I’ve been using a MindMap in-house for two years now. It came with MindMapping University, so I thought it was worth sharing. The Mind Map has been a great tool for planning and assigning work. However, the problem I always had was how to get others on the same page to use the same mind map… and collaborate and participate in the process. They’d all have their own ideas of what to do, what to add or change. One person might take one section, while another person could take another.

So, I created a collaborative mindmap remote team approach. With the collaborative mindmap, all of us could see the computer screen at the same time, and we’d be able to add, modify and delete sections of the mind map simultaneously. It also featured the ability to use our cell phone simultaneously with the Mind Map. This allowed us to visualize the entire picture, as if we were physically present.

Of course, I also included some additional features that the 35mmstreetPhotography Mind Maps had. They allowed me to put together a photo journal while I was filming, which was great. We could capture images during the process of planning, we could then edit them on the computer to create a story, or we could even use them as backgrounds in the final film. This added visual depth to the movie that was definitely appreciated by everyone involved.

The problem I had with the original was that the image editing software I used on the computer lacked sophistication and quality. It would only take a matter of seconds to make a bad edit, and we couldn’t rely on Photoshop for more than that. With the help of my co-conspirator, we were able to tighten up the image editing software and bring it up to par with what I had seen on the 35mmstreet Photography website. Now we can put together a really cool Mind Map with all the amazing features that Photoshop has to offer!

The next part of the Mind Map that we improved upon was the Storyboard. Since most people don’t know each other that well, the storyboard lets us take turns drawing the storyboard and discussing it with our team mates. This also allows each person to know how they’re contributing to the big picture and clearly see their role in the big picture.

We started doing this after we finished recording our first full length film. We decided that we wanted to do a storyboard for each of our characters, and this was actually a lot of fun! Each of us got to draw something, and we got to be creative! It was so much fun that we decided to keep doing it every time we had a rough draft to go back to. This actually works as a great way to improve your thinking while you’re making a film!

The third improvement that we made came when we realized that we didn’t have to be so perfectionist when drawing the Mind Maps. That’s right! We were able to use our imagination, and draw whatever we wanted! No need to worry about drawing something perfect, we could just draw what felt natural to us! We actually drew a Mind Map from an experience that we did with our client. This helped us to illustrate the exact steps that they took to create a mental photo of themselves, that we showed them during a meeting.

We learned a lot by watching our clients work with their mind maps. We learned that brainstorming is so important, and we were able to apply our knowledge of brainstorming techniques to our own methods of drawing mind maps. All in all, we’re very glad that we decided to take this route for our project. Our clients are really happy that we implemented this collaborative mind map technique, and they definitely will be using ours for their next project.