How to Choose Between Miro vs. Mural & 5 Collaboration Tool Tips to Improve Engagement

Whether you’ve been in the agile industry for a day or several years, chances are you’ve used Miro, Mural, or both.

To better understand these collaboration tools and how to leverage them, we enjoyed a conversation with Christina Hartikainen, Director of Learning at ICAgile. She ensures that all learning programs exceed rigorous standards, and part of the vetting process for virtual classes is the requirement of a collaboration tool for an engaging learning experience.

Read on for recommendations on choosing between Miro and Mural and tips for improving engagement using these tools.

What Is a Digital Collaboration Tool?

Digital collaboration tools, such as Miro and Mural, are programs used by remote and distributed teams to make their meetings more engaging.

One of the four values of the agile manifesto is individuals and interactions over processes and tools. Despite the contradiction at face value, collaboration tools enrich the interactions within teams. Meetings are no longer synonymous with lengthy one-way speeches and boredom. Thanks to new tools and ways of collaborating, agile teams are more engaged with the content and find inspiration in its creative delivery.

With what Hartikainen describes as “a world of distraction available at our fingertips,” it’s more important than ever to keep team members engaged and cater to diverse learning styles. In today’s digital age, once you lose a participant's attention, it’s challenging to get it back.

Digital collaboration tools can improve team engagement in the following ways:

Real-time, interactive collaboration
The ability for all attendees to participate at the same time
Creative brainstorming templates
Personalization
Visualization of complex ideas

How to Choose Between Miro and Mural

Miro and Mural are visual collaboration tools that share overlapping features, like real-time collaboration, an infinite canvas, pre-built templates, mind mapping, sticky notes, and personalization elements. So, what should agile team leaders consider when choosing between these tools?

Features

The most heavy-weighing factor is considering features. Because the two platforms are similar, we recommend trying the free version of both to understand the features that will work best for your team’s use case. The differences are subtle but can push team preference toward one tool over the other, such as the outline feature that helps users navigate from one area of the Mural board to another. As another example, if teams plan to utilize the templates included with their Miro or Mural account, they should consider the variety between both template libraries before making their decision.

When prompted for some standout features of Miro and Mural, Hartikainen explains how they work as a “visual parking lot” for teams, providing the ability for participants to note their questions and comments in the Mural or Miro boards without interrupting the flow of the session.

Additionally, collaborative boards reduce screen sharing by giving each participant access to engage with the presentation.

Finally, she appreciates both tools for allowing all participants to revisit and reference the material later. Unlike a traditional meeting or brainstorming session where you may forget much of the conversation, Miro and Mural boards are available long-term for all participants to access as necessary.

Preference

One consideration is preference. “We’ve seen in private organizations that some will have a limitation or a preference for one over the other,” says Hartikainen, as she described her own partiality toward Mural, as we frequently use this platform internally.

Ultimately, you can’t really go wrong–as she says, it’s such a close comparison that “it's just down to the individual details and preferences.”

5 Tips to Improve Engagement Using Miro or Mural

To move team engagement beyond the basics, try these five strategies to ensure your team is leveraging your digital collaboration tool to its total capacity.

1. Provide Detailed Instructions on How to Use the Tools

Before diving into the material and exercises on a Miro or Mural board, facilitators should always gauge participants' familiarity with the tool and provide comprehensive instructions on how to engage with it for easy reference. “When I’m using it with a group of students, I can even say, hey, this is number 12 in the outline. If you need to find your way back to this place, you can just click on that button to find it,” said Hartikainen.

Another common challenge is confusion around exercise directions, particularly when team members are sent to breakout rooms. “Always have your instructions for your exercises on the board for your students to see,” she says, noting that participants often need to re-read the directions, even after expressing their understanding, before entering the breakout rooms.

When all else fails: “Always have a backup plan for those folks that are going to have trouble accessing it.”

2. Use a Co-Facilitator

"One of the top tips for remote learning is don't do it alone." A co-facilitator can help support participants experiencing technical difficulties so the host can continue leading the meeting and engaging the rest of the team.

While earning the Agility in Marketing certification, I experienced a situation that closely aligns with this scenario. A fellow student was unable to pull up the Miro board on her computer when we entered our team breakout room. Our solution? I shared my screen and took notes for the team so she could participate in the exercise.

3. Use Pre-Built Templates

The library of templates included in Miro and Mural continues to expand, helping facilitators create engaging boards quickly.

Using Mural as an example, because I have team access, the templates are organized by categories such as “strategize,” “plan,” “agile,” “design thinking,” and more. These structured templates make it easy for leaders to identify the template that is most closely aligned with the goal of the session.

Additionally, pre-designed templates provide structure for participants so that the material is organized and follows a natural flow.

4. Encourage Interactive and Personalized Participation

There are several opportunities for participants to add their own flare and personality to a Miro or Mural. From colorful stickies of different shapes and colors to the ability to add GIFs, videos, images, links, and use drawing tools, the element of creativity allows people to engage with the board in a way that feels fun and authentic to them.

Additionally, be sure to leverage all the interactive tools available within the whiteboards, such as creating polls or using timers, to gamify the meeting experience and make idea sharing more captivating.

5. Lock Elements

Hartikainen emphasizes the importance of locking items that shouldn’t be moved, deleted, or changed by the rest of the team. “The most common challenge, and this is something that I see far too often, is when you forget to lock things that you don’t want participants to move.” Facilitators should always lock elements that need to stay in place within the board so that the flow of the meeting is not disrupted and participants can stay focused.

She also recommends not forgetting to unlock the Mural or Miro itself or its elements so that participants can access necessary items on the board in a timely manner. Locking, unlocking, and maintaining participant access are the biggest challenges she sees in her work with our learning providers.

The Future of Digital Collaboration Tools

The future of digital collaboration tools like Miro and Mural is bright. “There’s so much potential for growth,” Hartikainen said, referencing opportunities for improvement, such as both platforms continuously expanding their library of built-in templates for quick and easy use and, of course, the endless possibilities for AI integrations.

Are you a team leader who wants to improve your facilitation skills to create a thriving collaborative environment? Reserve your seat in one of our remote or in-person Agile Team Facilitation Certification classes today!

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How to Choose Between Miro vs. Mural & 5 Collaboration Tool Tips to Improve Engagement

What Is a Digital Collaboration Tool?