You are brainstorming ways to execute your next project, and suddenly, one of the team members suggests the team make a mind map of the project. Everyone is on board with the idea but has concerns about doing the mind map correctly.
You started some googling, and you are here. Well, my friend, the happy news is you are in the right place as we have compiled everything you need to know about Mind Maps, including the conventional and the modern way, right in one place.
Scroll ahead slowly, and let’s re-discover the gem of an idea for project workflow management – “The Mind Map”.
What is a Mind Map?
Let’s start with the most basic question: What is a mind map?
In simple words, a mind map consists of a central theme from which ideas are branched such that some relationship exists between each branch. It’s a visual representation of a raw idea so that you can grasp the context in one look.
The branching ideas or information are usually written shortly and crisply. Further, there’s always room for new branches (i.e., ideas) and everything seems connected, thus mapping back to the central theme.
Traditionally, it’s a method used to retain information, a learning idea to strategically organize the required facts/content better in your brain. Now, the application for mind maps is many, and one of its prominent uses is for effectively planning and implementing certain tasks.
Right from brainstorming to laying the framework for the project, everything can be structured into the form of a mind map. This makes it quite effective to let you know all the elements to focus on and what needs your immediate attention so that the tasks are completed on time.
4 Types of Mind Maps
Mind maps are categorized mainly into four types based on the info represented in them. The first three mind maps are simple and can be used for a variety of uses. The last mind map is best suited for aggressive project planning as it requires a lot of information and is well-detailed and structured.
1. The Simple Mind Map
The simple map is a free-hand mind map with many branches and sub-branches. These mind maps are best for brainstorming sessions as you can easily jot down the ideas and draw in as many branches as you want when your teammates present their views on each idea.
2. The Concept Mind Map
The concept mind map doesn’t have many words in it. It showcases the relation between the different ideas or simply illustrates the relationships between different entities. It usually outlines the concept and is best when the speaker is in a hurry and you don’t have time to jot down elaborate sentences—just the core words in the boxes that best deliver your ideas.
Compared to the simple mind map, you would notice that the concept mind map follows a hierarchical order instead of many branches branching out from here and there. This is because there’s an order in how the ideas branch out from the central theme.
3. The Random Words Mind Map
The random words mind map usually has the main idea at its center and the sub-ideas as describing words for its primary branches. These mind maps don’t have secondary or tertiary branches.
These mind maps are great when you are trying to come up with several solutions for the same problem. You can easily analyze the ups and downs of each method and see the problem from a different perspective.
4. The Flowchart Mind Map
The flowchart mind map is basically an algorithm detailed in a step-by-step way. This kind of mind map is created after a detailed planning process and helps to understand if there are any flaws in the plan.
In most cases, each shape and arrow type has its own meaning. The creator either goes with the universally accepted meaning or defines the purpose of each shape at the beginning. This kind of mind map is only practical if you have already done the detailed planning process and are all set to start with the project.
How Are Mind Maps Created?
If you are thinking of using a pen and paper to construct your mind map, put those thoughts away. You no longer have to find color pens, crayons, watercolors, or anything else to create your mind map. You have plenty of apps that would do the job for you. In fact, with a multitude of features, Clovine Mind Map and The Online Mind Mapping Software would be a great choice.
With this powerful brainstorming software, you can strong-arm your army to complete any project. Structure the project into segments using the mind map and have a glance at the current progress of your sub-tasks. Also, it draws your attention easily to the issues that require your immediate attention so that the project finishes on time without any delays.
4 Benefits Of Using A Mind Map
You must be tired of hearing the phrase “there are many benefits for a mind map.” Here are the main benefits listed down and explained with some scientific proof.
1. It helps you retain information for a longer time.
Our mind is a wonderful thing. But sometimes, you curse your mind for not being able to offer you the information you need at the right time. That’s simply because it fed it the wrong way. Try the mind map way. What’s the difference? You may ask. Here’s the answer for you.
