7 Step Project Mapping With Mind Manager - Whitepaper

7-Step Project Mapping with MindManager
White Paper
July 2003
Mindjet LLC
125 E. Sir Francis Drake Blvd Fourth Floor Larkspur, CA 93949 USA 415.925.3120 http://www.mindjet.com
Copyright Mindjet LLC 2003 All Rights Reserved. All Registered Trademarks, Trademarks and Service Marks are the property of their respective owners and are acknowledged.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary Purpose, Purpose, Purpose The Keys to Successful Project Mapping Creativity, Discipline, Consistency Seeing information in context Step 1: Establish your Visual Vocabulary Establishing identity with colors and styles Identifying key items with Branch Codes Prioritizing tasks Showing task dependencies with Relationships Creating associations with Resources and Categories Using a Template map for consistency and speed Step 2: Brainstorm your Project Quick capture of project information Who, What, When, Why, How Step 3: Establish your Main Goals Managing information Objectives and activities Moving from brainstorming to project planning Step 4: Implement your Visual Vocabulary Viewing Tasks Inserting codes, colors Step 5: Develop the Detail of your Project Plan Step 6: Create a Workable Project Plan Step 7: Deploy your Project Map Managing small projects Communicating small projects Managing larger projects Communicating larger projects MindManager and the Project Lifecycle Complementing other Project Management Tools For More Information 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 11 12 12 13 14 14 16 16 17 18 20 21 21 22 22 23 24
Executive Summary
This paper describes a 7-Step Project Mapping Technique for users of Mindjet's MindManager 2002 Business or Enterprise Edition software1. The technique is designed for MindManager users working either alone or in groups on small- to medium-sized projects. The paper will demonstrate how to develop a MindManager map that represents a workable project plan that can be deployed in a variety of ways, including export to project scheduling tools or continued use within MindManager. MindManager is not a tool for continuing to do what you have done in the past. Used well, the software actually changes the way you think about and communicate the complex relationships that exist in a project. MindManager's unique contribution to project management is in giving project teams the ability to: Quickly capture and organize team and stakeholder input. MindManagers strength as a notetaking tool is particularly useful at the early stages of project planning. Initial activities such as interviewing stakeholders, gathering user requirements, determining project scope and capturing insights and ideas from previous projects is accomplished quickly and easily using the map interface. Literally see how a project fits together. A picture is worth a thousand words because our minds are able to derive a great deal of information from relatively few visual cues. MindManager enables users to build project maps that employ a host of such cues to convey complex information quickly and clearly. Toggle between overview and details. MindManager captures information in a series of cascading visual branches. By selectively opening and closing branches, users can either helicopter up to a 30,000 foot view of a project, or quickly zoom in on details. The Power Select and Power Filter features further enable users to quickly create customized views of project information. Immediately access all supporting project information. The ability of MindManager users to insert links to any and all background or supporting information means that valuable project
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NOTE: This is a generalized approach that does not rely on a specific project methodology. If your organization uses a formalized
methodology, you can integrate the appropriate steps of your proprietary process into this technique at any point. This paper assumes that the reader is reasonably familiar with MindManager software, and does not include detailed instructions. Users will save time by familiarizing themselves with MindManager's Dynamic Legend and Power Select features. For detailed instructions, please consult the MindManager HELP menu. The techniques described here apply to MindManager 2002 Business or Enterprise editions. Other editions of MindManager 2002 do not have all the features necessary for interactive project planning and integration with other software.
information is easy to locate. This includes documents, emails and email addresses, applications, audio/video/graphics files and Web sites. Key information that might otherwise become lost or difficult to locate in pure scheduling applications is captured by MindManager in an intuitive, easily navigated visual structure. Communicate effectively with all stakeholders. For those not immersed in the world of project management, Gantt charts and complex project management tables can be confusing. MindManager presents project information in a readily understood format that speeds understanding and builds consensus among stakeholders. It also enables project teams to quickly export all project content to dedicated project management tools including Microsoft Project, as well as to Microsoft Word, Outlook and PowerPoint, and to HTML to build project web sites.
Users often find that they derive the greatest benefit from MindManager during early stage project planning, when team members and stakeholders need to be flexible, inclusive and imaginative in their thinking. Once the project is shaped and initiated, MindManager then helps project teams keep track of project details, manage change and build concise but complete documentation. It enables project teams to keep stakeholders informed and on track with the projectwithout requiring the team to create additional documentation. And finally, it creates a very concise, complete and clear repository of all project-related information that can be easily accessed in the course of preparing for future projects. Visit http://www.mindjet.com/us/guided_tour/success.php for more information on how MindManager improves project planning and management.
Purpose, Purpose and Purpose!

