seen MindManager before often want to use it themselves.
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