Imagine a fruit. Say you imagined an apple. Did you imagine the letters “A P P L E” or the image of a juicy apple in your mind? The second one, right? Was the image aligned to the corner of your imagination, or was it at the center? Again the second one, right? One final question. Was the image in black and white, or did the apple look red and fresh? Again, the answer would be the second choice.
This is how our mind works. Our mind always likes to imagine ideas in pictures with lots of colors and visual representations.
When you try to gulp down the words, you are acting against the forces of your brain. But when the info is structured into images with colors and attractive designs, your mind grasps it better.
2. It helps to grasp complex ideas.
No matter how much you try to memorize, those complex ideas you hear during a meeting won’t easily go into your brain. So you would somehow forget the specifics when you come out. That’s when you can make use of the mind map method.
Structure the ideas into branches, even if it’s just the core words of the concept spoken of during the meeting. This way, when you revise the mind map later, the words would be able to jolt your memory, and you can easily recall what the idea or task was about.
3. It improves your productivity,
You get worked up when you aren’t able to remember something. You feel really unmotivated, and that affects your productivity.
Now think about the other side. When you can understand the ideas discussed in the meeting clearly, you can reproduce them well after the session, and you are able to communicate the same to your team members.
You feel confident in your ability, and you get motivated. And what does this bring? An increase in your productivity level.
Mind maps help you remember the ideas better and easily present them to others. Mind maps communicate a million words themselves and are much more effective than any presentation or report.
4. It boosts your creative and logical side.
Making a mind map might seem easy to you. But the job gets tricky when you have to accommodate a lot of ideas and find a perfect solution to achieve your goal. When you start creating a mind map, you are actually working your brain, and your logical thinking improves. You are forced to try different combinations to accommodate the ideas and get them done before the deadline.
Now, as for the creative side, the main idea behind mind maps is to remember things efficiently. You can use different colors or shapes to represent your ideas better. This would give a boost to your creative side as well. Further, you can redraw the mind map as per your aesthetics which also serves as a stress buster.
4 Uses Of Mind Maps For Project Management
There are many uses for mind maps, and it finds many applications in project management. One of them is to lay the project’s backbone and then assign the teams certain tasks. This way, the manager can track the progress of the sub-tasks that would help achieve successful projects.
Here are four other ways in which mind maps are used in project management.
1. Underlining A Project’s Goal
Sometimes, it becomes difficult to understand the goal put forward by a certain client. The idea might be so complex that it needs to be broken down into sub-ideas for the members to understand what the client meant. Thus, a mind map would help identify the project’s scope, the deliverable the client expects, and what is expected of the teams.
Preparing a raw idea of the client’s expectations is much easier if you follow the mind map method. You would be able to include everything the client has mentioned in the meeting, and you won’t get confused once you leave the conference room.
Once the client meeting is over, you can modify the idea put forward by them, break it into sub-tasks and assign it to your team members. The project would thus be in motion. Further, you can develop the idea after a team member meeting and flesh out the raw mind map into a fully structured, actionable project plan.
2. For Problem Solving
A mind map is as useful for problem-solving as it is for learning. Let us explain it to you.
Place your problem at the heart of the mind map. Since mind maps help you create branches and branches of branches, you can jot down all the ideas in your brain that you think would help solve the problem. Once these ideas are represented on paper, it’s just a matter of time until your team finds a way to solve the central problem.
If you are lucky, you might find more than one way to solve the problem. If that’s the case, you can use it to compare two ideas and select the one that makes the most sense. Or, you can combine two ideas and devise a feasible solution.
3. For Progress Presentations
Once in a while, you will have meetings wherein the team members share the progress of each task and brainstorm further processes. These meetings can be more impactful if you share the mind map with the tasks and assignees’ names. This way, the members can easily present the outcome of their work without having to create separate reports and presentations.
Additionally, within just one glance, all the team members would easily understand where they are towards achieving their final goal.