Real estate agents frequently always say that the three most important attributes of a piece of property are Location. Location. Location. Similarly, the three most important things to remember about MindManager maps are Purpose. Purpose. Purpose. To achieve longer-term benefits, your maps must be built with a particular goal in mind. The usefulness of the maps is determined by you and your teams ability to stay focused on the goal at hand. Purpose means knowing not just what you want to accomplish, but who will use this map, when, and why. It doesn't matter whether the purpose is large or small, so long as there is one. Some examples of purpose include maps designed to: Brainstorm ideas and do initial thinking Define scope and goals as part of early project planning
Communicate and explain project elements to stakeholders Explain to participants what their part in the project will be and how their work will tie into the greater whole
Prepare the basic project schedule and/or task lists for export to another tool (e.g. Microsoft Project) Serve as a concise progress report, to be updated as the project proceeds
The Keys to Successful Project Mapping
Creativity, Discipline, Consistency

Successfully achieving the purpose you have established requires creativity, discipline and consistency. Some believe that discipline and consistency don't belong in the same place as brainstorming and creativity. Creativity, however, is just one part of a bigger process that leads to resultsand results are the goal of all project management. The best projects start with creative thinking, and then move forward into communication, decision-making and action, culminating in a desired result. MindManager eliminates the "boundaries" between these stages.
For experienced MindManager users, the same map that the team uses at the very start of a project to capture initial brainstorming and planning can evolve into a disciplined project plan, simply through a process of refinement. Once the project is completed, the map will provide a very detailed account of how the project was designed and implemented. It can contain everything from initial ideas to changes along the project trajectory (including who was responsible for changes and when and why the changes were made). Furthermore, the maps can contain links to everything from purchase orders, legal documents, key emails and screen shots to a team members idea or insight, graphics, images, spread sheets and Web sites. When it comes time to initiate a similar project, there is no need to struggle to remember who did what when, or to relocate key documents. All related information is attached to a particular branch of a particular map. In this way, the maps help create consistency moving forward by providing a clear and complete artefact of the project that went before.
Unlike more restrictive tools that require users to fit projects into predefined structures such as databases, MindManager maps are flexible, adaptable repositories of related information. At any point, users can decide how they want to visualize project information to fulfil the expectations of the project itself, project stakeholders, senior management, internal departments and outside entities. The key, as with all
documentation, is to create and use the maps in a consistent, logical fashion. By doing so, you can ensure that project information will be readily understandable to otherseven if they did not help map out the project in the first place.
Seeing information in context

In MindManager, pieces of information are never isolated: The map interface creates a structure that puts each piece of information into clear visual relationship with another piece of information. Looking at a visual image of how pieces of information are related makes it easier to understand where something belongs, why it belongs there, and what else it relates to. This makes it easy to identify two key issues that are hardly ever clarified: assumptions and implications. Assumptions and implications are frequently the sources of trouble down the line in projects: The earlier you catch them, the better your chances of success.
A MindManager project map is a rich mixture of different types of information, text-based data such as actions, ideas, information and issuesand visual cues. These two information types are structured so that it is clear how each element contributes to some over-riding action. Project information can be quickly viewed from many perspectives. For example, you may want to look at: What tasks each particular person has been assigned Which tasks are undone or most urgent What issues are undecided Which areas are the most risky
A properly built map can quickly isolate and reveal these components of the basic action plan. Rather than having to maintain separate, isolated documents or lists corresponding to each of these information sets, MindManager users can house all project information in one map or set of nested maps.
Step 1: Establish your Visual Vocabulary

