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| Criterion |  Facilitation Mind Mapping |  Facilitation Alignment Mapping |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Facilitation Stakeholder Mapping |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | When a topic is still unclear and too many thoughts surface at once, Mind Mapping creates an open surface for ordering them. It makes connections, subtopics, and starting points visible without fixing them too early. | When several people work toward one goal but hold different mental maps, Alignment Mapping makes the discrepancies visible. It arranges goals, assumptions, and priorities so shared direction becomes verifiable. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | When an initiative depends on many people, interests, and power dynamics, Stakeholder Mapping systematically orders the environment. It shows who influences, who is affected, and where relationship management or safeguarding matters first. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | Medium | Low | Low |
Timedifferent | 15-45 min | 1-2 h | 30-60 min | 60–90 min |
Participantsdifferent | 1-10 | 4-12 | 2-8 | 2-8 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop | Workshop + async |
Outputdifferent | Mind Map, Topic Clusters, Open Questions | Alignment Map, Open Issues, Decision Questions | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | Stakeholder Map, Engagement Plan, Risk Notes |
Tagsno overlap | BrainstormingIdeasMappingStructureFacilitation | AlignmentStakeholdersStrategyFacilitation | Root causeQualityOperations | StakeholdersAlignmentFacilitationChange |