Hackathon Canvas

groupmap-template-Hackathon Canvas-with ideas-votes-img

What is a Hackathon Canvas?

A Hackathon Canvas is a visual and strategic planning tool designed to help organise a successful hackathon event.

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Hackathons are a popular way for people to network, learn new skills, and collaborate on innovative projects. They have been used to create new products, solve real-world problems, and even launch new companies.

They require careful planning to ensure that the event runs smoothly and achieves its goals.

Why Use a Hackathon Canvas?

A Hackathon Canvas can help take the effort out of organising a hackathon by helping to –

  • Break down complex problems into smaller, more manageable ones.
  • Provide a visual representation of the key components.
  • Provide a common language that can be used by all stakeholders.
  • Define the goals and objectives of the hackathon and ensure that everyone is working towards a common goal.
  • Identify the resources required to run the hackathon.

Who Needs a Hackathon Canvas?

  • Hackathon Event organizers
  • Innovation Managers
  • Start Up Consultants
  • Accelerators and Incubators
  • Internal think tanks
  • Judges, Sponsors and Mentors
Related templates
Tips for effective hackathon planning
  • Start by defining the goals of the hackathon.
  • Engage a diverse group to help plan the hackathon. This will offer a range of skills and perspectives.
  • Use technology to involve critical people in different locations rather than miss their contribution.
  • Minimize groupthink by brainstorming ideas individually then combining issues to get the overall picture.
  • Provide adequate time in the session to discuss and clarify ideas.
  • Ensure all actions are assigned to someone with an agreed deadline.
  • Communicate outcomes to stakeholders and regularly update progress on actions.
References

How to Use a Hackathon Canvas

Ensure all stakeholders involved in the planning process have access to the Canvas. Using an online collaborative tool such as GroupMap allows those stakeholders to engage both in person and remotely. It can also allow for the group to share their input either synchronously or asynchronously depending on their availability.

It is best to start by defining the Hackathon Goals then moving to the section the group agrees to be the next most important.

Once all ideas are captured, actions can be defined that shape the agreed steps to the delivery of the hackathon itself.

Brainstorm

Add ideas to each section of the Canvas.

Action

Add action items to deliver the plan.

Share

Share and communicate the plan.

Start a Hackathon Canvas in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

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Startup Canvas

groupmap-template-Startup Canvas-description-img

What is a Startup Canvas?

A Startup Canvas is a one-page strategic planning tool used to help entrepreneurs define, realize and communicate their business model on a single page. 

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This is a variation of the Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur. The Start Up Canvas was created by Maurya Ash, a notable start up adviser who varied the original model to be more focused on a new business.

Since then, more variations have been created. The one shown here includes a broad set of aspects for a start up including value, user acquisition and channels to market.

Why use a Startup Canvas?​

  • Defines your business model. You can see how the elements fit together and how one affects the other.
  • Improves focus and priorities. By honing in on the areas a start-up business needs most, you can be smarter with time and money.
  • Can identify gaps and opportunities. Working through each element challenges assumptions and can also spark new ideas.
  • It acts as a communication tool. A ‘one pager’ helps you communicate the vision to the team and investors.
  • Allows for easy iteration and refinement. You can easily change or update your canvas as you learn more or gain clarity.

Who Should Use Startup Canvas?

  • Start up teams
  • Entrepreneurs and start up founders
  • Business Consultants
  • Start up coaches and advisors
  • Investors
  • Educations in entrepreneurship and design thinking
Related templates
Tips for the Startup Canvas
  • Focus on the problem first. Having a clear definition of the problem goes a long way to making sure the solution in mind fits. Hit the nail with the hammer, not the other way round.
  • Ensure that the solution is unique, but also has value. It’s great to be one of a kind, as long as it also solves the problem.
  • Iteration is key. It would be a miracle if the first cut of the start up canvas stays the same. As lessons are learned, and assumptions are validated, the canvas should evolve and change as needed.
  • Work with the team and invite others. It will help give new perspectives, critical thinking and opportunity for feedback.

Startup Canvas template

groupmap-template-Startup Canvas-with ideas-votes-img

How to Use a Startup Canvas

It all starts with your new business idea. You can start with a proposed name.

The criticl thing to define is the customer’s problem. From there, you can refine any solution/s you have in mind.