Step 1 lays the foundation for how you will adapt MindManagers visual vocabulary of colors, icons, symbols and other graphic elements. The idea is to build a visual vocabulary that will meet the specific needs of your project or organization. Creation of this vocabulary also lays the groundwork for the subsequent use of MindManagers more advanced features.
The primary goal of using these graphic elements is not to create an attractive map (although viewers do tend to respond better to such a map). More than four decades of scientific research into the human brain has shown that visual cues maximize the brains ability to understand and retain informationas well as to create and capture new information such as ideas and insights. Despite the fact that science has known for years how to create the most effective communication environment, most project teams in particular, and business professionals in general, use primarily text-based tools that fail to take full advantage of our ability to understand visual representations of information.
As such, it is usually a good idea to keep maps small at first, introducing graphics slowly and restricting the use of color and images to the absolute minimum required to convey essential information. It is also important to use these graphic elements consistently so that others can quickly learn them. As a project manager, your goal is to establish authority and clarity. Maps that are too large and have too many graphics can overwhelm some audiences with too much information.
Establishing identity with colors and styles

When creating a map, use color, fonts, a custom map title or floating symbols to reinforce your organizational, departmental or project identity. Using a wide variety of visual cues may be appealing. But think carefully about what this additional visual information conveys (or obscures) before launching into a complex scheme. Use color sparingly for best effect.
Figure 1: Create a color scheme for your map.
Copyright 2003 Mindjet LLC
For example, you could use color to indicate that the certain tasks have been assigned to a particular person. The map (or linked maps) can then be searched later for that color to reveal all the tasks assigned to that person. Note that using branch color to show who is doing a task is a good idea when only one person is responsible. This color scheme will break down if you need to show that two people are working together on the same task.
Remember that for consistency you should use color to indicate only one dimension of your project information. A scheme such as "Red means the QA department and Blue means completion this month" will only cause confusion. You may find it useful to use a slightly brighter branch color than the default black. Rich colors make the map more visually interesting and will stand out better when you use Power Select later on to generate unique views of map information.
Highlighting can be used for transient attributes. Use it, for example, when you want to mark items that are important for a particular meeting, or to indicate things that have been added since the last review and need to be checked.
Figure 2: Using Highlights
Identifying key items with Branch Codes

Items in your map can also be tagged with any of a number of "Branch Codes, accessed in the Codes toolbar. More than one code can be used on the same branch. For example, a particular item may be a Task, and it also may be a Risk. In those situations when, for instance, you want to find all tasks that are risks, attach both codes to the branch. The only branch codes that MindManager "understands" are the Done ( ) and Not Done ( ) icons,
which are generally used with tasks. Branches marked with these codes are automatically recognized as tasks in MindManager import and export processes, such as when a map is exported to Microsoft Project. The rest of the codes are free for users to define and can be customized by going to VIEW->
TASKPANE-> DYNAMIC LEGEND. Unused codes can also be removed at this point. It is often helpful to insert a legend, such as the following image, somewhere in the map to remind users of the visual vocabulary you have created.
Figure 3: Define your Branch Codes
The Insert -> Legend command in the main menu will insert the legend for the currently used codes, colors and highlights. You can remove the code legend later when everyone has grown accustomed to the graphics, or when you are ready to export the rest of the map to other software.
Prioritizing Tasks
MindManager has built-in priority codes (found in the top menu decide what "Priority" actually means. Given that the project will be mainly scheduled by other constraints (such as deadline dates and task dependencies), priorities are only needed for smaller-scale decision making within these constraints. Suppose, for example, that one member of the project team has two tasks to complete by the same deadline, either of which could be done first. In this case, a priority level could be used to signify which task needs to be done first after considering factors not coded into the constraints. If the consequences of completing Task A late are worse than being late with Task B, then Task A has "higher priority" on the small scale, but not necessarily across the whole project. ) that can be used to show the
relative priority of Tasks. But before labelling everything in your map with a Priority Level, it is best to
This means that on a project-wide basis you do not normally need to consider Priority as an absolute indicator. However, most people looking at a project plan might assume that something with Priority 1 means "most important throughout the whole project," requiring immediate attention. This is partly a matter of educating users. But it is better to minimize this effect by using lower priority levels (4 or below) to indicate small-scale prioritization and not distract users with Priority Level 1 where the plan represents the real order of work.
Global project priorities (1, 2 or 3) are best used for two purposes: Before there is a real structure to your project plan, when you want to highlight issues that need to be resolved before a workable plan can be implemented. Once the dependencies in the project plan start to take shape, there is a decreasing need for project-wide priority settings. To communicate short-term exceptional conditions requiring attention to get the project back on track again, where the normal task sequence might need to be short-circuited.
Figure 4: Priority Codes
Showing task dependencies with Relationships

