Mind mapping online::Virtual Brainstorming and Mind mapping Software

Mind mapping online or virtual brainstorming using mind mapping software can be an effective way to help facilitate continuous quality improvement. For a business to succeed then it needs to use the combined skills of it's people to drive continuous quality improvement. One quality tool that can be used in an effective manner to do this is Brainstorming, a technique that can be used online and through a companies email system. Combined with mind mapping, brainstorming can be a very effective way of coming up with solutions to problems and organizing the thoughts generated.

Brainstorming is an organized way to record and inspire creative thinking, it is not a free for all with everyone shouting their ideas together, there are rules by which the session should be run to ensure that all get the opportunity to participate and that all ideas are recorded and people get the chance to feed off each other’s ideas. There are several ways to analyze the results of a brainstorming session, from organizing them into hot and cold ideas to translating them into an ishikawa diagram (Fishbone diagram).

Brainstorming is one of the seven quality tools for continuous quality improvement.

Mind Mapping is a way of organizing ideas around a central theme, this theme usually taking the center of the map and all of the ideas grouped logically around the page feeding back to it. There are no hard and fast rules about how a mind map should be laid out, it very much depends on what you are exploring and the number of categories and sub-categories your ideas fall into.

Brainstorming and mind mapping also can be run as a group exercise within most companies without having to organize meetings to pull people together.

A simple method that can be utilized to get the feedback and experience from the majority of the people within your company or group would be to define the specific subject, question or problem and then circulate it via email to get everybody’s feedback. You would then get feedback from a variety of different disciplines and levels within the company. Give a cut off point by which peoples feedback should be received by and follow up any people who are getting close to the cut off point.

The results of the initial round should be organized without removing any individual ideas, obviously consolidate all of the identical ones into one statement. Organize as sensibly as possible and re-circulate for everyone to feed from the initial generated ideas.

If a large number of additional ideas are generated from this second circulation then it may be necessary to circulate for a third round of idea generation.

To help with getting people to participate and to make it a more enjoyable experience you could offer a prize for the best or wackiest suggestion,  it need not be anything too big. Circulate the top 10 entries for this prize (anonymous suggestions so that people can speculate as to who was responsible)  and get everyone to vote!  This will help to ensure participation and to help people to think a little more “outside the box.”

Once the data has been categorized into the various groups from the virtually generated ideas you can either use a smaller working group to go through the ideas and identify those likely to be the best or you could once again send another group email to get everyone to vote on the best suggestions.

There are a number of simple mind mapping and brainstorming programs available for use, either on your own system or online as a group. Some are even available that can be used across the mobile phone network to enable you to generate a mind map through the internet using your phone.

Continuous quality improvement does not just happen, it must be planned and managed. Without a continual process of business improvement you will never be better than your competitors. Brainstorming and Mind Mapping are just some of the quality tools that can help you, some of the others are;

PDCA, Plan, Do, Check, Act, a technique to help you plan your improvement activities

Tally Charts, for data collection.

Fishbone Diagram or Ishikawa Diagram to show cause and effect in a simple manner

Histograms or Bar Charts, to graphically represent your data to make easy visual analysis.

Pareto Analysis, To highlight the vital few causes that impact the many.

Process mapping, to highlight all of the wasteful steps in a process, also Value stream mapping to highlight the waste in the whole business.

Statistical Process Control (SPC) Charts, to measure and monitor the process output and parameters.

The 5 Whys, to help you get true root cause analysis.

The following links will help you with regard to understanding and implementing quality tools and continuous quality and process improvement;

Chartered Quality Institute (CQI) The Chartered Quality Institute

American Society for Quality (ASQ) American society for quality

Lloyds Register Quality Assurance (LRQA) Lloyds Register Quality Assurance

British Standards Institute British Standards Institute

American Standards Organization American Standards Organization

Quality Institute of America Quality Institute of America

Quality Institute in Healthcare Quality Institute for Healthcare

Institute for Manufacturing (IFM) Institute for Manufacturing

These links will help you with finding out about Virtual Brainstorming, mind mapping online and other quality tools for continuous quality improvement.