4. For Better Allocation Of Resources
Sure there are other ways to allocate resources, but have you tried mind maps? In most offices, the resources have to be shared among teammates. In some cases, the resources might be needed by more than one team member, leading to a clash. At other times, these resources might get handed over among the teammates multiple times, making it hard to keep track of it.
That’s when a mind map comes to use. You can easily interlink the branches on a mind map software and create a framework in which the resources would be used within the team. In this way, when someone wants a file or any other resources, all they have is to look into the mind map and identify who is currently utilizing the resource.
Further, most mind maps have the search feature enabled. So no matter how many tasks or subtasks or branches are there, you would always be able to locate the resource by searching its code or name easily. It’s that simple.
How To Construct A Mind Map For Better Project Management?
Now that you know a thing or two about mind maps, the next most pressing question in your mind would be how to create a mind map.
1. Brainstorming And Sorting Out The Required Ideas
The first and foremost step of creating an effective mind map is to club the required ideas together and weed out the unnecessary ones. Once you do this, you have clarity on where the ideas are to be placed on the map.
Surely, the mind map provides space to accommodate many ideas, but that doesn’t mean you have to include all the unnecessary ones. For the mind map to be effective, the person who sees it should be able to understand the context in just a glance.
If too many ideas are presented with a vague timeline to execute all of them, there are high chances that you might lose sight of the price. To avoid this, it’s necessary to sort the ideas and keep the ones that do good to your central theme.
If you find it difficult to weed out the ideas, ask a question about the idea. How does this task/idea help to achieve my central theme/main idea? If you are able to come up with a logical and well-structured answer for this question, that idea/task is worth a spot on the mind map.
If you are not able to do that, ask a secondary question. Will this idea assist any other particular idea you have in hand to achieve the central idea? If the answer is still a no, that idea has to be removed, at least for now.
2.Placing The Required Ones On Sheet
Once you have the required ideas in hand, it’s time to place the project’s goal (here, that’s the central idea) on paper. Since its digital era, you can use Clovine’s Mind Map- Brainstorming tool instead of pen and paper to jot down your mind map.
Now, think of the primary branches and the position of the other ideas. This part might be a bit difficult, but once it’s done, you have completed a major portion of your planning phase.
The backbone of the mind map can be laid a bit easier if you include the team members and let them get a say on the tasks to be carried out and when to achieve the project goal. This will also help you to set a reasonable deadline for the tasks.
3. Interconnect The Branches If There Are Any Similarities
Once you have the central, primary, secondary, and tertiary ideas (or so on) on the sheet, you can check to see if there are any relations between the existing branches.
Sometimes, some tasks have to be completed side by side, or the team members can collaborate and finish them at a greater speed. Find a way to represent this info on the mind map. This would help you a lot as you can make the right use of your resources and complete the tasks much faster.
4.Running The Mind Maps Through Several Meetings
No mind map is perfect after a single meeting. To make it foolproof, have a rough copy ready and update it after every meeting.
Trust us. You will get at least one new idea after each brainstorming session or client-team meeting. Make room for the new idea or slash down an existing one that no longer serves the central idea.
Why Is A Mind Map Important For Project Management?
The answer to this question is also the answer to another question that has been lingering in your mind for quite some time, ever since the team member raised the idea of the mind map. Why is the mind map so popular?
1. Structures The Idea Into Sub-Points
A raw idea can be developed into a full-fledged working idea with the help of a mind map. The core definition of a mind map states the same.
The branching ideas are all related to the central theme and placed in such a way that each of them gets the due attention it requires. Further, the idea is well structured so that you get an idea of what to focus on and when to focus on it with just one look.
2. Highlights The Importance Of Each Part
Even though the sub-ideas are given as branching originating from the main idea, each idea is important in the mind map structure. This is because, in many cases, a lot of sub-ideas also arise from the main branch, which goes on like a tree’s branches. Eventually, these ideas map back to the central idea or your goal.
The hierarchy also gives you an idea of what needs your attention at the moment and what can be postponed for a bit so that the ones that require immediate attention get their due diligence.
