Linda Oestreich's mind map presentation to STC San Diego in December, 2007

1. Mindmap Your Way to Project
Success!
presented by
Linda Oestreich
STC President, 2007-2008
San Diego STC
December 12, 2007

2. Who am I?
• Manager, Hewlett-Packard Software
• President, STC
• Fellow, STC
• Practitioner in techcomm since 1979
• Occasional adjunct faculty member for
techcomm instruction
• San Diegan
• Profession’s self-proclaimed leading
cheerleader
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3. Overview
• Introduction to mindmapping
• Common visual techniques for project
management
• Mindmapping helps project management
• How to mindmap
• Mindmap mini exercise
• Online mindmapping tools review
• Wrapup and questions
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4. Introduction to mindmapping
• Popular brainstorming tool
• Radial drawings used for centuries
• Tony Buzan: psychologist and business
creativity guru
• Right/left brain theory
• Holistic learning
• Harnesses full range of analytical and
creative skills
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5. Right
• Imagination
• Metaphors
• Perception
• Intuition
• Spontaneity
• Holistic
• Relational
• Subjective
• Time-free
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6. Left
• Verbal
• Analytical
• Sequential
• Symbolic
• Linear
• Objective
• Chronological
• Procedural
• Logical
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7. Common visuals in project management
• Work breakdown structures
• Gantt charts
• PERT/CPM charts
• Balanced scorecards
• Strategy maps
• Process flowcharts
• Radial charts
• Mindmaps
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8. Work breakdown structure
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9. Gantt chart
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10. PERT/CPM chart
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11. Balanced scorecard
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12. Strategy maps
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13. Process flowcharts
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14. Radial charts
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15. Radiant thinking for entrepreneurs
http://www.businesscreditcards.com/bootstrapper/secrets-of-thinking-outside-the-box-27-ways-digital-entrepreneurs-can-use-mindmapping/
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16. Mindmap of project management process
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17. Exercise break: paperclip
• Taken from Thinking Visually by Robert H. McKim
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18. Mindmap uses
• Note-taking and reporting
• Brainstorming: capture ideas; compare
• Clarifying thoughts
• Summarizing
• Presenting ideas
• Planning
• Analyzing
• Building teams and projects
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19. Strengths of mindmaps
• Simplicity
• Associative—most ideas have many
links
• Visual—easy to recall
• Radial—easy to work in all directions
• Big picture—easy to see full idea
• Manage and refine extensive
information
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20. Mindmap of STC organization
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21. How to mindmap
• Position main idea in the center
• Use lots of space
• Use colors and capitals as often as you can
• Look for relationships
• Create subentries for subthemes
• Use simple phrases, images, and symbols
• Use big, landscaped paper
• Make main connections thicker than
subconnections
• Experiment with curved rather than straight lines
• Add humor, puns, pictures, metaphors, etc.
• Open up your brain!
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22. Mindmap on goal-setting
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23. Mindmapping methods
• Use emphasis
– Central image
– 3+ colors
– Variations of size and lines
– Organized, appropriate spacing
• Use association
– Arrows
– Colors
– Codes
• Be clear and concise
– Print
– Fewer words the better
– Connect lines
– Draw images
• Develop a personal style
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24. Mindmapping example
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25. Try it!
Pick something of your own, or use these:
• Cleaning a closet
• Planning a vacation
• Remodeling garage into granny flat
• Designing garden
• Painting bathroom
• Hiring a nanny or a gardener or a
housekeeper
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26. Manual vs. online process
• Handwork might enhance thinking and
creativity
• Online tools make good companion to
initial scribblings
• Online tools
– More options every week!
– Better features all the time
– Basic features usually free
– More complex needs, better solution is
to buy product
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27. Online mindmapping tools:
for thinking, collaborating, and research
• Bubbl.us => http://bubbl.us/
• Comapping => http://comapping.com/
• Deliciousmind =>
http://www.blainekendall.com/deliciousmind/
• Gliffy => http://www.gliffy.com/
• Kayuda => http://maps.kayuda.com/ (beta)
• Literature-Map => http://www.literature-map.com/
• Mindomo => http://www.literature-map.com/
• MindMeister => http://www.literature-map.com/
• Mind42.com => http://www.mind42.com/
• WikiMindMap => http://www.wikimindmap.org/
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28. Four online mindmapping tools
(compared at tiffanybbrown.com)
Feature Mindomo Comapping MindMeister Mind42.com
In beta? No No No Yes
Flash? Yes Yes No No
Ajax? No No Yes Yes
$11.99 / 6 $4 per
$65 per year / $36 for 6 months; months month; Free Free (for
Price
Ad-supported free option (about $2 option now)
per month) available
Yes.
Free option? Yes. Ad supported No Reduced x
features
Publish maps online? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Only with
Yes (as of
Publish maps on blogs / web sites? No premium Yes
7/11)
subscription.
Only with
Yes (as of
Export to Freemind? No premium Yes
7/11)
subscription.
Yes Only with
Export to Mindmanager? Only with premium subscription. (Compatible premium Yes
XML) subscription.
Yes (GIF,
Export to image? Yes (GIF, JPG, PNG) No No
JPG, PNG)
Export as text? Yes No No No
Export as rich text? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Export to PDF? Yes No No No
Import from Freemind and Yes (as of
Yes Yes Yes
Mindmanager 7/11)
Collaboration and sharing? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Managing maps? No apparent way to delete maps Good Great Good
5 at any
Unlimited maps and sharing with
time for
subscription. Unlimited public maps None at
Map limits? No free plan;
and only 7 private maps with free this point
unlimited
option.
for paid plan
Available as an enterprise solution? Yes Yes No No
Yes (as of
Auto save? No Yes No
7/11)
Manual save? Yes Yes No Yes
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29. Resources and references
• Wall, Matthew. “The big picture,” Times Online, October 2, 2005
.http://business.timesonline.co.uk
• Mayne, Brian. “Goal mapping,” www.liftinternational.com and
http://www.positivelymad.co.uk/pd/goalmap.htm
• “7-Step Project Mapping with MindManager®,” Mindjet, LLC, July
2003.
• Buzan, Tony. Use Both Sides of Your Brain, J.P. Dutton, New York,
1973.
• Wycoff, Joyce. Mindmapping, The Berkeley Publishing Group, New
York, 1991.
• Rico, Gabrielle, Writing the Natural Way, J.P. Tarcher, Inc., Los
Angeles, CA 1983.
• http://www.maxwideman.com/papers/pm-models/the90s.htm
• http://www.strategictransitions.com/basicprojectmanagementmind
map.htm
• http://tiffanybbrown.com/2007/07/02/online-mind-map-services/
• http://www.innovationtools.com/Resources/mindmapping.asp
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30. Happy mapping!
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