I am going to share with you some Mind Mapping Examples from a recent real life meeting I had with a client to give you an idea of how you can use this tool in meetings.
But before I go any further, let’s put Mind Mapping to one side for a moment and remind ourselves that it is only a tool.
It is too easy to get focused on how amazing the Mind Map is and get caught up in all the rah-rah that some specialists in the field like to use.
I will remind you again that the Mind Map is just a tool – a very good tool admittedly – but still a tool nevertheless.
So when we are looking at how to apply Mind Mapping in meetings and give you some Mind Maps examples we must remember that our focus is to have better meetings however we can do that.
Mind Maps Methods for Meetings?
So let’s look at some meeting basics first.
I hope it is not going to come as a surprise to you but the fundamental principles of a successful meeting are:
- Knowing exactly what the purpose of the meeting is
- Preparation.
We could dive deeper into how to run a meeting, communication, conflict resolution within a meeting, brainstorming ideas, good minutes etc etc but for now let’s just focus on these two core ideas.
So someone says to you “Hey let’s have a meeting” and the first thing you have to think is “Why?” closely followed by “What’s the outcome (or purpose) of the meeting?”.
Getting crystal clear on what the purpose of the meeting is will mean that the second key principle – preparation – can be far more focused saving time and setting you up for a successful meeting.
I had a meeting recently with a client exploring how they could introduce Mind Mapping and Speed Reading training to one of their internal developmental programme.
Ahead of time we agreed that the purpose of the meeting was for me to seek to understand their context and ascertain their needs for this sort of training.
Now once we got that clear I then had to prepare for the meeting.
Ok now we can introduce Mind Mapping back into the equation and I can start to share some examples of mind maps that I used.
Using Mind Mapping for Meeting Preparation
First of all the preparation.
The potential client was a local college and so my preparation evolved around researching the particular course they were hoping to target with Mind Mapping and Speed Reading.
I was given a prospectus, details of the course website, together with a presentation usually delivered when briefing people on the components of the course in question.
So using the trusty Mind Mapping process, I set about working my way through the material and gathered sufficient information to give myself a working background on the topic.
I did not need to be an expert, I just needed to have enough information to allow me to ask targeted and pertinent questions rather than waste time in the meeting exploring basics.
And so here is an example of Mind Mapping used in that context:
Now that I had some background information on the client and in particular the topic that would be the focus of our discussions, I was much better prepared.
If you examine the above example of mind mapping you will see that it follows the guidelines of using colour, having key words, some pictures and with main branches radiating out from a central image.
The beauty about this is that it harnesses the power of keywords and so having done the research and used the map to gather my thoughts and observations, each of the key words and images triggers back quite a lot of related information that will be useful in the meeting.
Using Mind Mapping for Taking Notes in a Meeting
On the day of the meeting, I had a very productive session with the client and of course used Mind Mapping to take my notes.
There are different schools of thought on what should be captured in a meeting but personally I like to focus on these:
- Useful information pertinent to the meeting’s purpose
- Decisions made
- Action steps agreed (what, by who and for when)
Now when you are taking notes during a meeting (or indeed in any other situation where you are listening to someone speaking) Mind Mapping is such an great way to do that and here is the reason why:
Conventional note taking is a “content gathering” process that has conditioned us into capturing exactly what was said.
Mind Mapping is a “meaning capture” process that forces us to think about what we are hearing, analyse it, summarise it, synthesise it and then organise it on the paper before us.
Because we are not writing down “everything” and only focusing on the key ideas we have MORE time to think about what we are hearing and MORE time to keep track of what is being discussed.
Not only that we also have a thorough capture of what was being considered.
It really is very powerful.
The last of my mind mapping examples for you today is the map I created during the meeting.
This is the exact same map I created in real time and although the meeting was nearly a month ago, I can still recall the discussions around each key word.
Using Mind Mapping for meetings is extremely powerful and as I stated at the beginning of this post, you should always remember that it is a tool.
If you go to unfocused, badly organised and poorly prepared meetings and use mind mapping then you will still have a map of an unfocused, badly organised and poorly prepared meeting.