Relationships in MindManager maps are an effective way to indicate task precedence. In almost any project, there will be some things that must be done before others can start. For example, before choosing which trade shows to attend in the coming year, it might be wise to review results of current trade show activities. Relationships in the map can show task dependencies: MindManager's export to MPX for integration with other project management and scheduling software takes advantage of this. (The MPX interface is a separate download, available from the Solution Xchange on www.mindjet.com.)
Figure 5: Adding Branch Relationships
By convention, an arrow pointing from Task A to Task B says "Task A must finish before Task B can start." There are other possibilities, described in more detail in the documentation for the MPX export, but this basic relationship works in most cases.
The use of Relationships means that tasks can be organized in a different structure than the order in which they must be completed. The task takes its Relationship with it when moved.
Creating associations with Resources and Categories

Use the Resources field to identify who is responsible for actions in your project map. Use the Categories field to identify aspects of the project information that are of particular relevance to groups of stakeholders. Resources can be customized by going to VIEW-> SELECT TASK PANES-> TASK PLANNING.
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Figure 6: Defining Resources and Categories
Using a Template map for consistency and speed

Now that you have begun to define the look and feel of your map, this a good time to set up a template that you can use for other projects as well. Use the Dynamic Legend task pane to give names to the Branch Codes, Highlights, Colors and Priority Levels that you use in your map. Set up the color and width of the default Relationship style in FORMAT-> MAP -> STANDARDS. You will probably find it most convenient to set the default Arrow Style to point from task predecessor to successor, which is the third option for the arrow style. TIP: Use a fairly light color and narrow line for Relationships so that they do not obscure branches they cross. Save this map as a new Template for project mapping applications. Ideally, you will be able to make this template available to everyone with whom you work on projects so that you will all use the same visual vocabulary for future project maps.
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Step 2: Brainstorm your Project

Step 2 is often where many people will start and finish their use of mapping for projects. As you will see in the steps that follow, MindManager has great value beginning with brainstorming, continuing on through project planning and extending all the way into closure.
Quick capture of project information

Starting with the Project Map Template you just created in Step 1, collect as much information as you can about your project. At this stage it doesn't matter how organized the information is. The immediate goal is to capture the information into the map, where it can later be organized. Begin by working with colleagues and others who understand the project and are comfortable with working in a visual environment. Be aware that brainstorming with project sponsors or customers depends very much on your relationship with them. Seeing a great deal of unstructured thinking laid bare can be an unsettling experience for some. It may be more appropriate to collect the information remotely, organize your map into a logical structure and then perhaps even export it to Microsoft Word or Project before showing it to them. (We won't cover the facilitation of brainstorming here. If you are unfamiliar with the basic rules of brainstorming, you would be well served to research this process separately.)
Who, What, When, Why, How