Identifying competitors helps develop an understanding of the current market landscape. Then list all the ways your solution brings value to solving the problem. Capture what you know to date and how you will create a minimum viable product. 

Next, define your ideal customers and how you attract them to your business. This step is crucial in knowing how you might market and position your product. 

Finally, decide on who you need in your team to accomplish the goals you have for your company and create the vision for your startup.

Brainstorm

Start with the problem statement.

Group

Group similar ideas into one.

Vote

For areas that need further discussion or research

Results

See where people have voted.

Action Plan

Create a plan to validate assumptions, learn and iterate.

Start a Startup Canvas in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

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Enquire now

Plus Delta Retrospective

groupmap-template-Plus Delta Retrospective-with ideas-img

What is a Plus Delta Retrospective?

The Plus Delta retrospective is a simple way to collect feedback from team members to support the continuous improvement of a certain process, activity, project, or event.

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It gives team members a chance to express what they thought of the last sprint in very simple terms. This easy retrospective helps them focus on the positives, so the team can gain a sense of accomplishment, build confidence, learn from the things that went well, and change what didn’t.

Why Run One?

The Plus Delta template helps to:

  • Assess the effectiveness of a new process or system
  • Evaluate the results of a project
  • Review the performance of a team
  • Highlight areas of success
  • Increase self-awareness
  • Encourage feedback
  • Foster teamwork
  • Build trust
  • Identify and prioritize action items

Who Should Use the Plus Delta Retrospective?

The Plus Delta retrospective is a great tool to use with a newly formed agile team. It is a template that could be used by Scrum Masters and their agile software development teams.

It could also be used by any group looking to reflect on a process or project and improve.

Related templates
Tips for an effective Plus Delta retrospective
  • Create a safe and respectful environment where team members feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and ideas.
  • Stick to the Plus Delta template and keep the conversation focused on the specific project, event, or team performance that you are reviewing.
  • Encourage quiet team members to speak up, and avoid letting any one person dominate the conversation.
  • Set specific goals and objectives for the session and communicate them clearly to the team.
  • Once the retrospective is over, make sure to follow up on the action items that were identified.
References

Plus Delta Retrospective Template

groupmap-template-Plus Delta Retrospective-description-img

How to Run a Plus Delta Retrospective

The Plus Delta retrospective can help create a culture of continuous improvement within a team.

For teams that are working remotely or are located in different geographical locations, using an online collaborative tool like GroupMap can be an effective way to facilitate the process. It can create a shared space where team members can collaborate and contribute their ideas.

Start by sharing the Plus Delta template with the team members. Allow all team members to brainstorm ideas. They can contribute in real time or synchronously.

Once all team members have added their ideas to the Plus and Delta board, facilitate a discussion where the team can group the topics, discuss the items that have been added and identify areas for improvement. Prioritize the items in the delta column, and assign actions to team members to address them.

Use GroupMap to track progress, assign responsibilities, and set deadlines. Follow-up with team members to ensure that actions are being completed, and review progress in future meetings to assess the effectiveness of the changes made.

Brainstorm

Populate each section of the template

Group

Group similar ideas into one.

Vote

Vote on the key ideas you wish to action

Action

Share and implement agreed actions

Share

Share the outcomes of the session, including the action plan, to relevant stakeholders.

Start a Plus Delta retrospective in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Start your 14-day free trial
Enquire now

Mood Wall Ice Breaker

Mood Wall GroupMap with names as an icebreaker

What is a Mood Wall?

A Mood Wall is a simple tool that allows people to share their current emotional state or mood by placing their name on a board that displays a range of emoticons.

Start a Mood Wall in GroupMap

This is a powerful way to build empathy and get a sense of the energy and mindset of the people in the room.

Using a Mood Wall requires minimal setup. You can choose a range of emotions and simply have people add their names on the Wall. You can go the extra step by having them comment on why they feel that way. 

A Mood Wall can be a fun icebreaker that sets the tone for a collaborative and empathy-focused meeting.

Why use a Mood Wall?

Besides being a really simple way of getting everyone to check in and be present for the meeting, a Mood Wall can:

  • Encourage self reflection. Having people check in on their own feelings helps them become aware of their own emotional state as they start the meeting.
  • Encourages communication. People can share a single feeling and reason for their choice; this helps to break down barriers.
  • Builds empathy and understanding. By being aware of how the team is feeling, this can help people work better together.

When Should I Use a Mood Wall?

