Increasingly, more companies and governments are turning to project management to deliver new products and transform internal processes. In turn, a mind map is a visual display of a person’s thinking and a tool that can be used to improve thinking processes. How does mind mapping affect the way people think when they are working on a project? This question was researched in four small and medium-sized companies in Singapore. Some of the findings are discussed in this article.
Mind maps can be defined by four characteristics: a central image, main themes radiating from that central image, branches comprising one key image or key word, and these branches forming a connected nodal structure. An example with these four characteristics is provided in Figure 1.1. Almost all prior research on mind maps do not adhere closely to these four characteristics of mind maps, thus making this research even more useful.
The research found that the project mind maps had a positive impact on the project team members. The effect of seeing parts and whole concurrently in one view helped to reduce project complexity. The ability to reduce complexity also resulted in better risk management.
Project teams also reported that using mind maps helped to increase creativity. They experienced improved flow of ideas. Moreover, some added that single words on the mind map triggered creative thoughts about the project, something that did not occur when mind maps were not used.
In terms of project processes, the biggest impact was felt in the planning process, which is a critical process as about half of the 42 sub-processes prescribed by the Project Management Institute’s Project Management Body of Knowledge are dedicated to it. Therefore, mind maps impact the most critical aspect of project management – the planning process. Indeed, planning is the weakest aspect of project management for small and medium-sized companies.
In summary, this research studied the practices of selected small and medium-sized companies in their project management. It found that mind maps were a suitable tool for project management in small and medium-sized companies. Thinking processes were improved when mind maps were applied. These benefits were felt with just a few hours of training on the use of mind maps. The productivity gain was significant.
