Mindmapping is a technique that can be helpful to you as a project manager or IT professional. Mindmaps are most valuable in notetaking, brainstorming by yourself or with a team, and in preparing well organized documents and presentations. If you like making lists or outlines, you may not immediately see the benefit to mindmaps. This post may provide you with some ideas on how and why you might want to create some mindmaps for yourself.
Try out Mindmapping
The best way to see the value of mindmapping is to try it out in the next 3 or 4 meetings you attend. You don’t need any special software to start. Just use a clean sheet of paper. Place a circle or square in the center and label it with the name of the meeting and date. Each time a new subject is introduced, write two or three words max to describe each and place these in a new circle near the original one. If there are sub-topics for a subject, add these in the same way, but this time around the subject. After you’ve practiced a few times, you’ll be able to tell if this is a process that could fit in with your particular style.
Background
- Wikipedia article on Mind Maps.
- Joyce Wycoff’s paperback Mindmapping: Your personal guide to exploring creativity and problem solving is highly recommended.
- Tony Buzan video describing mind mapping.
How to Mindmap
- Susan Dunn’s explanation of how to create your first mindmap.
- Celine Roque’s quick overview of mind mapping techniques.
Advanced Mindmapping
- Advanced mind mapping study skills.
- How to use mind mapping to enhance speed reading.
How to happily waste hours and hours of your time
Arthur Sachs
- Mappio – library of thousands and thousands of FreeMind, MindManager and JPG mind maps to browse and download. Take a look at Mind Mapping for Dyslexics, Edward de Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats, Mind Mapping v Mind Mapping Software, or Affirmation Tree.
Blogs
- Mind Mapping Software Blog – Read The real value of mind mapping software for project management.
- IQ Matrix – Accelerating Your Learning Potential Blog – Read Adam Sicinski’s Becoming a person of influence.
Tools
Creating mindmaps on paper is an excellent way to go. If you would like to use software to create, save and share your mindmaps, you can choose between online and software based solutions. Here are some places to start.
Software tools
- MindManager – The standard by which all other mind mapping tools are measured. If you want the best, this is it.
- MindVisualizer – Read review.
- Freemind – free, open-source tool written in Java.
Online tools
- bubbl.us – Web based mind mapping. Completely free.
- MindMeister – Web based Ajax tool. Collaboration possible. Free version is limited.
I have gone back and forth with using mindmapping as a tool. Currently I’m back on the wagon and very much enjoying MindVisualizer on my Ironkey USB Flash drive. Do you mindmap? If so, what sources have been helpful to you? Let me know in the comments.
(Communication mindmap by fabi k) (Topic image by edmittance) (musicophilia mindmap from wikipedia commons) (GTD mindmap by tanja de bie)
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Hooray! Mind Mapping !
My favorite subject.
I dont really take notes in the conventional way during meetings.. rather I use mind mapping .. ..easy to remember and great for future ref!
I have also a few article on the same in my blog as well :
Cheers!
Sreejith
Sreejith Kesavan´s last blog post..Project Management Tribes
Hi Alec,
I’m a big fan of mind mapping – it’s the best way for me to get anything to stick in my brain. Also the best and fastest way to create “products” of any form. I also like the fact that you can do this in little snippets of time.
I used to drool over some add-on software for MindJet – forgot the names – but I never got around to investing in them – also wary of the time I would have needed to invest initially to learn how to use them and get full value – but there are some great looking products out there.
Right now, I’m using SmartDraw 2009 for mindmaps – I love how you can use the same data to create a variety of different graphs – and also LOVE their new features for exporting mind maps into PowerPoints – with the sequential steps per slide easy to set up – Camtassia videos with PPT are top of my list right now. And I’m designing all of the product creation strategy in mind maps and other SmartDraw graphs.
Thank you for the great article!
Cindy King´s last blog post..World View Of A Days Air Traffic
I love mind mapping. I love it so much that I no longer use mind mapping tools.
To me, software like FreeMind are really reverse mind mapping tools: you have to adapt your mind to the way the program wants to display your info. There are two problems that I have with that:
1. I forget what I’m thinking, by the time I find the right node to insert, and then figure out which key combo does the insert (I always make children when I’m trying to make siblings.) I wind up with just the gist of what was a more involved idea.
2. I find it unnatural to categorize my thoughts before I’m ready. FreeMind forces you to be be top-down in your approach. Perhaps other tools are more flexible.