To begin the brainstorming process, capture at least some of the following kinds of information in your map: Who: roles, stakeholders, customers, users, team members, contributors, gatekeepers, sources of veto and influence What: objectives, questions, issues and decisions, tasks, deliverables, risks, quality, measurements, the unknown When: deadlines, phases, milestones, dependencies Why: strategies, underlying needs and purposes, indirect stakeholders How: skills and knowledge, information, people, resources, equipment, materials, handing changes, communicating, measuring
These are just a few of the triggers that may be important to your project. You might find it useful to create a library of these trigger words as you go to help with your next project. If you get stuck and can't come up with this information, you might try to reverse the process and brainstorm what you don't know
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about your project. Either way, in order to avoid the Ready, Fire, Aim syndrome, you need to allow time for this brainstorming process before continuing on to the planning stage.
Figure 7: Initial brainstorm map - put anything anywhere to begin with. Copyright 2003 Mindjet LLC
Step 3: Establish your Main Goals

In Step 3, we start to develop our brainstorm into more of a project plan.
Managing information
For smaller projects, there will be one map for the project plan. If your project consists of a number of small sub-projects, you can keep them all in one map by initially assigning a branch of the main map to each sub-project. If your project is very complex, you may decide to break it up into a number of subprojects, with a map for each. Large amounts of project information can be managed by creating links from a master project map to all sub-project maps. MindManager will handle either scenario.
MindManager project maps can contain much more than just tasks. In fact, this is the key advantage of using MindManager to capture project information. Additional notes, hyperlinks and information can be integrated into the planbut kept distinct from the tasks themselves. This is one of the primary differences between MindManager and project scheduling software. With most other tools there is often no way to capture other project information such as team members ideas and insights,
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explanations behind decision to alter the plan in mid-stream, links to relevant documents, emails, etc. With MindManager, it is as simple as adding a branch, text note and/or hyperlink.
MindManager represents project information as a visual hierarchy of inter-dependent tasks, resources, and other data that enables the user to easily see where everything belongs and how each unit of information is connected to the greater whole. In other views, such as Gantt charts, you can see when something must be done and what precedes it or succeeds it. But it is less clear which part of the project it contributes towards and what else is closely related.
Objectives and activities

You may have your own preference for the structure of your map. In this paper, however, we choose one primary structure for project maps in MindManager: Contribution towards objective. We view the Map Title as the ultimate objective (not merely the title) of the project, and regard all sub-branches as feeding towards that objective. Thus the main organizing principle of the map is activity.
This means that, in general, most branch titles should be written as objectives, unless they are clearly supporting information. Staying focused on activities and results enables you to review all project information and activities in terms of the contribution to the overall project goal. It is also helpful when constructing task lists in MindManager that are intended to serve later as the basis for a formal Work Breakdown Structure. A focus on activity also provides a sound basis for compatibility with other project management software. An action-oriented structure represents achievement and allows the project status to be represented in the map. For example, as the project progresses, percent-complete values and dates for each action can be updated to show the latest status.
A second, slightly subliminal effect (albeit a benign one) of keeping the map focused on action also occurs: Repeated exposure to objectives helps you and your team stay focused on the project goals. The ability to keep the team focused is often a missed opportunity at project kick-off, when team identity and sense of ownership often get focused on an arbitrary project name rather than on a clear goal. The more you can refer to the project in terms of outcome, the faster you will notice if you are getting off track.
Moving from brainstorming to project planning

To restructure your brainstorm map into the skeleton for your project plan, do the following: Once your key project objective is agreed, make this the title of your map (e.g. "Widget Web Live by June 1st"). Identify the Resources (people or equipment) that your project uses. You will need these shortly.
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Identify the roles (or "viewpoints") on your project. These may include stakeholders, visitors, senior management, team members, suppliers, project support staff, users or anyone else who is connected with your project. We will distribute these later on.
Identify the key goals that must be in place for the objective to be realized. In our example, for a web site to be online, we basically need a web server, pages with content in them, and visitors. These can be our three primary goals and are stated as such.
Reorganize the information you collected when you were brainstorming in Step 2 by moving all of these ideas to one of these primary goals. If anything is left over, review your primary goals and decide if new branches are necessary.
Go through the map and initially mark up Tasks or Information. Attach information to the Task to which it relates. Mark the Tasks with the "Not Done" Branch Code ( "Information" Branch Code ( ). ) and Information with the
Figure 8: Deciding on the Main Goals of your Project
As you work through this restructuring, either alone or preferably in a group, you will identify activities that have been overlooked, are duplicated or are unnecessary. As you move, add or delete items in your map, consider the implications of what you are doing. How does that piece of information contribute to the goal as stated on the map? Does the project goal depend on it to be completed?
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If you are working on a sub-project of a larger initiative, don't worry at this stage about any activities that contribute towards more than one goal. We will deal with this later by using Relationships to indicate task predecessors and successors.
Step 4: Implement your Visual Vocabulary

