Planning day themes for Marrowbank Landcare, a fictional volunteer group
Mind map slide that turns a planning day into five themes
A mind map slide gathers the ideas from a brainstorm or planning session into a few themes, so a group can see everything it discussed and who will take each idea forward. This one captures the planning day of Marrowbank Landcare, a fictional volunteer group, as five themed cards, each tagged with its lead.
What is on the slide
- Title
- Planning Day Themes, Marrowbank Landcare.
- Themes 01 and 02
- Weed Control: blackberry back along the creek, four working bees before spring, map every patch, Lead: Field team. New Volunteers: twelve sign ups at the market stall, paired with an experienced member for a month, Lead: Coordinator.
- Themes 03 and 04
- Nursery Stock: 2,000 local seedlings for winter, seed from three reference sites in autumn, Lead: Nursery. School Program: two primary schools, planting days in term 3 with a creek talk, Lead: Education.
- Theme 05
- Grant Reporting: river health grant report due in August, photos and before and after counts, Lead: Treasurer.
When this is the right slide
Pick this slide after a planning day or workshop, when a group needs its ideas grouped into five themes, each with a finding, an action and a tag naming who takes it forward.
What to swap it for
Grouping: 3 Wide Row Headers. Use the three wide row headers when the session produced three themes and each needs a full paragraph rather than a short card.
What this slide shows
The title reads Planning Day Themes. Five tall coloured cards sit in a row, each with a numbered badge from 01 to 05, a theme name, two or three sentences and a small tag at the bottom naming the lead. 01 Weed Control: blackberry is back along the creek, run four working bees before spring and map every patch cleared, Lead: Field team. 02 New Volunteers: twelve people signed up at the market stall, pair each one with an experienced member for their first month, Lead: Coordinator. 03 Nursery Stock: grow 2,000 local seedlings for winter planting and collect seed from three reference sites in autumn, Lead: Nursery. 04 School Program: two primary schools want a planting day each, book dates for term 3 and plan a short creek talk, Lead: Education. 05 Grant Reporting: the river health grant report is due in August, gather photos and before and after counts now, Lead: Treasurer. The cards are equal in size and colour coded, so each theme reads as its own branch of the day's discussion.
When this is the right slide
Use a mind map slide after a planning day, workshop or brainstorm, when a group needs to see its ideas grouped into a few themes with someone responsible for each. It suits community groups, project teams and committees that meet in person and need a shared record. It is the wrong slide while the brainstorm is still happening, when a whiteboard or sticky notes work better, and the wrong slide for a sequence of steps, which a process or checklist layout shows in order. For three themes that each need a fuller paragraph, the three wide row headers layout gives each one a full width row with room to explain. The slide also helps volunteer groups where people come and go, because it gives a newcomer the year's plan in one view and shows who to talk to about each part. For a group that reports to a funder or a council, the same slide shows that the planning day produced clear actions and named leads, which is often what a grant officer wants to see.
How to adapt it
First, change the tags to the season each theme belongs to, such as Spring or Autumn, when the slide is used to build a calendar rather than assign leads. Second, add a budget figure to each card when the slide goes to a committee deciding where grant money goes. Third, reuse the slide at the next planning day with each card updated to what happened, such as Weed control, three of four working bees held, so the group can see a year of progress at once. Keep the theme names short enough to fit on one line, and merge any two themes whose leads are the same person. Share the slide with the whole membership after the day, not just the committee, so volunteers can choose a theme to help with.
What makes this slide work
Every theme pairs a finding with an action
Twelve people signed up at the market stall, so pair each with an experienced member for their first month. Each card states what the group noticed and what it will do, which turns a brainstorm into a short plan.
Tags name who carries each theme
Lead: Field team, Coordinator, Nursery, Education, Treasurer. The tags under each card answer who is doing this, which is the question most planning days forget to settle, and they use roles that stay valid when volunteers change.
Numbers and dates make it checkable
Four working bees, twelve new volunteers, 2,000 seedlings from three reference sites, two schools in term 3, a grant report due in August. At the next meeting the group can check each card against a number rather than a feeling.
Questions people ask
How does a mind map slide differ from a hand drawn mind map?
A hand drawn map grows outward from a central idea with many branches, which is good for thinking but hard to read on a screen. A mind map slide is the tidy result: the branches grouped into a few themes, each summarised. Use the drawn map in the room and the slide afterwards.
How many themes should a mind map slide show?
Three to six, so the group can discuss each one. This layout holds exactly five cards. A planning day usually produces more ideas than that, so merge related ones into a theme and keep the smaller ideas in the meeting notes. Five themes with a lead each is a workable plan.
What should the tag under each card say?
Whatever groups the cards in a useful way. Here each tag names who leads the theme, such as Lead: Nursery. Tags could also show a season, a budget source or a status. Use one kind of tag across the whole slide, otherwise the tags stop grouping anything.
Should a mind map slide have a central idea?
The title does that job here: Planning Day Themes. A classic mind map puts the central idea in the middle with branches around it. On a slide, a clear title and a row of cards reads faster, and the order of the cards can show priority, which a radial map cannot.
How much text belongs on each mind map card?
A short theme name and two sentences: what was found and what will be done. Blackberry is back along the creek; run four working bees before spring. That pattern turns a discussion into an action. Longer notes belong in the minutes, linked from the slide.
How do I present a mind map slide after a workshop?
Open the next meeting with it, read each theme, and ask its lead for one sentence on progress. Use it to check nothing from the day was lost. Groups often forget half of what a planning day agreed within a month, and a single slide with leads is the easiest reminder.
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