Benefits of Mind Mapping and Project Management

As a project management professional, you will encounter projects that vary in size, scope, and scale throughout your career. Taking a fresh approach to each project allows you to understand the requirements and translate these into a successful plan of approach.

There are many methods that can be applied to project management to facilitate problem solving, idea generation, and planning for example – and one such technique is a process known as mind mapping. There are various online websites that provide inherent mind mapping support.

But what exactly is mapping mind and what benefits can it bring to your project?

A mind map is a diagrammatic representation of elements relating to a particular subject; organizing information into a visually digestible form. Working from a central theme with topics and sub-topics born from this, a mind map is essentially a sophisticated spider diagram making use of colors, images, and symbols to organize information in a clear and digestible format.

It may be created within one focussed session, or across a period of time – adding ideas and points when required. Broadly speaking, have been used by individuals to aid the processing and retention of information (for example for revision or document writing), and by businesses to generate ideas and promote collaborative working.

You may prefer to draw your own mind maps – developing your own unique style, or alternatively, you may prefer to use mapping software. There are tools available specifically for using mapping within project management.