In Step 4, we implement the more detailed visual vocabulary that you created in Step 1.
Viewing tasks
Display all the Tasks in your map by using the Power Select task pane to show only Tasks. (VIEW-> SELECT TASK PANES-> POWER SELECT) If you have used the "Not Done" icons to mark tasks, then set up the Power Select as follows:
Action = "Filter (Hide Unselected)", Selection = "Match Any", Task = "Any"
This will show just the tasks in your map. With all the Tasks displayed, use the arrow at the top of the Task Pane to go to the Task Planning task pane and review the data for each Task: In the Resources box, enter the name of the person responsible for the task. MindManager does not have centralized resource management, so you need to be consistent with the names. In the Categories box, enter the names / roles of those who will be interested in the information on this branch.
Inserting codes, colors

Return to the Power Select task pane and click Reveal All to show all branches again. Apply the codes or colors for the other mark-ups you have defined, such as Risks Deliverables Confidential information Items requiring immediate attention
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Figure 9: Marking key items in your map
From now on, when you add any new branches to your map, try to add appropriate cues from your visual vocabulary as the branch is created. This will save time later and enable you to use MindManager's Power Select feature at any time to examine a particular aspect of your project.
We now have the basics of our project plan in place. In Step 5, we will further refine the plan.
Step 5: Develop the Detail of your Plan

Step 5 is where your visual vocabulary starts to pay dividends. Use Power Select to quickly group items in your map, and then to review and develop the following: Check through all Project Deliverables. How will you measure their quality and accept them? Check through all Risks associated with tasks. How will each eventuality be addressed? What extra actions might be needed early to reduce the possibility of things going wrong? Can you design in some safety-net actions that will increase survivability in the event of risks materialising later? Review all the Open Issues. What are the effects of leaving them open? When will decisions need to be taken, to avoid delays? Consider upgrading them to Actions. If a deferred decision is needed, then they can be scheduled into the project. You should be aiming to either resolve open issues relating to your project plan now, or design the decision into the project as a later actionperhaps after some other information has been gathered or the results of earlier work known.
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Review all the Tasks and Milestones again, and set Durations on Tasks. Check to make sure that each task has at least one Resource allocated to it. Look at the positions of Tasks and Milestones in your map. If you intend to export the map to a scheduling package such as Microsoft Project, then any branch that is a Task should not have child branches that are also Tasks. This is because any branch that has another task associated with it cannot itself have Duration and other task attributes. These attributes are typically calculated from the child tasks by other scheduling tools. Rearrange the Task branches so that they are either at the tips of the tree, or only carry non-task child branches, such as information or risks.
Figure 10: Adding task planning information
Your map now contains a good description of all the activities and associated information. Rather than being presented as a linear list, buried in hidden folders or located in separate documents, all project information is presented in clear, easy-to-understand context. Through the use of Power Select and Power Filter features, information can be displayed in user-defined custom views. Now we need to turn the map into a sequential plan.
Step 6: Create a Workable Project Plan

