Today’s business leaders agree that innovation is critical to survival. But fewer than 10% of companies report being satisfied with their innovation performance. If you want the advantage, you have to be speedy and agile. That’s why Miro and Microsoft are joining forces to give users the tools they need to streamline complex workflows and deliver innovative products and services to the global market.

In fast-paced workplaces, it’s easy to assume that the loudest, most outgoing voices always have the best ideas. This assumption, however, overlooks the dangers of extrovert bias — the subtle (and often unintentional) tendency to favor the contributions of more vocal team members over those with quieter personalities. Extrovert bias imperils innovation by creating missed opportunities for breakthroughs. This leads to homogeneous solutions and can drive away valuable talent.

Unlike verbal or word-based thinking, which is sequential and linear, visual thinking uses imagery and spatial representation to organize information. For visual thinkers, this way of laying out information sparks creativity and imagination, as it helps them comprehend concepts, identify new patterns, and make connections.

While sprint planning tools aim to streamline the planning process and enhance collaboration, they can also introduce challenges. Some tools lack flexibility, forcing teams to adapt their practices to fit the tool rather than supporting their preferred way of working. A lack of customization options can also hinder the effectiveness of these tools, leading to outdated data, information silos, and the need for workarounds. The result is poorly defined plans and wasted time.

If you’re a software engineer who uses Miro, you might know that Miro is a great tool for retrospectives, sprint planning, and other software development practices. But did you know you can also use Miro to build UML diagrams? In this post, we’ll share several ready-made UML diagramming templates that will inspire, save you time, and help you build the next big thing.

What are three words that come to mind when you hear the word “innovation?” That’s exactly what we asked a dozen enterprise product leaders when conducting interviews with them earlier this year. Their answers — which included words like complexity, consumer, transformation, and fun — show just how unique and varied perspectives on innovation can be.

By providing access to vast amounts of data and increasing computational power, AI and machine learning are changing how we work. In product development, this new technology is creating an opportunity for Agile teams to overcome the limitations of traditional processes and instead focus on more meaningful work.

Ash Maurya is the acclaimed author of Running Lean and Scaling Lean. In 2009, a significant realization about the importance of developing products to meet real needs led him to the Lean Startup movement, which was pioneered by Eric Ries and Steve Blank. From there, Ash created several business modeling tools, including the Lean Canvas, Traction Roadmap, and Customer Forces Canvas. Today, his frameworks and methodologies are used by over a million people globally through his company, LEANSTACK.

April has delivered, bringing us over 190 incredible new templates. Below, we’ll shine a spotlight on the brilliant creators who’ve made this month one to remember. Let’s show them some love and support for their outstanding contributions to Miroverse in April! 💛