A Mood Wall can be used by meeting or workshop facilitators. It can also be used by teachers and lecturers. They are useful for:

  • Company meetings to encourage openness and collaboration.
  • Market research sessions for people to add their reactions.
  • Counselling or design thinking sessions to practice empathy.
  • Team building events to kick off a big workshop.
Related templates
Tips for your Mood Wall Ice Breaker
  • Set expectations and boundaries. Explain the Mood Wall and ask for people to be genuine.
  • Create a safe and supportive environment. Be explicit that all feelings are valid and that it is important to honour all of them.
  • Give people time to think and consider. You might even want to try a short guided meditation.
  • Encourage active listening. Have people demonstrate empathy and reflect on what is being said.
  • Reflect on the activity. After the discussion, ask people to share their thoughts about how they might impact your meeting or workshop.
References

Mood Wall Template

groupmap-template-moodwall-with emotions-img

How to Run a Mood Wall

Draw, print or write different emoticons on a large whiteboard or wall and hand out sticky notes to each person who can then add their names to the wall. Then invite each person to add their name to the emoticon that best reflects how they feel.

Alternatively, you can use an online brainstorming tool like GroupMap for both real-time and remote sessions. It can also be set up so that people add their names independently and are therefore not influenced by other people’s responses. You can then reveal the results in total to the whole group. This will reduce bias and anchoring.

Create the Mood Wall

Use the template to choose your emoticons.

Brainstorm

People add their names to the relevant emoticon.

Discuss

Get people to share why they are feeling that way today.

Start a Mood Wall in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

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Enquire now

Icebreakers and Warm-ups

groupmap-easy-and-effective-online-icebreakers-image

Why use an icebreaker?

Icebreakers are a great tool for launching collaborative sessions. They open the channels of communication, and help put people at ease by giving everyone a chance to contribute.

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The value of icebreakers doesn’t stop there. They help set the tone for a session. They let the facilitator model collaborative behavior. They can also establish common ground between participants which helps foster spaces in which people are happy to share.

A good icebreaker should be so simple that people can respond almost instantly. They aim to get a response rather than a right answer. Icebreakers should be inclusive. They should apply to everyone in the group so they all get the chance to contribute positively. 

Everything that’s said during an icebreaker can help build a connection. That’s why asking people to explain their input is giving them a chance to connect. The best thing about these new connections is that they start a conversational momentum that carries over into the session itself. 

In short, icebreakers help focus and engage a group to ensure they get the most out of their collaborative session.

Our icebreaker templates to help build connections

Our team has hand-picked our top four fun icebreaker activities and designed templates to deliver them online.  
  • House Rules
    • Create a safe conversational space where a set of agreed rules can be agreed upon.
  • Photo Wall
    • A colorful, creative collage that lets participants share a friendly fact or two about themselves by way of some conversation starter questions.
  • Two Truths and One Lie
    • A fun and creative way to have participants interact with each other while discovering a fact each is happy to share.
  • Where in the World?
    • A way for people to share a bit of where they are located or where they are from and perhaps to learn something about the area.
You can find these templates in our library of meeting templates and maps.
Related templates

Tips for running effective icebreakers

  • Maintain a mood that’s friendly and lighthearted
  • Provide examples of past responses to show the simplicity of the task and help put participants at ease.
  • If facilitating a remote or hybrid session, make sure all participants can access and use the collaborative tool.
  • If no one volunteers to talk, use a simple, transparent process, to determine the order of speakers. Examples include this online spinner, following the order of the attendance list or having the last speaker choose the next.
  • Reference what was shared in the icebreaker during the collaborative session so participants feel heard and known.
  • Positively reinforce responses and thank participants for contributing.
References

Who should use an icebreaker?

Anyone who wishes to get more out of their collaborative, meeting, workshop or lesson. This could be because there is a new group of people, or there is a new person to the team. It can also be used to encourage at least everyone saying something at a meeting and to help overcome any initial fears. 

Icebreakers are a proven way of supporting engagement and focus. As such they should be used by:

  • Facilitators
  • Trainers
  • Teachers
  • Coaches
  • Workshop practitioners

In short, anyone overseeing group interaction who is looking to support that group’s effectiveness would benefit from their use.

How to run an icebreaker

An icebreaker helps to set the scene for the session that follows, so it’s important for a facilitator to begin as they wish to go on.

