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• SMART Goals Reduce Ambiguity and Increase Commitment

  January 5, 2009

  
  

• Writing an Unbeatable Business Case

  January 4, 2009

  
  

• The MSP (Managing Successful Programmes) Governance Themes

  January 3, 2009

  
  

• Project Managers: The Value of Understanding Technology

  January 2, 2009

  
  

• Building the High-Performance Global Workforce

  December 31, 2008

  
  

• The Most Important Lesson

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• The Elements of Change in Every Organization

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• Still Trying to Integrate Running and Project Management

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• What We Need from Project Sponsors

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Using Mind Mapping to Determine Project Goals

November 20, 2008 | Author: PM Hut | Filed under: Project Management Best Practices

Using Mind Mapping to Determine Project Goals
By SmartDraw.com

Good planning starts before the project begins. And not just planning the specific tasks of the project. This is because any project fits into a larger framework of a business, organization or personal strategy. Project planners and participants must be clear on the overall strategies that the project supports in order to set meaningful project goals.

Whether your project is being planned by one person or a team, determining the project goals and how they fit the overall strategy is best captured in a mind map. Mind maps combine structure with lateral thinking, allowing participants to make associations and generate ideas while keeping a framework intact.

For example, when planning the advertising projects for 2008, managers at The Coffee Cafe can refer to their mind map of strategic business goals. This will guide their planning when choosing ad vehicles, when designing messaging and choosing the timing for ads.

The Coffee Cafe Advertising Project: A Mind Mapping Example

Mapping the project goals and activities to the topics of the strategic goal mind map can ensure that the project addresses deliverables, benefits, stakeholder needs, quality and risk, while considering dependencies on parallel projects and the skills of available resources.

About SmartDraw.com

SmartDraw.com is the creator of SmartDraw, the world’s most popular business graphics software and the first program that makes it possible for ordinary computer users to create presentation-quality business graphics in minutes. Each year more than two million people install and use SmartDraw and the company counts more than half of the members of the Fortune 500 as loyal customers.

Founded in 1994, SmartDraw.com is privately-held and based in San Diego, CA. In addition to SmartDraw 2008 for general business and home use, the company also offers SmartDraw Healthcare and SmartDraw Legal editions which include graphics and applications unique to their respective fields. For more information on the company or to download a free trial of SmartDraw, please visit www.smartdraw.com.

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