Supercharge the Creation of Training Modules with Mind Maps and Cassava

Posted on Oct 17, 2023 by Michael

PROCESS SELF IMPROVEMENT

Employees gathered at a conference table to brainstorm an idea

I write a lot about publishing Training modules in Cassava, but what about the creation side of the story? How does your team approach creating in-house training programs for your organization?

The creation process is often fraught with uncertainty and indecision. Our mind works best in a non-linear stream of consciousness flow, making connections that seemingly did not exist a minute ago.

The trick in life is to lean into this natural creativity process rather than swimming upstream against a tide of disorder.

So, where, or better yet, how should you begin?

Mind Maps

Decomposing a problem into its constituent elements is a skill best suited to Mind Maps. These diagrams allow you to capture the essence of a problem and reveal hidden intricate connections.

If you spend any time in the area of self improvement, you will inevitably cross paths with the concept of SMART goals. Let’s use this paradigm to illustrate how you can mind map your way to a training module.

Below is a Coggle mind map of the SMART goal paradigm.

Take a minute to pan and zoom this highly interactive diagram.

From Mind map to Experience

An examination of the S.M.A.R.T goal mind map reveals an underlying structure that is composed of five top-level Disciplines:

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Relevant
  • Time-based

The decomposition does not stop with Disciplines, as we see by the appearance of Principles. Let us zoom in closer at the Measurable Discipline.

  • How much?
  • How many?
  • How will I know it when it is accomplished?
  • Trackable
  • Realistic

Each Principle provides an opportunity to dive deeper into multiple aspects of what it means for a goal to be measurable.

Principles are where you make your content shine by including supporting material as Attachments and by adding Assessments to measure retention. The building blocks you see here form the basis of an Experience (i.e., Training module) in Cassava.

The anatomy of an Experience in Cassava is illustrated in yet another mind map shown below.

Carefully crafted custom content by you is sequenced with a schedule and published to an audience assembled from the members of your organization.

Today, you can build your audience by integrating Cassava with your Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Webex platforms, in addition to good old-fashion Email, with more distribution channels on the way.

Cassava presents a convenient workflow to transform the insights gleaned from a Mind map into an executable program that serves your needs.

Steps to create an Experience in Cassava The edit view of an Experience in Cassava

Summary

The next time you need to create a Training module, reach for a mind-mapping tool to condense your thoughts, and while you are here, consider building and publishing it with Cassava.

As always, I welcome your feedback.

Michael


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John Smith @johnsmith 31m
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Placeholder image

John Smith @johnsmith 31m
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Proin ornare magna eros, eu pellentesque tortor sociis natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit vestibulum ut. Maecenas non massa sem. Etiam finibus odio quis feugiat facilisis.