When it comes to online sessions, there are a variety of tools to help. Screen sharing software, video conferencing and online collaboration tools such as GroupMap allow facilitators to deliver inclusive icebreakers. 

GroupMap’s icebreaker templates are deliberately simple in design. This is because most of the time spent during the icebreaker should be spent talking and getting to know each other. Besides just a simple poll that means people simply get lost in a stack of numbers, these ice breakers questions are non-threatening and allow each person to share freely without fear. There is no wrong answers.

Online Icebreakers can also be used to make sure participants know how to use the collaboration tool, add comments, images and ideas, check everyone is able to access the software.

Brainstorm

Add input to the template.

Explain

Explain the input and why it was included.

Start a fun icebreaker in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Start your 14-day free trial
Enquire now

Meeting Agenda Template

Plan and deliver effective meetings with GroupMap’s Meeting Agenda Template

What is a meeting agenda template?

A meeting agenda template is a tool designed to make building an agenda easy. It does this by helping to gather all the elements needed to plan and deliver an effective meeting.

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A meeting agenda template offers a customisable framework that can be shared by everyone who is involved in the meeting. This helps to set a collaborative tone even before the meeting begins.

Because everyone can see and contribute to the template, stakeholders have shared ownership of the meeting process. This increases buy-in, which contributes to meeting effectiveness.

GroupMap’s meeting agenda template includes nine elements to get you started:

  • Meeting details
  • Meeting Materials
  • Attendance
  • Apologies
  • Previous Business
  • Reports
  • New Business
  • Actions
  • Parked Items

Why use a meeting agenda template?

A meeting agenda template makes organizing a meeting faster and easier, without sacrificing attention to detail.

While the importance of an agenda is well-known, it’s often given a low priority. Its preparation can be overshadowed by more urgent matters. It can be allocated to a person who has the time rather than the expertise to deliver an agenda. It can be pulled together ‘on the fly and so can lack clarity of process.

A meeting agenda template overcomes all of these obstacles as well as delivers other benefits by –

  • Presenting an easy-to-follow structure to which everyone can contribute.
  • Delivering a transparent meeting planning process.
  • Sharing the agenda building process, thereby reducing the time any one person needs to allocate to its delivery.
  • Leveraging the expertise of the whole group in support of the planning process.
  • Including documents as attachments, so they are easy to distribute to the group and document control is effortlessly supported.

The meeting agenda template reduces the time required to document the meeting itself. This is because key information and discussion points have already been recorded.

You can also use it to:

  • Set clear, organization-wide, meeting standards that deliver consistency between meetings and across teams
  • Capture key documents for good governance
  • Track outputs and decision points
  • Make it easier to rotate the meeting facilitator role
  • Provide an opportunity for all meeting participants to contribute and feel heard
  • Deliver all meetings types including online, hybrid, and asynchronous
  • Build a psychologically safe meeting space

Related templates

  • House Rules
  • Photo Wall
  • Two Truths and One Lie
  • Exit Ticket 3-2-1

Tips for effective meeting agendas

  • Map out and circulate a meeting timeframe that includes the preparation of the agenda and all associated deadlines
  • Allocate times for each section of the agenda
  • Align each section of the agenda with an action that’s required. Make clear if an item is -
    • for noting
    • to be discussed
    • for approval
    • if a decision is required
  • Regularly review and update your agenda to make sure it delivers value to your meetings.

References

TeamRetro Agile Retrospectives

Check out TeamRetro, our solution for distributed agile retrospectives

Who should use a meeting agenda template?

Anyone looking to support the delivery of a meeting can use a meeting agenda template. It is a really straightforward brainstorming meeting tool that can super-charge the effectiveness of any type of meeting.

As such, the template could be used by:

  • Meeting Facilitators
  • Executive Officers
  • Company Secretaries
  • Team Leads and Managers

It is a great tool to reduce the time burden of meetings while improving participation rates and record-keeping accuracy.

Meeting agenda template format

meeting-agenda-template-image

How to create a meeting agenda template

When it comes to remote and distributed meeting participants, this online template is a real game-changer. It means everyone can be actively involved in the planning process and so completely up to speed when the meeting itself starts.

Of course, with the template populated, moving to the next step of delivering the meeting online can be done seamlessly.