Do let me know in the comments below how you use Mind Mapping in Meetings.
Filed under Examples of Mind Mapping, Examples of Mind Maps, Mind Mapping for Business, Mind Maps by .
It seems that Scottish Manufacturing is in trouble.
The recent economic troubles have added to the general decline in that sector that has seen it shrink by two thirds in the last thirty years (according to the Scotsman’s online business section).
Now the Scottish government is taking steps to address this issue and of course the opposition parties are taking the opportunity to criticise them for a) not doing enough and b) for doing whatever they are doing badly (don’t you just love politicians!)
John Park, the shadow minister for the economy and skills was quoted as saying:
"We are getting close to the critical mass in manufacturing in Scotland. We need to see an intervention from the Scottish Government. Enterprise ministers have held mind-mapping seminars, which is all very well and good, but what we need is a manufacturing strategy, and that has to be part of a meeting with key people within industry."
So government ministers are taking part in Mind Mapping Seminars eh? (and being slated for it)
Now that is interesting.
First of all let me just say that I have no politcal allegiances whatsover but I do think that the Scottish Government Ministers concerned should be congratulated for taking steps to improve their thinking abilities through the use of Mind Mapping.
Maybe 10 years ago, something like this would never happen but things are a-changing in this world and we need to shift and adapt to those changes.
So the first thing that is very important to realise is that we can’t (usually) get ourselves out of a problem with the same thinking that got us into it in the first place.
What mind mapping will do at the very list is force ministers into thinking differently and knock them out of the mode that has been prevelant during this period in Scottish manufacturing history that has seen such a decline.
So instead of taking their lined paper note pads and executive ministerial pens and formulating their ideas in lists and paragraphs, they now have to take some plain paper, shift it round 90 degrees, get some coloured pens and start organising their thoughts in a very different way indeed.
Just this shift in technique may well give them a different perspective on the problem that may well trigger a solution.
So that is the first benefit of applying Mind Mapping.
The second benefit (to the future of Scottish Manufacturing) is that now ministers have a creativity tool that will help them generate more ideas for potential solutions to their problem.
Lined paper, writing sentences, starting at the top of the page etc etc is a very limited way of tapping into our creativity and possibly may even stifle it.
Because of the way our brain organises association (one idea leads on to another, which leads on to another AND a single idea can stimulate many related ideas) allowing the capture of those ideas in a similar format (i.e.using Mind Mapping) just supercharges your creativity.
And creativity is exactly what the ministers need to tap into in order to turn around manufacturing and restore it to its former glory.
So Mr Park perhaps you should do a little more research on what Mind Mapping can offer before you get on your high horse and use it as a whipping post for your political opponents.
Filed under Mind Mapping, Mind Mapping & Creativity, Mind Mapping for Business by .
Are you in the market for buying Mind Mapping Software but are overwhelmed by the number of options you are faced?
Well I understand that completely because the amount of software for generating mind maps seems to increase by the day.
Now I am not an expert on the options open to you so I can’t really help you with which one to choose.
I can tell you which ones (yes I use more than one) I use if you like but that would perhaps be a slightly distorted and less than objective recommendation.
What you need to do is consult a true expert (instead of someone masquerading like one).
In my mind there are two people online who seem to have a really good handle on Mind Mapping Software.
There is Vic Gee in his Mind Mapping Blog (more of him in a later post) and Chuck Frey on the excellent Mind Mapping Software Blog.
Now I interviewed Chuck recently about Mind Mapping Software and I asked him this question:
"What should you look for in a decent Mind Mapping Software?"
He gave a really good answer and has shared what he told me in his blog post "5 essential features you should look for when buying mind mapping software"
Go over and check the post out because it will give you some really good advice on what you should be looking for.
He does however miss out one vital feature that I think is absolutely essential.
I am not sure whether it is implied in what he has written or whether he just doesn’t think it is important enough to mention.
The feature I think is vital is that of being able to generate what I call a "lower level subordinate map" from an existing branch.
Here is what I mean.
Let’s say you are working on a map in your chosen software (that you have invested in based on Chuck’s recommendations) and one of the branches starts to get quite big and a bit unwieldy with lots of sub-branches and sub-sub-branches.
