A mind map is a visual outline with the central box as the
top-level idea, topics as bullets below it, sub-topics as elements of each
bullet, and so on. The benefits of using mind maps in business are endless.
Mind maps can benefit a business of any size, regardless of age. Besides being
a great tool for organizing thoughts and personal productivity, mind maps are a
clear and organized way to organize business solutions and business
communications. Studies have shown that mind mapping can increase a person’s
productivity by 20%. This makes a huge difference when you are running a business and have a lot of information to track and sort.
Applications of Mind Mapping for Business
Starting a new
business: Starting a new business, or even changing the direction of your
established business, can be a daunting task. Organization is key to success.
Rather than having your ideas scattered, a mind map can focus you on your
business plan and strategy. A mind map suits itself well to being a dumping
ground for possible mission statements, product ideas, competitors, and much
more. All of these tasks and ideas easily lend themselves to effective project
management.
Strategic planning:
Strategic planning requires clearly defined short and long term goals. With a
mind map it is easy to lay out the goals and the related projects that will
achieve your goals. Mind maps are a fluid way to define and edit goals, and in
SmartDraw they lend themselves to be easily transformed to project (Gantt)
charts. In the project charts, you can define milestones, deadlines, and
personnel to each goal in order to ensure completion. Identifying the key
projects in a visual way will get everyone on the same page and increase
accountability for all the projects.
Marketing strategy
and plans: Your marketing strategy should be shaped by your overall
business goals (defined in the mind maps above) and will define the scope of
your marketing plan. Your marketing plan should be the application of your
marketing strategy. Marketing plans should fit into the overall business plan
and work to achieve business goals. A well formed marketing plan should include
clear aims and objectives, a situational analysis of the current market, a SWOT
analysis, strategy, action items, financial costs, and controls. Each tactic
should be accurately measured and tracked for successes and failures. Mind maps
can help outline all the aspects of both your strategy and plan, and thus lend
to a more thorough analysis of your ideas. Plus, your mind map can then become
a reference to tracking your progress.
Market research:
As any market research analyst knows, understanding a new market segment,
competitor, or customer profile means understanding an endless number of facts,
details, and numbers. Mind maps are key to organizing and remembering all the
details of your research. A mind map makes it easy to compile all the details
under categories that are sensible to various aspects of your research. Good
mind mapping software will make it easy to also track references with hyperlinks.
When I build my own mind maps in SmartDraw, I track sources by right clicking
on the subtopic with the information and add a hyperlink.
If you are looking for more tips about creating
mind maps and how you can use them, check out Tony Buzan’s site: mindmapsforbusiness.com This
site is an online companion to his book Mind
Maps for Business: Revolutionize Your Business Thinking and Practice.
How to Make a Mind Map in 3 Steps
- Start with one main idea at the center of your mind map and a few initial big topics
- Refine each big topic with a few specific areas of interest
- Refine these topics, add more subtopics, and repeat until you have gathered all the information needed
For a more detailed description of how to make a mind map, check out the earlier blog post from which these steps were taken: How to Get Things Done and Go Home Early: Use Mind Maps. Also, a couple years ago we created a list of The Top Ten Brainstorming & Mind Mapping Tips. The tips will give you some guidance in mind mapping techniques for both the beginner and more experienced mind-mapper.
What to Look for in Mind Mapping Software
Creating a mind map using software should take no more time
that it takes to make an outline using a word processor. Re-arranging your
ideas should take even less time. Your mind mapping software should
automatically format the mind map for you, include a multitude of keyboard
shortcuts that increase efficiency, and should allow you to easily rearrange
your topics. Also please see this previous post about mind mapping software requirements.
