We’ve been using MindManager to create weekly and monthly reports (status update and accomplishments maps), which we find to be a better format than PPP and  Excel dashboards.   The Excel Range function that we recently discovered is extremely helpful.  It allows us to display selected data from a parent spreadsheet residing in SharePoint on the map by creating a dynamic display.  This eliminates duplicate data entry – once a parent spreadsheet is updated, data in the spreadsheet within the map is updated automatically and there is no need to update data in the map manually.  This saves us a lot of time and helps in prevening errors that come from double entry.  We’ve been very excited about this function.

There was a problem though – a person who doesn’t have access to a parent spreadsheet will not be able to see data on the map.   I called MindJet CS and was delighted to find out that you can actually break a link to a parent spreadsheet, which in turn will convert the datasheet on the map to a static form.   It is  very easy – just right click on an Excel icon shown on a map’s spreadsheet and select Disconnect from Microsoft Excel.   Problem solved! 😎

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