One thing you could do is simply collapse that branch so it does not take up much space and then open it up again when you need to see what is on it.
Another thing you could do is generate a new lower level map with the old branch being the new central image and all its sub-branches now being the main branches of the new map.
What is left on the original map is the original branch title minus its sub-branches so what you now need to do is link that branch to the new map.
The written description takes far longer to both write an read than to actually do it but what you have here is the process by which you grow and manage your network of maps.
It would be impossible and certainly impractical to try and keep everything on a single map so the ability to "peel off" a branch and start a new map, but retain the relationship between the orginal branch and the new map is vital for your ability to manage, reference and then later easily access your information.
I believe this ability in a Mind Map Software is VITAL to it being a useful and functional tool and I am sure Chuck would agree with me but for some reason doesn’t specifically mention it in his post.
So if you want to find out what the other 5 essential features are, go over and check out Chuck’s post now.
Filed under Mind Map Software, Mind Mapping, Mind Mapping Software by .
I was reading a blog article this morning on Edwins Mind Mapping Blog where he asked the question: "How good can Mind Mapping be for GTD (Getting Things Done)?"
Well let’s have a quick look at two of the most significant advances in personal effectiveness in the last 30 years.
On the one hand we have Mind Mapping.
This is the incredible thinking tool invented by Tony Buzan that takes advantage of our brain’s natural thought processes and associative mechanisms to give the user tremendous advantages in:
- memory recall and retention,
- greater levels of concentration,
- increased understanding,
- dramatically improved creativity,
- significantly higher information handling abilities
Mind Mapping can either be done by hand or you can use software (on your computer, on the web or even on a portable device like an iPhone).
Now I won’t go into the pros and cons in any great depth right now, but just understand that the two forms of the tool do have very different applications and advantages with only minimal overlap.
So on the other hand we have the Getting Things Done (GTD) philosophy developed by Personal Productivity Guru David Allen.
The book is subtitled "The Art of Stree Free Productivity" and is the distillation of an amazing personal effectivess strategy.
I think trying to explain what it is would do it an dis-service because you really have to experience it to really understand just how powerful it is.
It is the collection of some very simple to apply habits, coupled with a paradigm shift on what stress free productivity means, implemented with some very basic and everyday office tools.
Again I will stress that "Getting Things Done" (GTD) is very difficult to describe AND do it justice so it is probably better for me to explain the benefits of the system:
Imagine complete peace of mind coupled with a powerful feeling of being in total control together with the experience of getting the right things done FAST!
That is the power of this amazing philosophy.
Now I have been using both Mind Mapping and some of the GTD philosophy for a few years now and the closest I got to integrating the two of them was using my hand drawn maps to plan my day.
I have been using Mind Mapping for a long time and so I had already been planning my projects using the tool, taking my notes with it etc when I discovered David Allen’s GTD.
So I was already quite productive on one level.
What GTD gave me was an additional set of ideas that had a dramatic impact on my personal productivity (I am not going to tell you any more – go buy the book!!!).
But even then I did not really integrate the two philosophies of Mind Mapping and Getting Things Done until I discovered the power and benefit of incorporating the use of Mind Mapping Software into the way I run my business (and indeed my life).
To me this was quite an amazing revelation, especially when I saw (and then modeled) one of the world’s leading online business Gurus combining David Allen’s GTD principles with the effective use of Mind Mapping Software.
When you take these two powerful philosophies and combine them together then "Wow" and I mean "Wow".
As an experiment I started applying some key personal productivity and effectiveness principles with Mind Mapping Software. These included:
- Getting rid of mental clutter to sharpen my mental focus and energies
- Using projects to get things done quicker and far more effectively
- Reducing thinking time by creating templates and check lists
- Setting up systems to keep track of all "loose ends"
- Managing my knowledge to eliminate information overwhelm
I then shared these ideas with a group of online business owners as part of something I called "The Business Profit Productivity Blueprint".
The results not only amazed me, but the lucky participants on the trial were literally blown away.
