Director's Forum Mind Maps: A Leadership Tool for Department and Practice Model Change

摘要

The Director's Forum series is designed to guide pharmacy leaders in establishing patient-centered services in hospitals and health systems. This month's article is a primer in using the technique of mind mapping to clarify and simplify complex pharmacy department issues. Mind mapping uses a diagram to represent concepts, words, tasks, or other items related to a key central word or idea. Mind maps form, visualize, generate, categorize, and classify ideas and facilitate problem solving, writing, and decision making. Mind mapping helps to keep focus in an organization undergoing operational changes/interruptions. Mind maps may be used by pharmacy directors for strategic planning, project management, performance .feedback, coaching or mentoring, teaching, presentations, systems analysis, priority setting, note taking, meeting preparation, and problem solving. Mind maps are a way pharmacy directors can solve problems, organize, and optimize their patient-centered pharmacy services. Articles in upcoming issues of the Director's Forum will demonstrate using mind mapping in fostering leadership development skills necessary to grow effective pharmacy practice models.