Brainstorming: Making the leap from Post-It notes to mind maps
Oct 3rd, 2007 | By Chuck Frey | Category: Tips & Techniques
Steve Rothwell, in his Peace of Mind Blog, asks the question: Why capture ideas in a group brainstorming session on Post-It notes, which still need to be grouped and summarized by hand? Why not do this in a mind mapping program like MindManager?
This allows the group to not only capture and display their ideas in a more presentable form (computer fonts instead of nearly illegible scribblings), but also to make the process of re-grouping them very collaborative. Not to mention that an idea entered into a mind map and projected on a screen will never fall off of the wall…
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First, I’ll go on record as saying I’m a long term mind manager user – it’s a fantastic piece of software.
Second, I’ll comment on the question: why capture ideas in a group brainstorming session. The answer is that there is something that happens when groups get involved in physically sticking notes on a wall and moving them about. I suspect it is this physical involvement that enhances their engagement in the process. I have tried to facilitate brainstorming and similar idea generating sessions with software (including mind-manager) and in some circumstances it works well. But I would say that in terms of getting information downloaded and encouraging high participation, post-it notes work a treat. Mind-manager comes into it’s own as a method for recording where and what the post-it notes say at the end of a session.
Thanks for the great web site.
Trent – I think I agree with you. I have always felt that there is more energy and engagement from a group when they are up on their feet writing, sticking and talking about the subject. It also allows the facilitator to listen to the group and help them wherever they may be going off track.
I’ve just returned from the annual European conference of the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) in Edinburgh. Maximising engagement – not just participation – and engaging all the senses (and ‘intelligences’) was a recurring theme for me.
I’m with you in that MindManager is a great tool for recording and reporting back on workshop output. I have found it even more powerful to include images in the maps taken from the wallcharts used in the workshops. These provide the participants with a visual memory link back to their experience on the day.