Personal Maps
A Personal Map is a mind map about a person: the name sits in the centre and branches such as home, education, work, hobbies, family, friends, goals and values spread out from it, each extended with concrete details. The practice comes from Management 3.0, Jurgen Appelo's management approach, and adapts the mind-mapping tradition to getting to know colleagues. Teams draw the maps and walk each other through them, which gives people more to connect over than a job title, and is especially useful when a team rarely meets in person.
Facilitation script
- 1
Introduce the idea and show your own map as an example. State that everyone chooses what to include.
5 min - 2
Individual drawing: name in the centre, main branches, then details on each branch.
10 min - 3
Sharing in groups of three or four: each person walks through their map and answers questions.
20 min - 4
Post all maps on the wall or board. People walk around and mark or note connections they did not expect.
7 min - 5
Short plenary: a few people name something they have in common with someone else or something that surprised them.
3 min
Tips
Say before anyone starts drawing that each person chooses what goes on the map and that an empty branch is fine; family and home are not easy topics for everyone.
Draw your own map first and show it, including a detail or two that is not on your CV, so people see the level of detail you are asking for.
Keep the sharing groups to three or four, otherwise the listening time per map grows faster than the attention available.
Common pitfalls
The facilitator prescribes every branch, including family and home, and people who do not want to discuss those feel exposed in front of colleagues
Maps stay at CV level, listing employers and degrees, so the group learns nothing it could not have read on a professional profile
Sharing happens in plenary with fifteen people: it takes an hour, attention drops after the fourth map and the last presenters are rushed
In the map-a-colleague variant, wrong guesses about someone's background are presented as fact before the person can correct them, which can embarrass both sides
The maps are thrown away after the session, so new joiners and absent colleagues never benefit and the exercise remains a one-off
Variations
Map a colleague: draw what you know about a teammate, then sit down with them to fill the gaps; the blank branches show how little you knew and give the conversation its agenda. Onboarding: a new team member prepares their map before joining and presents it in the first team meeting, and the team's existing maps are available for them to read. Manager version: a manager keeps a private map for each direct report and adds to it after one-to-ones. Remote: use an online whiteboard with one frame per person and share in breakout rooms. Large groups: share in trios, then run a gallery walk past all maps.
Where it fits
When to use it
A new team meets for the first time and you want more than a round of names and job titles
A distributed team has worked together for months without learning anything about each other beyond the task
A new member joins and needs a quick way to introduce themselves and to learn about the others
A manager realises they know little about the people reporting to them
You open a longer workshop and want participants to find common ground early
When not to use it
You have ten minutes or less: drawing and sharing cannot be rushed, so use a short check-in question or Impromptu Networking
The group needs to learn how each person prefers to work, not who they are; My User Manual is built for that
The team is in open conflict and personal disclosure would feel unsafe; work on the conflict first
The group already knows each other well; go deeper with Moving Motivators or a values exercise
The culture or the setting, such as a formal client meeting, makes private details inappropriate; limit the branches to work, education and interests or pick a different opener
Related methods
Frequently asked questions
What is Personal Maps?▾
Personal Maps is a getting-to-know-you practice from Management 3.0 in which a mind map is drawn about a person. The name goes in the centre and branches cover areas such as home, education, work, hobbies, family, friends, goals and values. People then present their maps to one another and look for connections.
Do I draw my own map or someone else's?▾
Both are used. Drawing your own and presenting it is the simplest version for a new team and for onboarding. Drawing a colleague's map from what you know, and then asking them to fill the gaps, is a way of making a deliberate effort to understand that person; it suits pairs who already work together.
How long does a Personal Maps session take?▾
The source sets no time. As a working estimate, allow about ten minutes for drawing and five minutes per person for sharing in small groups, which comes to 30 to 60 minutes including a look at all maps together.
Does Personal Maps work for remote teams?▾
Yes, and remote teams are one of its main uses, because they miss the casual conversations in which such details normally surface. Give each person a frame on an online whiteboard, share in breakout rooms and keep the board available afterwards.
What if someone does not want to share personal details?▾
Then they leave those branches out. The list of branches is a suggestion, and a map built only around work, education and interests still gives colleagues something to connect with. Say this explicitly at the start so that nobody has to ask.
Plan your next workshop with AI
Workshop Weaver helps you combine methods like Personal Maps into a complete, timed agenda in minutes.
Try it freeMethod descriptions on Workshop Weaver are original content written by our team, based on established facilitation practices. This method was inspired by work from Jurgen Appelo / Management 3.0.