Screen sharing software, video conferencing, and online collaboration tools allow facilitators to deliver inclusive meetings. GroupMap’s meeting agenda template has been designed with this in mind. It can be used with any group type (co-located, hybrid or remote). So it’s a cost-effective way of removing geographical barriers to participation.

The time it takes to complete a meeting agenda template depends on the nature of the meeting and the detail required. Sharing the template with plenty of lead time will allow contributors to work it in with their own schedules. This will help deliver a better quality outcome.

How to use a meeting agenda template

Set agenda elements

Define the sections of the meeting agenda template

Invite

Invite contributors

Brainstorm

Populate each section of the meeting agenda template

Start a meeting agenda template in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Start your 14-day free trial
Enquire now

PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting)

About the PMI (Plus, Minus, Interesting) Template

What is Plus, Minus, Interesting (PMI)?

A critical thinking and brainstorming tool, PMI was developed by Dr. Edward de Bono. it fosters discussion of an idea from multiple points of view, specification what is positive (plus), negative (minus) and what might be neither but is worth considering (interesting). It can be used for a retrospective exercise or a futurespective one depnding on the context of the topic.

Start a PMI Map in GroupMap

As one of simplest templates to use, the goal is simply to provide everyone the opportunity to express their views from different perspectives. The PMI Template is essentially lists headers of Plus, Minus and Interesting and allows participants to add ideas in, either one column at a time, or across the whole template depending on the style of your convsersations. By using the template and having people brainstorm individually, there is less group think and bias and anchoring of ideas or opinons.

Related templates
Examples of PMI statements
  • What are the positive things about this sprint/policy/feature/issue?
  • What are the negative (minus) things about this sprint/policy/feature/issue?
  • What is interesting about this sprint/policy/feature/issue?

References

Who Should Use the PMI Framework?

  • Agile or scrum teams
  • Change managers
  • Workshop facilitators
  • Policy and change makers
  • Teams having to evaluate a decision or outcome
  • Project teams, including remote teams
  • Education settings and lesson plans

Why Should I Run a PMI Retrospective?

The simple goal of Dr De Bono was to overcome some of the narrow views that can be shared when a person expresses their opinion. By considering the plus, minus and interesting aspects of the same decision, it opens up each person’s thinking and encourages creativity. In scrum or agile retrospectives, the PMI is a very useful tool for getting groups who are stuck to list down different perspectives and to then consider the whole picture.

How to Use the PMI Template to Run Better Meetings

Brainstorm

Start brainstorming through each of the different hats.

Vote

Have people voted on the topics that they would like to discuss the most.

Share

Share the results and facilitate the discussion towards a decision.

Start a PMI Map in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Start your 14-day free trial
Enquire now

Team Canvas

Team Canvas GroupMap

What is a Team Canvas?

The Team Canvas was firstly developed by  Alex Ivanov and is designed to work through with your team. By working through the elements outlined, you’ll collectively map the purpose, objectives, metrics, values, behavioral standards, influence, inclusion, rituals, and symbols that help teams function.

Start a Team Canvas in GroupMap

You can use the Team Canvas for new teams or teams that may be struggling and could do with some improvement. 

The Team Canvas is also used to guide better choices, solve conflicts, lift, or add more meaning to the workday.

Elements for brainstorming in a Team Canvas can vary from a “basic” five elements of Purpose, Goals, Roles and Skills, Values and Roles Activities to a full version that that explores key aspects personal and team alignment, key  values and goals and as well as the expectations and capacity of the team.

Elements explored in the full version of the Team Canvas include:

  • Identifying People and their Roles in a team; 
  • Outlining the Purpose of “why are we doing this in the first place?” 
  • Looking at the Common Goals that as team you would like to achieve in a feasible, measurable and time-bounded way; 
  • Brainstorming what each team member’s Personal Goals are;
  • Sharing what are the Values of the team that they stand for and guide the way they work and operate;
  • Looking at the Strengths and Assets available now within the team to achieve the Goals set;
  • Understanding what Weaknesses and Risks are recognized individually and as a team;
  • Checking to see what Needs and Expectations are required for each team member to achieve the Common and Personal Goals;
  • Setting the Rules and Activities that the team together would like to introduce after completing the Team Canvas. 
Related templates
Facilitation tips
  • Start by showing the team canvas and explain that together you’ll be using it as a tool to help you understand each other better.
  • Allow for anonymous brainstorming if you feel like your team would be more comfortable to honestly express their thoughts and ideas.
  • Walk through each of the elements in the Team Canvas with your team and provide example questions that resonate the most and can help in your team providing structured ideas and feedback.

