Mind maps are great planning tools, whether you're planning a training program, a staff meeting or a Christmas party, or whether you're working alone or with others.
They offer a great way for groups of people to develop ideas or revise existing projects. They can be used to brainstorm any topic - marketing strategies, sales techniques, product development, even full-on business planning. (Yes, my business plan is a mind map blue-tacked to the wall!)
The illustration at right is a mind map of the concept of mind mapping!
It is reproduced with permission from James Cook University, and is adapted from the work of Tony Buzan, who invented the concept as it is most widely known today.
The basic idea is simple:
Put your main idea or theme in the middle and brainstorm it outwards, using colour and graphics to help.
It’s a non-linear way of working that helps you visualise trails between ideas.
Like to have a go? Get yourself some sheets of blank A3 sized paper and a pack of colourful marker pens - the inexpensive Faber-Castell Connector Pens are ideal - and follow the guidelines below.
How To Do A Mind Map Mind mapping (or concept mapping) involves writing down a central idea and thinking up new and related ideas which radiate out from the centre. By focussing on key ideas written down in your own words, and then looking for branches out and connections between the ideas, you are mapping knowledge in a manner which will help you understand and remember new information.
Look For Relationships Use lines, colours, arrows, branches or some other way of showing connections between the ideas generated on your mind map. These relationships may be important in you understanding new information or in constructing a plan of action.
By personalising the map with your own symbols and designs you will be constructing visual and meaningful relationships between ideas that will assist your recall and understanding.
Draw Quickly On Unlined Paper, Without Pausing, Judging, Or Editing These things promote linear thinking, but the idea of mind mapping is to think creatively in a non-linear manner. There is plenty of time to modify the information later, but at first it is important to get every possibility into the mind map. Sometimes it is one obscure possibility that becomes the key to your decisions.
Use Capitals Use capitals to encourage yourself (or your group) to get down only the key points. Capitals are also easier to read in a diagram. You may wish to write some explanatory notes in lower case. Some people do this when they revisit their mind map at a later time, while others jot down such things as follow-on tasks that will be necessary.
Put The Main Idea In The Centre Most people find it useful to turn their page on the side and do a mind map in "landscape" format. With the main idea or topic in the middle of the page, this gives the maximum space for other ideas to radiate out from the centre.
Leave Lots Of Space Some of the most useful mind maps are those which are added to over a period of time. After the initial drawing of the mind map you may wish to highlight things, add information or add questions for the duration of a subject right up until exam time. For this reason it is a good idea to leave lots of space.
Mind Mapping For Small Business Growth - To learn more about this author, visit Susan Regier's Website.
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Susan Regier
(Visit Susan's Website)
From new business startups to national ad
agency accounts, Susan Regier helps
businesses to get their message
understood. Since 1997, she has provided
professional copywriting for a full range
of marketing material through her company,
Vantage One Writing. Plus she is the
publisher and editor of www.Network
ingToday.ca an online ezine, which is
a valuable resource for businesses.
Susan leads marketing and networking
workshops for new business start ups at
the Small Business Centre in London and in
Sarnia. She is a Creative Writing
instructor at Fanshawe College and has
instructed numerous corporate
professionals in writing and networking
workshops. Susan can be contacted at
519.471.8726 or by email at susan@va
ntageone.ca. Visit her Web site at www.vantageone.c
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