One guy claimed back 10 hours a week that he now spends with his family.
Another stopped worrying and started sleeping better and a third suddenly found life "so much easier".
In this video, Jan Kemp an online business owner shares what she thought of the program:
So if you too want to see how you can combine the essential principles of Getting Things Done together with using Mind Mapping, then go and check out The Business Profit Productivity Blueprint now.
P.S. – When you do now, make sure you read Bruce Brodeen’s case study and video and see what Bonnie Terry also has to say in her video.
P.P.S – This program is perfect for you whether you run your own business or not because it is about getting things done fast with the least effort and eliminating information overwhelm – just show me someone who doesn’t need help with that!
Filed under Mind Mapping, Mind Mapping Software, Mind Mapping for Business by .
Mind Mapping is such a simple tool and it should really only take about 5 minutes to explain the basic concepts to you.
The tool is extremely powerful and when used in the right way and what I want to do here is give you a very brief overview of the what, why and how.
Without launching into a full blown Mind Mapping seminar, here is the key point about this amazing tool that most people miss.
It is not the pretty diagram with lots of colour, pictures and keywords that is important, it is the thought process behind the creation of that diagram that is the power of the Mind Map.
For example if I asked someone to take notes whether that be at a meeting, in a lecture or just from some written material, the chances are that their approach would be a copying exercise because at infant school we were taught to write by copying letters.
Over time we started copying words.
These words got bigger and bigger and then there were more of them.
As we got older we stopped copying everything and became a little more discerning about what we made notes on but in essence, we still copied, even if only the key points.
This note-taking process is little more than an information gathering process that is only one step higher up the thinking food-chain than photocopying the important bits.
And more often than not it is done in a linear fashion, on lined paper in blue or black biro.
This approach is one that we were taught in schools and has worked for hundreds of years and still continues to work for millions of people today.
However there is a better way (I bet you didn’t see that coming).
Now if you ask someone to take notes using a Mind Map we suddenly take a huge leap up the thinking food-chain.
Why is that?
Well the Mind Mapping process requires you to structure, organise and summarise information in order for you to create a Mind Map.
First of all you have to work out what the topic is about.
Then you have to identify the main sections. …Within those sections you have to identify the main points….You then have to summarise them using key words or imagery and then finally organise their relationship in a graphical format.
This requires a deeper level of thinking to do this.
Not only have you carried out a detailed analysis of your topic, you have assessed the relative importance of the main points, explored the possible dependencies and hierarchy and expressed your findings using a methodology that stimulates more of the brain than conventional methods – ie writing!
Also, your understanding and recall of the subject matter will be far superior, bordering on the remarkable.
The application of the tool has forced you into a higher order thinking process.
Whilst the Mind Map itself is excellent evidence of the thinking that has been going on, my belief is that it is the process it encourages that is its power.
Anytime you organise your thoughts on paper, you would be better served by using a Mind Map.
Now I have used the note taking example but you can use and successfully benefit from the Mind Map when you apply it to just about any thinking process – creativity, problem solving, analysis, presentations, planning, assessments etc etc.
How do you create a Mind Map?
A. Using colour stimulates more of the brain, it makes the Mind Map more appealing to look at and allows a quick visual discrimination between adjacent topics.
On a more detailed level it could also be used to classify areas eg in meeting minutes the AOB might be one colour, the Apologies another and so on.
A. The Mind Map is a structure that organises single ideas and concepts just like the brain does.
As soon as you start writing paragraphs you begin to lose the potential for associations and the focussed structure of the Mind Map (and hence of the thought process) begins to weaken
Q. What if I can’t draw?
A. You don’t have to be good at drawing to benefit from the power of the Mind Mapping process.
Simple stick diagrams and blob arrangements will do (don’t worry, your creation will not go on show in the National Gallery!).
The power of trying to use pictures wherever possible is that as we predominantly think in pictures a graphical Mind Map naturally lends itself to being a good representation of our thoughts.
Also even if you just tried to draw a picture but gave up and used a word instead, the process of trying means you have thought about it deeper and hence been more “involved” with the content.