I am a game designer and a programmer. My two brain halves are always at war with respect to creativity and organization. I don’t have the patience to meta-program with FreeMind while programming in Visual Basic. Nor do I want to focus on linking clouds of nodes when I could spend that energy on my designs. (Believe me, I have frittered away more than one afternoon on getting a FreeMind map to look just right.)
So, what have I settled on? TiddlyWiki, of all things. It’s about as loose as my stream of consciousness: I can start a thread, create undefined wiki words within that thread to remind myself that I want to expand on a nebulous topic later. I can do true stream-of-consciousness with the journal. And, when I am finally ready, I can create a structure that makes sense for the task at hand.
For me, mind mapping means being able to understand what I was rambling on about five or six months ago, with no loss of context.
I knew I was heading in this TiddlyWiki direction when I found myself preferring to scribble notes, make spreadsheets and write Word documents.
I still do those things, but TiddlyWiki has become my main document creation tool. After all, the document is a record of what’s in my mind.
Happy New Year!
Mitch
Twitter: alecsatin
Hi Sreejith,
Went back and read your post on mind mapping. Must have missed it the first time around.
What a wonderful heritage India has provided you. Truly hope and believe that the Twenty-First Century will allow India to take her proper place on the world stage.
Alec
Twitter: alecsatin
Hi Cindy,
This is the first I’ve heard of SmartDraw 2009. Will add it to my list of things to look at during my “procrastination time”. :>
Loved your most recent post with the short cultural pronounciation video. Very cute!
Alec
Twitter: alecsatin
Hi Mitch,
All your comments are right on and to the mark.
Am fascinated by your use of TiddlyWiki. Ever thought about writing up some guidelines on how to use it to “understand what…rambling on about five or six months ago, with no loss of context”?
That would be a very interesting post!
Happy New Year to you also,
Alec
Hi Alec,
I’ll do that!
Cheers,
Mitch
Happy New Year, Alec!
I put together a little something for you.
http://www.morphoboard.com/tiddlywikimindmapping.html
Cheers,
Mitch
Twitter: alecsatin
Mitch,
What a wonderful New Year’s present – a journey into some of the outer cerebral swirls of an experienced developer’s brain. And, directed at explaining clearly something of contemporary interest – namely how a wiki can be used to create appropriate *and interesting* documentation more or less painlessly.
Hope everyone reading this will take a look two minutes to look at your wiki.
Peace and thanks for the gift :>
Alec
Alec Satin´s last blog post..Portable Mindmapping with MindVisualizer
Hi Alec,
Another wiki about mind mapping: WikIT the mind mapping wiki
Full disclosure: I’m its Sysop.
Feel free to chip in.
Roy
Twitter: alecsatin
Hi Roy,
Thanks for including the link to WikIT. This has the potential to be a valuable resource. Have bookmarked it.
Alec
If you are familiar with GTD check out my blog posts about Getting Things Done with Freemind (open source mindmapping tool)
http://www.pronovix.com/getting-things-done-freemind-screencast
and
http://www.pronovix.com/blog/time-management-and-mindmapping-getting-things-done-freemind
Twitter: alecsatin
Hi Kristof,
Very interesting approach to GTD. As a fellow getting things done person, I find David Allen’s approach to organization essential to managing all of the details involved in all aspects of life.
BTW, his new book Making it all work is excellent.
Wish you well,
Alec
Added making it all work to my books that I need to check out, thx for the tip!
Kristof Van Tomme´s last blog post..Druplet – a knowledge management system for Drupal built in Drupal
Twitter: alecsatin
Glad to help, Kristof.
Would love to hear your thoughts on the book when you read it.
Alec
I will!
Hi Alec,
It was fun making the TiddlyWiki! I checked out the WikIT website and love the Flash interactive MindMap.
That site is a great example of making a map useful to other readers.
Cheers,
Mitch
Mitchell Allen´s last blog post..The Worst Crap on the Internet
Hi Alec,
Someone named Niklas may have read your post recently and clicked through to my TiddlyWiki article. He then left a bad email address on my contact form!
So, if he comes back, maybe he’ll see this comment and help me out. I just wanted to make sure he didn’t think I ignored him.
I’m still using TiddlyWiki for everything that I would have created with a MindMapping software.
Cheers,
Mitch
Twitter: alecsatin
Hi Mitch,
Will keep my eyes out for Niklas
Great to hear from you again – wish you well.
Alec
Alec´s last blog ..6 Lessons on Leadership from Capain Bligh