The Essential Guide to Getting Started with Mind Mapping Software Everything you need to know to accelerate your productivity, creativity and effectiveness at work. Selecting the best program for your needs Benefits and advantages of mind mapping software Powerful business applications Must-have features to look for A glossary of mind mapping terms 11 leading programs compared on 80+ features Software developer profiles By Chuck Frey mindmappingsoftwareblog.com A practical process for identifying the right software This guide is designed to help you develop and refine a list of requirements understand how mind mapping software which the software needs to meet. can help you be more productive, creative and effective. It will do so by Third, this guide will provide you with the following a simple four-step process, resources you need to identify the right outlined in the diagram below. software programs that ought to meet your needs, based on the requirements This process begins with helping you to you identified in step 2. understand the business case for mind mapping software. Why do you need it? Finally, this guide will help you to select How can it help you accelerate and or purchase the software you need. improve your work. You’re about to take a fascinating journey Next, this guide will help you to into the world of visual thinking. I hope determine what specific features and you find this collection of knowledge and capabilities you may need. These are resources to be a helpful guide to your based upon a number of common journey! business scenarios. You can easily select the one that most closely mirrors Best Regards, the way in which you work and the challenges you face in managing Chuck Frey information and ideas. You can then STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 STEP 1 What is mind How do you plan to Tips on how to Vendor profiles mapping software use mind mapping select mind Why do I need it? software in your mapping software What can it do for work? Mind mapping me? What software software What are some of features support comparison chart the common ways this type of work? business people are What essential benefiting from it features should you today? look for? © 2015 The Mind Mapping Software Blog The compelling business advantages of mind mapping software Mind mapping software is often dismissed by linear thinkers as being somewhat frivolous and not worthy of their attention. But by ignoring it, they’re missing out on one of the most powerful productivity tools of the modern age. This infographic explains why. As you can see, mind mapping software offers numerous advantages in terms of productivity, creativity and effectiveness. According to the readers of the Mind Mapping Software Blog, this type of software gives them a powerful edge over their peers. It enables them to handle more complex projects, tackle information overload and see patterns and opportunities in information that others aren’t even aware of. What could you do with this potent business tool? “Mind mapping software is the savvy executive’s secret weapon.” - Chuck Frey © 2015 The Mind Mapping Software Blog The key benefit of communicating visually in business Dave Gray, visual thinking expert, founder and chairman of XPLANE and Dave’s concise explanation makes a lot author of the book Gamestorming, is all of sense to me. Here’s why. As human about clarity. So it’s not surprising that he beings living in a post-modern era, we’re recently gave the clearest explanation overwhelmed by the amount of I’ve ever heard of the key benefit of communication coming at us. As a result, visual communications, captured in the we’ve gotten into the habit of constantly simple flow diagram above. filtering it, distilling it down to just the essential information we need to survive Simply put, communicating and thrive. information to others In business, if we don’t understand visually delivers results. something, we’ll ignore it, or at the very least, refuse to make a decision about it. Gray gave this explanation in a recent The sooner we understand, the sooner video interview with Dr. Martin Eppler we can act on it. And that, simply put, from the University of St. Gallens drives results. © 2015 The Mind Mapping Software Blog 45 ways to use mind mapping software for business Mind mapping software gives business executives a set of visual modeling tools that enable them to manipulate information, knowledge and ideas with a freedom that is unprecedented. As a result, a savvy businesspeople are utilizing this type of productivity software for an amazing number of applications, including these: 1. Conduct a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis. 2. Plan and manage a project. 14. Develop job descriptions for key employees and positions within your 3. Plan a meeting – including outlining organization. the agenda, meeting room requirements and invitees. 15. Manage performance reviews. 4. Capture ideas from a group 16. Outline and organize the content of a brainstorming meeting. business report or technical paper. 5. Maintain an idea database. 17. Develop and give a presentation. 6. Develop an information “dashboard” 18. Map the services that “surround” your for fast access to key metrics and company’s products and brainstorm ways resources. to improve customer experience. 7. Take notes during meetings. 19. Do scenario planning. 8. Creative problem solving. 20. Business continuity planning. 9. Maintain a to-do list. 21. Create detailed customer personas for marketing planning. 10. Formulate a plan for the launch of a new business or for an acquisition. 22. Analyze and improve your company’s business model. 11. Make better-informed business decisions. 23. Brainstorm potential partnering opportunities. 12. Business process improvement. 24. Sales account planning and 13. Knowledge management. management. © 2015 The Mind Mapping Software Blog (45 business applications—cont’d.) Mind mapping software 25. Risk assessment and management. gives business executives 26. Develop a business plan. a set of visual modeling tools that enable them to 27. Identify strategic opportunities using a “PEST” template – detailing political, manipulate information, environmental, social and technological knowledge and ideas with trends. a freedom that is 28. Develop a strategic plan for your unprecedented. business. 29. Plan and outline content for a training 38. Collaborate with others more session. effectively through shared mind maps. 30. Create a “force field” map to better 39. Map out new product features and understand the forces that are influencing development timelines. a business situation, positively and negatively. 40. Capture a detailed profile of a customer’s needs during a sales or 31. Conduct research for new projects consulting call. and use a mind map to capture and organize your findings. 41. Develop a marketing plan. 32. Use David Allen’s Getting Things 42. Create a personal development plan Done (GTD) methodology to manage to help you to advance your career and your workload more effectively. improve your work performance. 33. Develop and organize the content for 43. Document work procedures and a new website. policies. 34. Optimize your website’s ranking in 44. Capture key learnings at the the web search engines. conclusion of a major project. 35. Map out and optimize your 45. Match the skills and capabilities of organizational structure. team members with the requirements of a project. 36. Set and track your team’s progress toward departmental and organizational Which of these applications are you goals. struggling with? Where could mind mapping software make a difference in 37. Summarize the key ideas contained your work? in business books into maps for future reference. © 2015 The Mind Mapping Software Blog 16 ways mind mapping software can elevate your performance Mind mapping software is a powerful tool Creativity for savvy executives who want to improve their impact and effectiveness in Great tool for exploration and their work. No software tool is better discovery suited to help you think deeply about your work and to increase the value of Be more of a “whole-brained” thinker your contributions to others in your – left and right sides – analytical AND organization. creative Capture ideas lurking at the periphery Here are 16 powerful ways mind of your thinking mapping software can help you to Mind mapping provides a visual guide elevate your performance and make a to the connections between ideas bigger impact in your work: It bypasses the “inner critic” – you can easily do a brain dump and organize Productivity your thoughts later Manage information overload and Collaboration stay better organized Reach clarity faster on complex Reach shared understandings of business issues business issues in meetings Make better informed decisions Get people more engaged in Plan projects and manage tasks brainstorming sessions easier It enhances the group’s ability to do systems-level thinking Analysis/critical thinking It captures a “group memory” or history of what has been discussed in Analyze problems more thoroughly the meeting See patterns and gaps in information more readily If you’re not exploring this powerful type of business tool yet – you should be! Play with ideas, possibilities and scenarios easily © 2015 The Mind Mapping Software Blog How mind mapping software can help you stay several steps ahead of the pack Being successful today in any organization requires you to differentiate yourself, to separate yourself from the pack of people with similar backgrounds and career experience. To paraphrase the late Steve Jobs, you need to “think different.” Mind mapping software can help you stand out and enjoy greater success. Here’s how: 1. Mind mapping software can help you think more deeply about new ideas and opportunities It is an incredibly rich and flexible canvas upon which you can capture your ideas.