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[tharinda07]

Group Mind Mapping

Mind Maps® are an excellent vehicle for effective group working. There are several different ways in which Mind Maps® can be used by groups. One way is to use a process called ‘Brain Blooming’ as an alternative to Brain Storming. The steps are as follows:

1. Use a Mind Map® to capture your individual thoughts

2. Blend your thoughts with others from a small group. All ideas are added and considered equally. Discuss the Basic Ordering Ideas (BOI’s) to converge and catch all the input. Make sure that every one feels as though his/her individual ideas are included. Remember all ideas are accepted at the initial stage. Depending on the purpose of the Mind Map®, you may want to experiment with different ways of working with the BOI’s:

* Agreeing BOI’s before you start working on your individual Mind Maps® makes combining Mind Maps® easier, but can restrict creativity

* Don’t discuss BOI’s in advance so that different approaches and perspectives are promoted. Do ensure that you allow enough time to discuss and agree BOI’s that accommodate everyone’s ideas

3. Amalgamate all small group Mind Maps® onto one large Mind Map® for a true representation of the group’s thinking.

4. Have a ‘Miscellaneous’ branch for ideas that do not ‘fit’ anywhere else to ensure that ALL ideas are captured

There are a number of advantages of Group Mind Mapping over brainstorming:

* Each person has thinking time to generate his/her own ideas

* The ideas are shared equally and BOI’s that will capture the meaning of all concepts are agreed

* The radiant hierarchy means “judging” is reduced e.g. top, bottom or lost in the middle

* Ideas are grouped as they are collected on the main theme branches

* Connections may be seen between branches and ideas

 

[tharinda07]

Mind Mapping for Creativity and Creative Problem Solving

Mind Maps are the ideal tool for effectively accessing natural creativity and harnessing that creativity for effective problem solving. The main branches of the mind map can be used in a variety of ways to support thinking. The only limit to the ways in which Mind Maps can be used, is the imagination. Some of the ways the main branches can be used are as follows:

Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats. (Note: click the image - above right - to view Mind Map) This is a well known technique for getting ‘out of the box’ of habitual thinking. It originated as a way of helping groups to get away from the conflict that characterises many meetings by adopting different thinking modes. See the Mind Map and notes on the following pages.

Edward de Bono’s PNI approach. This is a simple way of approaching problems by analysing problems by recording facets on the basis of whether something is ‘Positive’, ‘Negative’ or ‘Interesting’ .

Questions. Making the main branches questions, can often act as an impetus for effective problem solving. The usual questions are Who, What, Where, Why, When and How.

Checklists. One way of using checklists would be to take an item and use the checklist to stimulate thinking about alternative uses. Typical branches may be; Magnify, Minify, Substitute, Rearrange, Reverse and Combine.

Forced Relationships and Analogies. One of the main challenges for anyone wishing to be creative, is in provoking their thinking away from existing paradigms. There are a number of ways of doing this such as thinking of similarities to or differences from some of the more or less random words. The choice of words is arbitrary since the key here is to provoking thinking. Typical words (branches) may be; Animals, Transport, People, Textures, Shapes etc.

Attribute lists. Again, primarily used to provoke thinking by looking at existing problems, objects or situations in new ways. The way this technique works is simply to list different attributes and then use the natural process of the Mind Map to think divergently.

 

[tharinda07]

Using Mind Maps For Studying

The Mind Map Organic Study Technique (MMOST)

Mind Maps have been used by students of all ages and at all levels for many years with dramatic results. The MMOST technique is described in Tony Buzan’s Use Your Head book. There are eight basic steps:

1. Very quickly browse or look through the entire book or article, getting a general feel for the way it is organised

2. Work out the length of time to be spent studying and determine the amount of material to be covered in that time

3. Mind Map what you already know in that subject area in order to establish associative mental ‘grappling hooks’

4. Define your aims and objectives for this study session and complete a different Mind Map of all the questions that need to be answered

5. Take an overview of the text, looking at the table of contents, major headings, results, conclusions, summaries, major illustrations or graphs, and any other important elements which catch your eye. This process will give you the central image and main branches (or basic Ordering Ideas) of your new polycategoric Mind Map of the text. Many students report that they have often complete 90% of their learning task by the time they finish the overview stage. By focusing on the overall structure and major elements of the text m the author’s essential ordering impetus rapidly becomes clear and can easily be Mind Mapped.

6. Now move on the preview, looking at all the material not covered in the overview, particularly the beginnings and ends of paragraphs, sections and chapters, where the essential information tends to be concentrated. Add to your Mind Map.

7. The next stage is the inview, in which you fill in the build of the learning puzzle, still skipping over any major problem areas. Having familiarised yourself with the rest of the text, you should now find it much easier to understand these passages and bulk out your Mind Map.

Finally there is the review stage, in which you go back over the difficult areas you skipped in the earlier stages and look back over the text to answer any remaining questions or fulfil any remaining objectives. At this point you should complete your Mind Map notes.

 

[tharinda07]

Running Workshops Using Mind Maps

Mind Maps are an extremely powerful facilitation tool. The ideal situation is where the workshop participants are all conversant with Mind Maps. However, since the basic technique of Mind Mapping is easy to learn, in a workshop there are many ways in which the technique can be used effectively.

Typical uses of Mind Maps in workshops include:

* strategic analysis (e.g. SWOT, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats)

* marketing
- developing a marketing plan
- product analysis
- developing creative promotional ideas
- pooling market/competitor analysis

* performance improvement
- reducing costs
- revenue enhancement

* process improvement
- redesign

* visioning - at a departmental, subsidiary or whole company level

* problem solving


Mind Maps can be used in conjunction with other tools and techniques which are used to manage and facilitate workshops. If you require experienced Consultants in particular areas, illumine ltd are able to recommend Consultants who are also experienced Mind Mappers. One option is to combine learning how to Mind Map with addressing a particular issue or challenge.

 

[tharinda07]

Computerised Mind Maps®

At Illumine Training we use both hand drawn and computerised Mind Maps® every day. We regard Mind Mapping software as an additional rather than a replacement tool.

Computerised Mind Maps® have many of the benefits of hand drawn Mind Maps®, and a few others as well. They are ideal for;

* remote group working

* communicating ideas

* work/time management (hyperlinks to other software packages are especially useful)

* presentations

* on-going projects

Mind Mapping software is easy to use and can be formatted to produce very clear, easy to read Mind Maps, making it a very powerful communication tool. For full details of various Mind Mapping software packages or for a FREE trial, please click on the icon below to visit the Illumine Software Shop.

 

[hemantha33]

Good Post

 

[tharinda07]

mind mapping software http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mind_Mapping_software

 

[tharinda07]