Why Do a Team Canvas?

The Team Canvas exercise is for every team member to participate actively with help from a facilitator. The canvas helps everyone map out their desired future state and goals. 

It makes it visible for everyone and transforms abstract team concepts into visible concrete ones.  

The outputs of the canvas are the guide rails that will help prevent team members falling off the edge when there are conflicts, decisions, or problems. It’s designed to help you foster team performance.

Who Should Use a Team Canvas?

The Team Canvas has been designed to assist leaders and teams in organizations in challenging the current state and imagine a better future state for how they work. Use the exercises to adopt new team norms, introduce practices and rituals for how they can work more effectively. 

Use the Team Canvas to help:

  • Your team navigate the ups and down and provide some early warning signals so the team can adjust;
  • Your team to understand and agree on purpose, goals, measures, and values;
  • Your team decides what behaviours and rituals to support your goals and values.

Team Canvas Template

The Team Canvas template is divided into eight “windows” or elements to brainstorm ideas on, with a centre focus on the Purpose of conducting the exercise. Designing a team is an iterative process, and together with your team, you can prototype behaviours and rituals that reflect your team values and objectives using the Team Canvas. Together you can examine if it’s working for you, collect feedback and fine tune as you go.

People & Roles

What are your names and the roles in the team? What are we called as a team?

Values

What do we stand for, what are our guiding principles, what are our common values that we want to have at the core of our team?

Personal goals

What are our individual personal goals? Are there personal agendas that we want to open up?

Strengths and assets

What are the skills in our team that will help us achieve our goals? What are we good at, individually and as a team?

Common Goals

What you as a group really want to achieve? What is your key goal is measurable, feasible and time bounded?

Rules & activities

What rules do we want to introduce after this session? How do we communicate and keep everyone updated? How do we make decisions? How do we execute and evaluate what we do?

Needs and expectations

What each one of us needs to be successful? What are our personal needs towards the team to be at our best?

Weaknesses and Risks

What are the weaknesses we have individually and as a team? What are some obstacles we see ahead of us?

How to Do a Team Canvas

Use the Team Canvas exercises to adopt new team norms, introduce practices and rituals for how together everyone can work more effectively. The Team Canvas can help all team members begin conversations, gain clarity and produce results.
Tip To get the most from the Team Canvas, gather input from a range participants with different perspectives. When you’re working with a large or distributed team, getting everyone together at the same time can be difficult, inconvenient, and costly. Using different technologies like video conferencing, online forms, and collaborative brainstorming software such as GroupMap can help overcome these challenges.

Brainstorm

Encourage the sharing of ideas and opinions for each of the nine elements included in the Team Canvas. Structure brainstorming by explaining each element and providing example questions.

Group

Identify common themes from the brainstorming session that can be grouped into a focus area. By doing this you can condense ideas into one key idea and be able to view them easier and better.

Rate

Invite participants to vote on the ideas that they see as the most important. Define the objectives of voting, such as “can be easily measured and is time-bounded,” or “can be done with the current resources available.”

Share

Collate and then share the results of your team exercise so that everyone can easily reference the agreed upon decisions, behaviours and rules going forward.

Start a Team Canvas in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

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Six Thinking Hats

Six Thinking Hats

What is the Six Thinking Hats Technique by Edward De Bono?

The Six Thinking Hats is a role-playing model developed by Edward de Bono in 1986. Each hat represents a different lens or perspective on a particular issue and is an insightful activity that prevents narrow thinking. 

It serves as a team-based problem solving and brainstorming technique that can be used to explore problems through various perspectives in order to uncover options that might otherwise be overlooked. 

Start a Six Thinking Hats in GroupMap

The basic premise behind the Six Thinking Hats is that most people think and reason in a specific way based on their personality type.  This means that a more emotional person may generate ideas differently than a more analytical person, and vice-versa. Similarly a pessimist will approach a situation very differently than an optimist.

An example of the benefit of running the thinking hats techniques is therefore to encourage different perspectives to be shared, seen and discussed as part of the decision making process.

