Are Mind Maps Effective Coaching Tools?

I’ve been interested in mind maps since experimenting with them as a teacher in the early 1980s.

Of course it was pencil and paper back then - which made editing coloured maps a real pain.

Still, there remains something uniquely creative about the low-tech way and I continue to use it for my own impromptu idea sessions.

Nowadays there are a fair number of free and commercial mind mapping software tools available for use on a PC - with MindGenius as my software of choice for business planning, product creation and some client coaching exercises.

Here’s an example of a very simple MindGenius map I created which outlines a coaching process used by a fantastic business coach, Christian Micklesen:

Your-Career

With face-to-face career coaching, I’ve noticed that a paper or software mind mapping approach can be very effective for those clients who are ‘visual’ and/or ‘kinesthetic’ learners.

For example, we can explore the personal vision and goals the client is most interested in, gather this information in a simple mind map format - and then use that for client fieldwork (fancy name for homework lol!) and follow up.

However, when the client’s on the far end of a telephone is where the laptop or A4 mind mapping approach has a teeny weeny problem…

There are tools available to share mind maps online in real time and the image below is something I created in 5 minutes while checking out http://bubbl.us

Online-Mind-Map-Bubbl-Us