3. Brings The Team Together
A mind map is not just a tool to help your plan, monitor, and take action. It also helps in bringing your team together. A mind map helps bring calm into the world of chaos. So many ideas are represented in a single meeting, and you find it difficult to track their relevance back to the proposed project.
What do you do in that situation? Construct a mind map. The star highlight of having a mind map made for your project is that you can always find room for new ideas and accommodate them. Implementing it or not is a matter for another meeting, but a mind map does help to make your team members feel included in the discussion.
How To Find The Best Mind Mapping Software For Project Workflow Management?
Pen and paper may not be the best choice if you are to use mind mapping for planning, monitoring, and tracking your project and its sub-tasks. That’s when you should invest in a good mind map software.
Based on your curiosity in knowing about mind maps, you pretty sure have come across a multitude of mind mapping project management software.
But how can you find the right one that’s best for your needs? Look for the following qualities in the software:
1. Usability
Most mind mapping software seem quite complicated because of its user interface and the complexity of the instructions.
If you are on the verge of starting a new project and want a mind mapping tool in hand, you won’t have time to figure out how to use the software from the user manual. Thus, an ideal mind mapping software should be easily understandable, and the user interface should seem pleasant and welcoming.
2. Satisfy your requirements
Not everything in mind maps is about color. Especially when you need it to plan your next project or jot down the minutes of your meetings; in those cases, you need more sophisticated features like structuring the task based on progress, categorizing them based on your workload, adding video links/files to the tasks, etc.
Thus, outline your requirements and expectations, and make sure the software provides it as such, or the provider is ready to customize it. Getting a mind mapping app catered to your needs is one of the best investments you can make for your workplace. It saves a lot of time and helps streamline your tasks.
3. Budget
Well, let’s face it. Every organization has a budget, and most are stringent on how they use and what apps or software they purchase for the workplace. If you are purchasing the mind mapping software just for a project, weigh its features against its price tag. See if it’s worth it.
With many mind mapping software on the block, most of them are willing to give you a free demo or use the premium features free of cost for a week or two. This way, you can see which software would be the best fit for your organization and choose the one that fits your budget and provides you the value you expect.
4 Benefits Of Using A Mind Mapping Software For Project Management
Mind mapping can be done either with pen and paper or using mind mapping software. But there are a lot of upsides when you go for mind mapping software.
1. It simplifies the whole process.
When you use mind mapping software, all you have to do is just add branches from the drop-down list and type in the points. You don’t have to find the right color pens with the right nib to draw the boxes/circles and highlight the points. All of these can be done with some clicks.
Further, if you have any modifications, you can delete the text or delete the branch as such with a few clicks. This isn’t possible when you use a pen and paper.
2. You can easily share and link the mind maps.
You have created a mind map of the meeting instead of the minutes. You can easily share the same with your team if you use the software. The mind map can be downloaded in any format you want and shared in your project groups. This way, the teammates can modify the points and add some of their own to elaborate on the idea.
Further, you can link one mind map to another. People often used to make simple mind maps centering around one idea. If you use mind mapping software, you can easily interlink one or more mind maps instead of trying to draw one big mind map.
3. Comes with a lot of additional tools,
Most premium packages of mind map software offer a wide range of additional tools and features. They have pre-designed templates, options to create Gantt charts from the mind map info, automatic cloud syncing, etc. These features/options further reduce your workload and make the entire mind map creation process much easier and faster.
In some cases, you can integrate the mind maps with a lot of other apps you use on a daily basis. This way, you can easily streamline your to-do tasks and simplify your work routine.
Mind Maps are an effective way to arrange the information so that your brain processes it better. No matter if it’s the traditional pen and paper version or the modern mind mapping software, the impact it has on the brain is all the same.
Now you have a better idea of how to make a mind map and the benefits and outcomes of making one. So go ahead, experiment with those branches, and see how well you are able to develop the central idea. You are sure to be surprised.