I’ve got a few tools in my Kidmin Toolbox that I use to manage the details of ministry. As an ENFP, my brain works differently than most people around me. Organization doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m okay with that now. 🙂 I have a habit of ‘dating’ organizational tools. I rarely settle on one for the long-haul. Here’s a look at some tools I use to keep the craziness in my head at a minimum. Maybe they’ll help you too.
Mind Mapping
There are a few Mind Mapping programs out there. I’ve tested a few over the past year.
My favorite is TheBrain.
The pros… This thing simply operates the way my brain operates. It allows me to view in layers and keep a huge amount of information, create links, attach documents, etc. I planned my entire Summer Camp on TheBrain. I was able to keep all the details from our reward system, to our first-aid procedures, to our bunking… all within this one Mind Map. It comes with an iPhone app, so you can access your Maps from anywhere. It’s an intense experience and I love it!
The cons… Well, I wasn’t able to test out many of the features on the 30-day trial. There are a ton of features that look cool but I’m uncertain I need them. The one feature I would have loved to test was export. Several times I wanted to print the map and take it to a meeting so I could better explain details, however I couldn’t do this on the free trial so I have no idea if this feature is beneficial or not. It’s also a ‘weighty’ program. The more information you add to a Map, the longer it takes to load. And in the final, intense days leading up to camp I had some unkind words for my computer as I waited for the blessed thing to launch so I could get to information I needed. Maybe this is resolved with a faster computer that can handle the bulk. Don’t know. My E6500 Dell is barely enough to handle it.
My second favorite Mind Mapping tool is XMind.
The program is simple to navigate. Very intuitive. You can structure your map in different ways (i.e. fishbone, tree, org up or org down). You can add nifty icons like flags & check boxes and other identifiers to enhance the interactivity. You can export to pdf or other formats, print and upload to the web. You can attach notes, documents and weblinks. Much like Excel, XMind is laid out in the form of a Workbook, so you can add multiple sheets within a Workbook.
The cons… Printing is a pain. I can’t figure out how change the layout so it prints the way I want it to. For example, I laid out my entire volunteer team structure in XMind. I needed to provide that information to my leadership in printed form. It seemed like a simple idea. Hit print! However, two of the sheets had such a large amount of information that it needed to print in landscape form in order to get it all on one page. Figuring out how to do that was a mystery to me. What I submitted to my leadership requires a magnifying glass to read. 🙁 It’s also not as ‘sexy’ as TheBrain. But it’s more economical and functional for my use. TheBrain cost $150 for an annual subscription as compared to XMind at $50 per year. I went with XMind.
So, there you go. I’m a PC. These are the two programs I love using. If you’ve got one that you love, drop a comment below and let me know about it. I’m always game for something new. 🙂
