A mind map is a way of getting all of your (or your group’s) ideas and thoughts out in writing in an organized way. They can be used not only for memorization and planning, but they can also be great for team “Retrospectives.”
Example
I came across mind maps in 2012 when working through Tony Buzan’s “Memory Boot Camp.” In it, Tony has the reader create a “Vacation” mind map. I made one which is the picture associated with this article. It’s a good example of what a mind map is.
Notice that there is a topic at the center. Branches with main themes come out from that. Ideas related those main themes continue out from there. Also notice that labels are kept short for maximum flexibility and clarity in our thoughts.
As the ideas are added one at a time, they are connected in a way that makes sense. The diagram becomes a clear picture of everything that needs to be considered or discussed.
Retro Steps – First Time
The first time a team does this retro, follow these steps:
- Walk through creating the “Vacation” mind map to show how it all works.
- Start fresh and draw the central idea.
- In Scrum this could be “Last Sprint” or “Sprint 3” for example.
- In Kanban this could be “Last Cycle“
- But, it can be anything: “Last Week,” “Last Month,” “The Trade Show,” “The Holiday Party,” “Last Quarter’s Numbers,” etc., etc.
- Go once around the room and create an initial set of branches. No discussion at this point. Just add branches.
- Main Branches: main ideas or big topics or important things that happened.
- Sub-branches: Aspects of those main things
- Branch Naming: Try to stick to one word per branch or a small phrase at most!! Why? Freedom, creativity, & clarity.
- >>> Oh, by they way, add a branch for “Kudos” if no one thought of that yet! It’s important that people thank each other! <<<
- After people seem to have the hang of it, have everyone can go to the board and keep adding branches until everyone’s thoughts are represented. Still no discussion yet, though! (Giggling is okay.) 🙂
- Once all the ideas are on the board, facilitate a group discussion about each of the branches. Pick a starting point and work your way around.
- Discuss each branch:
- Is there and Action Item?
- Is there a “Kaizan” item (improvement item)?
- Are there any risks we should document?
- Discuss each branch:
Retro Steps – Second and Subsequent Times
Once a team has the idea, it becomes very easy. They know how it works. Just pass out the whiteboard markers and the ideas flow.
Remember, no discussion until the mind map is created. This prevents “multiple, un-facilitated discussions” (MUD – also known as “chaos”) 😉 from happening. Only then do we have the facilitated discussion of everyone’s thoughts.
One last thing: As the discussion unfolds, add to the mind map as appropriate.
In Conclusion
Mind maps are a great way of getting thoughts organized and illustrated. This creative and interesting approach works very well for conducting a retrospective.
References
I first learned about “mind maps” from reading Tony Buzan’s “Memory Boot Camp.” Wikipedia provides more information and the history of mind maps.