The six types of “Thinking Hats” are:

  • White Hat: Similar to the calm and pure emotions associated with the colour white, this type of thinking focuses on analytical, objective thinking, with an emphasis on facts and feasibility.
  • Red Hat: We often associate the colour red with anger and heat and hence this represents emotional thinking, subjective feelings, perception, and opinion.
  • Black Hat: The colour black has been stereotypically linked with doom and gloom and so this forms a type of thinking that is critical, skeptical, focused on risks, and identifying problems.
  • Yellow Hat: Often symbolising sunshine and happiness, the yellow hat is about thinking optimistic, speculative, best-case scenarios.
  • Blue Hat: Blue being the colour of the sky and high above creates a sense of structured thinking, high-level overview of the situation, the big picture.
  • Green Hat: Associated with the colour of trees and nature, the green hat is about creative, associative thinking, new ideas, brainstorming, out-of-the-box.
Related templates
Meeting tips using the 6 thinking hats technique
  • Encourage each person to contribute to each of the perspectives. Avoid putting people into categories – Everyone can and should use all the hats.
  • One or more hats can be used at any point during a discussion process.They are used as a convenience for directing and switching the thinking process as needed. (E.g. “Let’s have some black hat thinking…”)
  • Simple sequences of two or three hats may be used together for a particular purpose, for example:
  • The yellow hat followed by the black hat may be used to assess an idea.
  • The black hat followed by the green hat may be used to improve a design.
  • Six Thinking Hats is excellent at eliciting different perspectives, but there is less guidance on how to resolve conflicting views among the different hats. Sometimes a group will naturally move together toward one resolution during the discussion. If not, another framework might be needed to resolve the discourse.

Use the Six Thinking Hats for Better Meetings

Six Thinking Hats is a powerful technique for decision making that includes different points of view.

The process and methodology allows emotion and skepticism to be brought into what might normally be a purely rational process, and it opens up the opportunity for creativity within decision making.

Decisions made using the Six Thinking Hats technique can be more resilient and based on a holistic perspective, allowing you to avoid pitfalls and gaps before you have committed to a decision.

When Should I use the Six Thinking Hats Technique?

Use the Six Thinking Hats model to help with:

  • Running better and more structured meetings especially if there tends to only be a single view at every meeting.
  • Making better decisions by having a more holistic and wide ranging view of the problem. 
  • Approaching problems from various angles of facts, emotions and creativity.
  • Inspiring idea generation as an ice-breaker activity by having different people play different roles.
  • More collaboration during brainstorming and decision making with assigned roles including facilitator responsibilities.

Six Thinking Hats Template Example

Imagine if you are facilitating a meeting to introduce a new product or service to the market. In doing so, you might ask people to wear different hats, or to navigate between the hats around this goal.

White Hat

“What are the facts that we know?”

 – Our survey last month indicated a 5% preference of the green product by women aged 25 – 45.

– Return rates from sales has fallen by over 50% since the introduction of the new delivery packaging.

– There are new delivery routes available via Company Logistics.

Yellow Hat

“Why should we be optimistic?”

 – The new product could increase our revenue diversification stream and increase our family of products.

– We can start receiving better feedback and testimonials from our customers.

– The impact from damage from delivery will meet our service standards.

Red Hat

“What are your gut reactions?”

– The green colour inspires a sustainable look and is very appealing. This is even a great shade.

– The impact on the reduced return rates could mean additional resources.

– How do the new delivery routes impact our delivery times? I would certainly be interested in learning more about it.

Green Hat

 “How can we create opportunities?”

– A green range could be expanded to a different colour range set or be symbolic.

– Creating multiple channels will allow us to establish new partnerships and partners.

– Speeding up quality and reliability of delivery could allow us to bundle exisiting products.

Black Hat

“What risks should we keep in mind?”

– Is a 5% preference sufficient for us to make a single colour product? What happens if preferences change.

– What is the cost of maintaining the packaging quality and sustainability?

– The new delivery routes may not have been proven as reliable yet or may increase our costs.

Blue Hat

“What systems or processes will be needed?”

 – Let’s go around the room and discuss the colour options based.

– How has the reduced return rates impacted our warehousing department?

– Would there be any other changes to our workflow with a new delivery partner and will it change our logistics technology?

How to Use the Six Thinking Hats to Run Better Meetings

Six Thinking Hats is a powerful technique for looking at decision-making from different points of view. By introducing a structured parallel thinking process, it helps people to be more focused and mindfully involved in a discussion.

Brainstorm

Start brainstorming through each of the different hats.

