Forums

For the MT mind mappers:

How do you use mind mapping to help manage, while employing MT methods and philosophies? As a recent purchaser of Mindjet's MindManager (v7), I am eager to learn how others [b]effectively [/b]use the application (or any other mind mapping tool, e.g., FreeMind, etc.).

Thank you in advance,
Steve

jhack's picture

if you search the forums for mind mapping, you'll find a couple threads that delve into this.

John

sholden's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

While not specific to Manager Tools (MT), I use Mind Manager to manage all my Projects from a David Allen Getting Things Done (GTD) perspective.

Mind Maps in general are very good for conducting brain storming sessions and for creating checklists to start off a common process that you do on a regular basis. I've also used them for meeting notes and for creating outlines for presentations.

One other area I've used them is to capture my direct's sMarT objectives, their analysis of their objectives, and then my input to line mgmt on my their performance.

Steve

sbaleno's picture

Steve H,

Thank you for the response. Here's what I've been considering:

I work in IT, supporting a production facility. The production has over 12 departments, each with specific IT project needs. I am considering a high-level "2008 projects" map.

The center item would be "2008", or the like. The branches would be for each of the 12+ departments. Off of each branch would be the names of the specific projects.

Projects that might impact the entire facility (for example, updating MS Office from 2003 to 2007) would branch from a "Station" branch.

Based on your experience with mind maps, do you see value in this type of map? Again, it would be from a high-level view only. The actual projects would be managed in another system.

Steve B

itilimp's picture
Licensee Badge

Hi,

There absolutely is value in this kind of approach. You can link the projects to your other system through hyperlinks, documentation folders, etc.

It will also enable you to see at a glance where different departments may have similar requirements.

I wrote a [url=http://itilimp.blogspot.com/2006/04/mind-mapping-and-me.html]blog post[/url] awhile back regarding my use of mind maps, may be relevant for you.

sholden's picture
Licensee BadgeTraining Badge

I definitely see some value in what you have outlined. It sounds like you have a complex set of projects that need to be reviewed on a regular basis.

I think a MindMap would help you be able to see the big picture but also zoom into something that might need special attention.

Steve

juanricardo's picture

After using them for some years I have come to understand that even though they are great for storing and organizing information, maps are not ideal tools to control projects.
You can create a map of the project, just to organize your mind and understand every issue, but if you want a daily update, nothing beats a simple worksheet.

kklogic's picture

Can anyone post a link to the giant thread on which we discussed mind mapping in depth? I've looked through all of the forums manually and done a search. Neither approach is yielding the thread I was looking for. Thanks in advance!

jhack's picture

Best discussion is at:

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1578

but also mentioned in:

http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1456
http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=267
http://www.manager-tools.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2543

John

PS: do the search with "Mind Map" in quotes, and select the 'match all words' before running the search.

kklogic's picture

My mistake was the lack of quotes. Thanks so very much, JH!