Cost/Benefit analysis is a well-known technique that is widely used in any business transaction. From simple to large project management Cost/Benefit analysis is resorted to assess the full financial implications of a business operation.

As the name implies, Cost/Benefit analysis is adding up the value of benefits arising from implementation and subtracting the costs associated with the process. Invariably, costs are either one-off deal or recurrent. However, benefits are often experienced after a minimum period of time. This time is built into the Cost/Benefit analysis as payback period, when the benefits start accruing, repaying for the costs incurred. Most companies set a specific period such as 3-years to gauge results.

In its basic form, Cost/Benefit analysis involves weighing the financial costs and benefits - for e.g., a company deciding to provide office transport instead of offering transport allowance. In such a process the company would work out the cost of hiring transport or buying appropriate mode of transport for safe return of employees versus individual payment passed on as transport allowance to the employees. It would however not measure the satisfactory levels of the employees, the loyalty factor it could accrue to the company, the punctuality it would ensure and the teaming and bonding that the travel could bring among the employees. These are the intangible benefits for which there are no numerical value assigned.

In project management, Cost/Benefit analysis invariably takes a major share of the process. In fact, no project is undertaken without it, as unless benefits outweigh the costs, the need for incurring costs in the first place is rendered meaningless. This is how most financial transactions are worked through, excluding of course the political ones.

In the usual Cost/Benefit there is no scope for incorporating intangible disadvantages and benefits. However, intangibles such as emotional satisfaction, environmental concerns and long-term future consequences are vital to the success of any financial transaction. This is exactly where Mind Maps can score above the mere Cost/Benefit analysis.

After thoroughly assessing the financial implications of a business transaction or a process, it is vital that an exhaustive appraisal of the often-neglected intangible elements, are factored in to provide a complete comprehensiveness to the process. Mind Maps help you to explore these aspects scrupulously and systematically.

By looking at issues in all their widest aspects, Mind Maps help you to prepare for contingencies and address them effectively, and also to see the links between them. Apart from providing a careful understanding of the whole issue, they could provide new opportunities and avenues for further action or growth hitherto unseen. As you gain the full picture, you will be able to see the associations between various tangible and intangible elements, and to find creative approaches and solutions.

That is why Mind Maps can be a useful device to help you charter into unknown territories. While Cost/Benefit analysis derives its numerical value, Mind Maps go beyond it to bring in the deeper, underlying causative and emotional factors. They help in rendering wholesomeness to the process and provide the highest mental satisfaction. Hence, using Mind Maps indeed has a psychological advantage. You could learn about them and gauge for yourself.

About the Author:

Dr. Vj Mariaraj is a Mind Map enthusiast and has been using Mind Maps for the past twelve years. He has created over 5650 Mind Maps. To learn more about mind mapping send an email to freemindmap@aweber.com He is the founder of BusinessBookMindMap.com that creates Mind Map Summaries of Business Books. To learn more visit http://BusinessBookMindMap.com/mind-map.php?ea19