Over the years I have experimented with using mind maps as a way to store ideas and knowledge.
In 2017, I made the decision to make mind maps an integral part of my business coaching and advice process.
Generally I like people who deal with me to use Skype, at least some of the time because there is a facility that lets us share screens. This means that I can show you what’s on my screen or you can show me what’s on yours, even though we may be separated by hundreds of miles.
Using mind maps is just an extension of that principle.
Why Use Mind Maps?
When I was doing classroom training, I used a saying that went along the lines of…
- Hear and forget.
- See and remember.
- Do and understand.
Business coaching is all about help business owners do more to solve business problems and issues. This involves analysing the situation, identifying potential actions, selecting the best or most appropriate steps and then doing them. It also then involves reviewing the implementation and seeing how well the original issue has been solved and then identifying what else needs to be done.
A mind map helps to do all those steps because it doesn’t rely on you taking accurate notes of what I’ve said or what we’ve discussed or, even worse, trying to remember on your own.
What Are Mind Maps?
Mind Maps mimic the way our brains store ideas and memories. Literally we have a node and link other ideas off it, with extra ideas or facts shooting off from sub-nodes.
Here is a high level view of a mind map I’ve developed to help with my Business SOS service where I’ve been challenged to find an extra £10,000 of extra profit.
Sorry it’s come through a bit blurred but the main items off the central node are:
- More Customers
- More Profit Per Transaction
- More Transactions In A Year
- Reduce Costs
- Small Changes, Big Effects – a reminder that profit is the difference between two much bigger numbers.
The strength of this approach is that it becomes much faster to find something that we need to talk about because everything is organised in a tight structure.
Depending on the problem, I’ll either customer one of my pre-prepared mind maps or, if I don’t have something suitable, I’ll start from scratch.
Then, if you become a client, we’ll have our own mind map that we keep developing.
What Mind Mapping Software Do I Use?
I use a software application called SimpleMind.
This software has a number of advantages:
- It can be tried for free.
- Buying a longer term, more extensive version is inexpensive.
- It’s available in Windows, Android, Mac and iPad/iPhone versions.
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