Mind Mapping is a popular information management technique that can be used to reach task decomposition or to divide a broad task into a series of interrelated sub-tasks. This technique allows identifying and visualizing connections between several pieces of work. The key concept of mind mapping is to use associations (words, ideas, logic, sounds, colors, images, and anything else linked to a central idea) to stimulate an individual’s brain and create a visual representation or mind map of task’s central idea.
The advantage of this technique is that it simplifies planning through generating associations between main tasks and their sub-tasks. People can use their own memory and imagination to make new and exciting connections between tasks with ease.
Here’re some quick guidelines for decomposing tasks through mind mapping:
- Prepare a large sheet of paper
- Create a visual colorful representation of your broad task in your mind and put this image in the centre of the paper sheet
- Think about possible steps or sub-tasks to do the main task; for example, the task "Write a Report" may be divided into such sub-tasks as "Gather Facts", "Write Draft", "Take a Break", "Review Draft", "Make Corrections", "Create Final Version"
- Branch out the central image (your main task) into sub-topics that represent your sub-tasks
- Use different colors to outline your branches
- Extend your mind map with more sub-topics or sub-tasks as long as your mind generates new ideas and associations
- Figure out how your sub-tasks are linked to each other; then use arrows to graphically display the relationships on your mind map
- Look at your mind map and think what other sub-tasks and associations can be added
- Complete the exercise and use your mind map to retrieve sub-tasks of your parent task
- Develop task decomposition.