Office managers and those in charge of office supplies have the task of making sure that the office has everything it needs in order to function smoothly and effectively. Therefore, it is necessary that these managers stay extremely organized in order to be on top of their office’s supply needs. Many office managers resort to using lists or other computer programs in order to help them remember what to order and when. However, these managers may find the use of Idea Mapping a much more intuitive way of keeping track of office supplies. With an Idea Map, the manager can “map out” all of the necessary steps to managing office supplies in a way that helps him or her quickly and efficiently maintain the daily office supply needs. Therefore, Idea Mapping can make managing office supplies a very simple and easy thing to do.

What is Idea Mapping?

Ideal Mapping is a means of organizing information using an Idea Map, which is a “colorful, single-page visual that captures [a person’s] thinking in key words and images.” Idea Mapping is widely believed to be a more effective means of conceptualizing information than traditional outlining, because it uses a spatial, rather than linear, approach to help define the information. When using an Idea Map, both hemispheres of the brain are engaged, allowing the brain to process information in a manner consistent with its natural functioning. The result is the ability to “plan, remember, innovate, organize, communicate and learn” information quickly and efficiently.

Using an Idea Map to Manage Office Supplies

Suppose that an office manager has been using various lists to help her keep track of the supplies her office needs. These lists contain the items and quantities needed, when to place the orders and from where to reorder these items. Hoping to convert these lists into one, simple diagram, she decides to create an Idea Map. She constructs the Idea Map by first representing the purpose of the map, the office’s supply list, in the center of the map. She then lists the main categories of supplies, such as “Kitchen Supplies”, and “Conference Room Supplies”, on “branches” that are attached to the central graphic. She next lists the items and quantities she needs to order for each category on “child branches” attached to the “branches”. Attached to each item are “twigs” that list when and from where the item should be ordered. Throughout the map, the manager has used colors and visual images to make the map more intuitive. For example, she has used the color red for all items she needs to order from X Supply Warehouse, because red is the color of the store’s logo. When she has finished converting her lists into an Idea Map, it might look similar to the attached Map diagram.

The Advantages of An Idea Map vs. A Traditional List for Managing Office Supplies

Contrast the above-mentioned Idea Map with a traditional list of these steps. A traditional list would likely contain several pieces of paper that the manager would have to attempt to keep up with. Moreover, the list would contain only words, rather than visual images and colors, making the list tedious and more difficult to process and recall. The Idea Map, on the other hand, contains all of the information a manger needs in one, spatially laid out, document. Because this document contains colors and visuals, rather than just words, the manager has the added advantage of several points of association with which to conceptualize and remember the items on the list. The process of Idea Mapping has, therefore, simplified the office manager’s job and made her much more efficient when performing her duties.