Group

Review the responses for common themes that can be grouped.

Vote

Have people voted on the topics that they would like to discuss the most.

Share

Share the results and facilitate the discussion towards a decision.

Start a Six Thinking Hats in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Start your 14-day free trial
Enquire now

What, So What, What Now?

What So What What Now

What is a What, So What, What Now?

What? So What? Now What? is a reflective model that helps teams evaluate a shared experience or a recent event so that they can identify ways to improve or act. This critical thinking model was researched and  developed by Rolfe et al. in 2001. It is also attributed to Henri Lipmanowicz and Keith McCandless, the creators of Liberating Structures.

Start a What, So What, What Now in GroupMap

The What, So What, What Now exercise works on brainstorming and reflecting on:

  • Understanding the event (What?) 
  • Making sense of the facts and implications (So What?)
  • Identifying the course of action or new solutions (Now What?)

Why Do a What, So What, What Now?

This model can be used for a critical reflection session through a crisis management situation where you need to define and frame the problem, analyse the impact and then consider the possible actions to address the issue.

Related templates
Facilitation tips
  • Remind participants that they should address the facts and observations before jumping into action.
  • Make sure you gather the right people from each section of your organization to be part of this exercise and identify the possible actions and implications from each angle.
  • A worthy goal is to ensure that there is consensus on the definition of the problem itself before looking at implications and solutions. If needed, reword the statements to reflect the group’s definition of the problem.
  • Communicate outcomes to stakeholders and regularly update progress on actions.

Who Should Use this Technique?

This system is a reflective method that can be used by groups who would like to better understand problems and discover better solutions.

Examples include:

  • Crisis Management such as last minute cancellations due to a global pandemic or loss of venue booked.
  • Problem solving meetings where the delivery time has exceeded expectations.
  • Retrospective meetings to help teams work through continuous improvement issues.
  • Impact analysis meetings where a change of policy, an incident or event has repercussions on strategy, people or processes.
  • See last minute cancellations due to a global pandemic or loss of venue booked. 

Use the What, So What, What Now to help with:

  • resolving crisis and issues strategically; 
  • gaining new perspectives and understandings;
  • clarifying our assumptions and beliefs, and developing a clear rationale for our actions and approaches;
  • promoting a positive sense of self-awareness and self-confidence
  • taking informed action; and,
  • focusing on a philosophy of continuous growth and improvement.

What, So What, What Now Template

The What, So What, What Now template provides 3 separate columns and allows everyone in the team to collaboratively define the problem and share implications on the project or their work. The thumbs up and thumbs down feature lets you check for consensus along the way.Capture additional comments and move people from problem definition through to creating actions that address and overcome the issue.

How to Do a What, So What, What Now?

Tip To get the most from the What, So What, What Now technique, gather input from a range participants with different perspectives. When you’re working with a large or distributed team, getting everyone together at the same time can be difficult, inconvenient, and costly. Using different technologies like video conferencing, online forms, and collaborative brainstorming software such as GroupMap can help overcome these challenges.

Brainstorm

Gather the right people who have insights or are being impacted by the problem.

Like/Dislike

Vote on the best possible actions and the next steps, so that the items with the most votes can be decided as the right move to mitigate and/or address the issue at hand.

Results

Once the crisis has been mitigated, provide a report on how as a team you came together to decide on this course of action, that can be shared with team members and those on the executive levels.

Start a What, So What, What Now in GroupMap
Cross Device Compatibility

Save effort, time and money with GroupMap

Whether you have your best minds together in the same room, or distributed around the world, GroupMap’s unique technology allows groups of up to 2000 to submit ideas independently at separate times, from different places, in different timezones. Prevent dominant personalities swaying the group, drowning out the opinions of others – GroupMap allows everyone to brainstorm independently then effortlessly combines that information to reveal the full spectrum of ideas. GroupMap templates keep the objective front and center throughout the session, keeping everyone on task. This ensures the activity identifies actionable issues rather than becoming just a discussion on ideas. GroupMap gives you all the group decision making tools you need to prioritize, decide and take action.

Create your first map and invite people in to start sharing their thoughts right NOW. Experience the power of GroupMap with our 14-day, no risk, FREE trial. You don’t even need to provide your credit card details to access to all of our features, including the entire suite of templates, for a full 14 days.

Start your 14-day free trial
Enquire now