Offboarding is the structured process of removing a user from your MindMeister team. This is typically necessary when an employee leaves the company, a freelancer has completed their assignment or a student leaves the institution. 

Done correctly, offboarding protects sensitive data, ensures the use of existing mind maps and releases paid seats for reuse.

This guide describes the complete process step by step and explains which tasks Team Admins and Content Managers need to take on.

What does offboarding mean in MindMeister?

Offboarding means that a user's access to mind maps is permanently removed or restricted. The aim is to ensure both data security and the continuation of active mind maps. The process includes the following key measures:
 

The process consists of two parallel areas: While Content Managers organize the handover within individual mind maps, Team Admins take over the higher-level administration at team level.

Step 1: Ensure access for mind maps

In each mind map, there is a single user who can manage the mind map. However, if this user leaves the company, you should ensure that the mind map remains available for those team members who need the mind map.

We therefore recommend either duplicating or deleting the mind map:

• Duplicate:
  • A user who will continue to work on the team and already has access to the mind map can duplicate the mind map. When a mind map is duplicated, the user who duplicates it automatically becomes the new Content Manager and has full control over the new mind map.
  • The user who leaves the company can then optionally delete the mind map.
• Delete: The user leaving the company should delete any mind maps that are no longer needed.

If you are a Team Admin, ask the user who is leaving the company to delete all the mind maps that are no longer needed.

Step 1a: Duplicate mind maps to get full control over the mind map

If a colleague leaves your company or institution, you can simply duplicate the mind maps to gain full control over the mind map.

1. Open MindMeister.
2. Click on My maps in the left sidebar.
3. Click on the list view icon.
4. Click on the three-dot icon.
5. Select Duplicate.
   
   

Repeat steps 4 to 5 for all mind maps created by the user who will be leaving the company.

Step 1b: Delete mind maps

If you are the user who is leaving the company, you can simply delete the mind maps.

1. Open MindMeister.
2. Click on My maps in the left sidebar.
3. Click on the list view icon.
4. Click on the three-dot icon.
5. Select Put in the trash.
   
   

Repeat steps 4 to 5 for all mind maps that you have created and that you want to delete.

Step 2: Check and transfer Team Admin role

Before a user is completely removed from the team, it must be ensured that they are not the only user with the Team Admin role. The Team Admin role is necessary to be able to manage administrative tasks such as license allocation or team settings.

Procedure:

1. Open the account settings and click on My team.
2. In the overview, search for the user who is to be offboarded.
3. Check whether they are currently listed as a Team Admin. Consider whether another user should be given the Team Admin role instead.
4. Appoint another user as Team Admin: Change the team role from Member to Admin.
   
   

Notes: Please note that there are differences depending on the plan:

• Business plan:
  • Please note that the team must have at least one Team Admin. If the departing user is not the only Team Admin, step 3 is optional.
  • Only existing Team Admins on the Business plan can promote other team members to Admins.
• Pro and Personal plan:
  • Only one Team Admin is included in these plans.
  • It is therefore not possible to upgrade another user to Team Admin.
  • As an alternative workaround, you can change the account of the departing Team Admin: Simply change the name and email address together in the account settings to change the account and thereby hand it over to someone else.
  • If your only Team Admin has already left the company and the responsibility has not been transferred, then you will need to contact Meister Support.
• Basic plan:
  • If you have a Basic plan, then this step is not necessary or possible. It is not possible to change team roles in the Basic plan.

Step 3: Change seat setting and reassign them if necessary

As soon as all mind maps have been duplicated and/or deleted in step 1, the user's paid seat can be revoked. This is particularly important to make the seat available to new employees.

To do so:

1. Navigate to Account > My team.
2. Search for the user concerned.
3. Change the setting of Content Manager:in to “No access”
4. Optional: Assign the released seat directly to a new user. This can also be done at a later date. 
   
   

What happens if you select the setting No access:

• The user can then no longer access the respective tool.
• They can no longer access mind maps.
• The user retains Content Manager rights to their mind maps.
• The mind maps are still available for everyone who has access. 

Step 4: Remove access to the team

Once the seat has been revoked and all responsibilities have been clarified, the final step should take place: the complete removal of the user from the team.

To do so:

1. Open Account > My Team
2. Change the team role to Inactive or remove the user from the team completely. Learn more about the difference between inactive and removal.
    

   

What happens if you select the setting Inactive:

• The user can then no longer access the respective tool and their accounts area.
• They can no longer access mind maps.
• The user retains Content Manager rights to their mind maps.
• The mind maps are still available for everyone who has access. 

This completes the offboarding process, and the user in question no longer has access to their mind maps. 

What happens to mind map ownership if a team member is offboarded?

When a user is offboarded—whether they leave the team on their own, are removed, deactivated, or set to “No Access”—it’s important to know who will retain ownership of any mind maps they created. Please note that the team remains the owner of the mind maps. 

If the Content Manager of a mind map leaves or is removed from the team:

• The departing user will not retain access. They will lose access to all active mind maps.
• The departing user will retain access to all trashed mind maps.
• The team admin is automatically assigned as the new Content Manager.
  • If your team has multiple admins, the next available admin (in order of when they joined the team) will be assigned as the new Content Manager (for private mind maps as well as team mind maps).
• The mind map remains accessible to the entire remaining team. However, no one in the team can manage the mind map.

If the Content Manager has been set to Inactive or No Access: 

• The departing user will not retain access. They will lose access to all mind maps.
• The departing user will remain the Content Manager of their mind maps.
• The mind map remains accessible to the entire remaining team. However, no one in the team can manage the mind map.