In Step 6, we "wire up" the tasks in your project to create a workable project plan. We do this by including information that will help project-scheduling software convert the map into an optimized sequence of activities. This is done with a combination of deadline dates and task dependencies.
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Using Power Select, review all the tasks and milestones in your plan: Assign deadline dates only to those tasks and milestones that really need them. If you plan to export to an external project-scheduling package, set as few deadline dates as possible. The scheduling software will give you the most flexibility if you give it least number of constraints. If your project is small and you will continue to manage it in MindManager, then you will effectively be scheduling by hand, so include the appropriate date information. Determine how the tasks rely upon each other. Where a task cannot meaningfully start until a previous one is complete, draw a Branch Relationships pointing from the task predecessor to the
task, i.e. from a task to others that depend on it (its successors). A Task may have multiple successors or predecessors. Also try to ensure that there is only one task without any successors. This will be the final outcome of your project. If you will be using scheduling software to level the project, you don't need to worry about serializing tasks that are allocated to the same resource. The scheduling software will normally take care of this for you. If you intend to export your plan to another project-scheduling package, try to avoid creating dependencies involving Task Summaries, or non-task branches. While these may make sense to you, project scheduling packages may find them ambiguous. Generally you should restrict your use of Relationships in a project map to interdependencies between tasks. Using them for other purposes may be confusing.
TIP: Complex project maps with a lot of Relationships can become both confusing and intimidating. You can hide Relationships in a map with the View -> Show/Hide command. Remember that reducing the Level of Detail on a branch (collapsing a branch) will also temporarily hide Relationships that lead to or connect sub-branches not in view. You can work productively with very complex maps through effective use of MindManager's features (and those new to mapping who look over your shoulder will be less confused!).
Advanced users can find more information about coding other types of task dependency (e.g. Finish to Finish) in the MPX Import/Export utility documentation. (Available at http://www.mindjet.com/partners/partner_solutionxchange.shtml)
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Figure 11: Connecting up dependent relationships
You how have a highly developed MindManager project map (the above image shows only a subset of all available branches) showing the scope of your project, its tasks and task network, and associated information. This is a powerful and usable representation of your project plan which can be deployed in a variety of ways discussed in Step 7.
Step 7: Deploy your Project Map

Now that you have mapped out your project and developed it into a plan, what next?
Managing small projects

If your project is not very complex and uses limited resources, it may be practical for you to continue managing and tracking it in MindManager alone. Your primary tool is the Power Select feature, which will help you view: Tasks that are starting, in progress or completed. Sort by date ranges (you must provide detailed dates for this) Tasks assigned to specific Resources Branches assigned to specific Categories Branches matching selected visual vocabulary criteria, for example all Deliverables or Risks.
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You may find it useful to extract Task Lists and their current status using the Task to CSV Exporter available from the Solution Xchange (http://www.mindjet.com/partners/partner_solutionxchange.shtml). This will provide a convenient printout of project tasks together with their associated data (start dates, duration and so on). TIP: You can also obtain a task report with via MindManagers Microsoft Word export. In addition to outline-formatting options, the export provides options for task planning attributes. Filter your map to show just the tasks and check the required Task Planning information in the Word export to create a convenient project task report.
Communicating small projects

If your map is relatively simple, you can choose the appropriate information you want to view by using Power Select first, then exporting: To Microsoft Project or as an .MPX file To Microsoft Word to create a report or outline To Microsoft PowerPoint to create a presentation, As HTML to create a fully functional web site To an image file or clipboard (useful if you want to email a picture of the project)
You can also use MindManagers built-in Presentation mode to communicate your project or selected areas of it to the stakeholders. As discussed above, when presenting project details as a map, you may also find it helpful to hide Relationships to keep the maps as simple as possible (unless of course you are discussing and assigning task interrelationships with your team).
Managing larger projects