A. Have a look at my summary Mind Map below and see how it relates to the text of the article and then try one (or more) out for yourself.
Here are some suggestions:
Where can I find more information?
Explore the rest of this site and download your free copy of "Get Started With Mind Mapping".
Filed under Create a Mind Map, Examples of Mind Mapping, Mind Mapping, What is a Mind Map? by .
At the end of a speech I did recently for some trainee public sector accountants, I was approached by a member of the audience who had a specific question about how to use Mind Mapping for processes and sequences.
Now I had just spent an hour with over 100 public sector professionals who were studying for their accountancy qualification in their spare time.
I had been asked to come to their annual conference to give them advice about how to study more effectively and the title of my speech was called "Read Faster, Remember More".
It is a topic I really enjoy presenting because it can have such a tremendous impact especially with adults who are taking further professional qualifications.
Now the jewel in the crown of effective study techniques is, in my humble opinion, Mind Mapping and of course I shared this amazing tool with them.
I am always amazed at how many people still have no heard of this tool let alone never seen one and Ranjit who came to speak to me at the end of my sessions was equally amazed he had never encountered Mind Mapping before.
His question was quite simple:
"Michael – I can really see the power of Mind Mapping in helping me to learn but how do I use it for processes because much of my accountancy training is about step by step sequences?
Now this is a really interesting question because there is an assumption that processes and sequences are only linear and logical (meaning one step after another) and Mind Mapping is only radial and creative and that the two are therefore incompatible.
Now before I go any further I think it is very important to always try and use the right tool for the job in hand and as a former Systems Engineer I appreciate the value of process diagrams to represent systems.
So in my mind a really complex process probably is best represented by a structured and sequenced process diagram.
However what happens when you need to add explanatory information, alternatives and options into the mix?
Well then you start to need additional sheets to your process diagram and all of a sudden the significant advantage of seeing something on a single piece of paper is lost.
So can you use Mind Mapping for capturing processes and sequences?
Well in its simplest form, a process is merely a sequence of steps, one followed by another.
As I said earlier, more complex processes might be better displayed with a process diagram, but Mind Mapping can still be used.
All that needs to be clear on the map are:
- Each discrete stage of the process
- The order of each stage in relation to the others
The simplest way of identifying each stage of the process is to have one main branch per stage.
The easiest way of identifying the order is to start Stage 1 (the first main branch) at the 1 O’clock position on the map and then add subsequent branches (stages) clockwise.
Of course the beauty of Mind Mapping is that the branches need not run in that sequence – you could have them in random positions around the map as long as you had some way of identifying their position in the sequence.
You can do this by either notating them alphabetically or numerically or maybe even use a continuous arrow that weaves its way through the relevant branches in turn.
The example Mind Map below demonstrates what I mean.
So if you have any examples of how you have used Mind Mapping for processes or sequences, then do let me know in the comments below.
Filed under Examples of Mind Mapping, Examples of Mind Maps, Mind Mapping Tips, Mind Mapping for Business by .
Now I thought Chris Griffiths (CEO of Buzan Online) was a decent sort of bloke.
Ok so I did insult him a little bit about iMindMap Version 4 (which still amazes me how good it is).
I mean you would be smug too if you had done such a great job with your new Mind Mapping Software.
So now he sends me another e mail taunting me about his new iPhone Application.
“Hi Michael
Are you an iPhone user?
Just wondered if you wanted to be on the beta for iMindMap for iPhone.
Very best
Chris”
Now he knows I don’t have an iphone yet so this is just blatant mental cruelty or just revenge for my insult.
So not only do I NOT have one of the coolest phones on the planet, but it also looks like I am NOT going to be able to access one of the coolest Mind Mapping software applications on the planet using it.
Is this man just plain cruel or is it the start of a shrewd marketing plan?
Does he have shares in Apple because he pretty well knows that once his new application is on the App Store I will HAVE to go get myself an iPhone!
And then later he goes and tells me about some more cool stuff that is happening in the world of Buzan Online….BUT WON’T LET ME TELL YOU!
Arrhhhhggh!
This man is driving me nuts….
Filed under Mind Map Software by .