If your project is more complex, you may choose to move to dedicated project-scheduling software to manage tasks, analyze the data, or develop the schedule in such a way as to be able to level it against other constraints (such as resources and calendars). In this case, you can export your project map to a variety of destinations: To Microsoft Project, using MindManager's built-in synchronization, which will schedule and balance your project, allows you to set baselines and create resource schedules. To other project management solutions using the MPX import/export tool available from the Mindjet Solution Xchange. Supported applications at the time of writing include FastTrack Schedule 8 from AEC Software, Milestones Professional from Kidasa Software, Microsoft Project 98, 2000 and 2002,
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Project KickStart from Experience in Software Inc., PERT Chart Expert and WBS Chart Pro from Critical Tools, Pertmaster Professional from Pertmaster Ltd, PS8 from Sciforma Corp, PS-Team from Delcam Ltd, P3 and SureTrak from Primavera Systems, and Microsoft Visio. Other project management software that can import MPX version 4.0 files may also be compatible. To Microsoft Excel or other spreadsheets, using the Task to CSV Exporter available in the Solution Xchange. This will produce a table of tasks from your project map that can be opened with a spreadsheet package. This will enable you to keep numerical track of tasks, such as adding cost information or analyzing resource loads. As tasks into Microsoft Outlook, using MindManager's built-in synchronization. This can be useful where you are able to share and transfer tasks using Exchange.
To export to another package, use Power Select to first filter all the Tasks in your project. Most of the above mentioned software will only be interested in the Task data and will not import the other information included in your map.
Communicating larger projects

If your project is complex, presenting the full project map to the senior management team may provide so much detail as to be overwhelming. MindManager has many features that help you focus your presentation on what is important to each particular audience. The key MindManager features that will help you create this custom view include: The View -> Show/Hide command The Power Select task pane The View -> Level of Detail command (or Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut)
If you implemented project Roles using the categories field, this step will be easy. To create a presentation for select project sponsors, you simply open the Power Select, choose appropriate sponsor names under Categories, and apply the filter. The resulting view will include only that project information relevant to their needs.
MindManager and the Project Lifecycle

Project planning is never finished until the project stops. Invariably across the life of any project, there are constant changes, updates and new decisions to be made. MindManagers intuitive flexibility and capacity
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to capture a multiplicity of project related information, from ideas and insights to key documents, data and images make it a very useful way to manage projects from inception to completion.
Even once the project is complete, MindManager continues to play an important role. At project close, your maps will provide a very effective way for you and your team to review successes and failures, and to capture project debrief information that will help the next time.
The map (or series of linked maps related to that project) will create an extremely useful archive of all project-related activitieswith all documents, all reasons for change (as well as who suggested/authorized changes, and when and why), all pertinent background information available. If it becomes necessary to go back and review that project, all the information can be easily located. Having said that
Complimenting other Project Management Tools

As you have now seen, MindManager has many strengths and much to offer Project Managers. But in some cases it complements rather than replaces fully-featured project scheduling tools. There are several important techniques in project scheduling that MindManager does not address: Critical path analysis Project and resource calendars (e.g. taking into account holidays) Schedule calculation and resource levelling Risk analysis Baseline management
These and other features are best handled by dedicated tools. MindManager is compatible with the leading project management solutions for Microsoft Windows, and can export its project maps directly to them. If your project is large or complex, you can use MindManager to create and communicate the project plan, and then export the plan to another package for detailed scheduling and tracking.
If your project is fairly small and simple (for example, if you do not need a Gantt chart view), it can be practical to use MindManager alone to both plan the project and keep track of tasks. MindManager's Power Select feature allows you to view selected project information, making it easy to update and present information to others. The Word export gives you a handy Task Status report.
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When you consider whether and how to integrate MindManager into your current project management process; remember that one of the best things you can do to run a successful project is to think before you act. The more front-end planning you and your team do to define project stakeholders, goal, scope, definitions of success, and potential risk, the better off you will be. Once the project is under way, success will be enhanced by your ability to manage both the big picture and all the details, and to concisely communicate project status to all interested parties. MindManager provides an excellent way to accomplish all of these key project activities.
For More Information

To find out more about project management solutions using MindManager, visit the Mindjet Solution Xchange at http://www.mindjet.com/partners/partner_solutionxchange.shtml. The Xchange is part of the Mindjet Partner Program and features downloads and resources for MindManager users and support for developers.
The Mindjet web site at www.mindjet.com has case studies to help you understand how to apply mapping to your work, along with useful reviews, articles and white papers. Mindjet.com is a great place to refer friends and colleagues interested in understanding how to add MindManager to their project management tool set.
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