You're about to start a team brainstorming session. What digital whiteboard tools should you use?

1 What are digital whiteboards?

Digital whiteboards are online platforms that simulate the experience of using a physical whiteboard. They let you create, edit, and move around digital elements such as text, images, shapes, drawings, sticky notes, and more. You can use them to brainstorm ideas, map out processes, design prototypes, plan projects, and collaborate with your team in real time. You can also save, export, and share your whiteboards with others.

2 Why use digital whiteboards?

Digital whiteboards offer a variety of advantages over traditional brainstorming methods like paper, flipcharts, or physical whiteboards. For instance, they are accessible from anywhere with an internet connection, making them perfect for remote teams. Additionally, they are scalable and flexible, allowing you to create and adjust their size and layout. Plus, they are interactive and engaging, enabling you to invite team members to collaborate in real time. They are also easy to organize and manage with features such as templates, frameworks, tools, search filters, and sorting capabilities. Finally, digital whiteboards are easy to share and integrate with other tools such as Slack, Google Drive, Dropbox, or Trello.

3 What features to look for?

When selecting a digital whiteboard tool for your team, you need to consider a few key factors. Firstly, consider your goals and needs. What are you trying to achieve with your brainstorming sessions? What kind of ideas do you want to generate? What kind of information do you want to capture and display? How do you want to organize and analyze your ideas? How do you want to communicate and collaborate with your team? Secondly, consider your budget and resources. How much are you willing to spend on the tool? How many users do you need to accommodate? How much storage space and bandwidth do you need? How much technical support and training do you need? Lastly, evaluate the user experience and satisfaction. Is the tool easy to use and intuitive? Is the performance and functionality fast and reliable? Is the data and privacy protection secure and compliant? Is the customer service responsive and helpful? By comparing different digital whiteboard tools based on these factors, you can find the one that suits your team best and enhances your brainstorming sessions.

4 How to use digital whiteboards effectively?

Once you have chosen your digital whiteboard tool, you need to use it effectively to maximize its potential and benefits. To do this, plan ahead and ensure you have a clear objective, agenda, and timeframe. Define the scope, topic, and questions of your brainstorming session, and communicate them to your team. Additionally, prepare the digital whiteboard with the necessary elements, such as templates, frameworks, tools, and instructions. Assign roles and responsibilities to your team members before the session begins. During the session, set some ground rules and expectations for your team. Encourage them to be open-minded, creative, and respectful while focusing on quantity of ideas instead of quality. Instruct them on how to use the digital whiteboard features such as editing, commenting, voting, and chatting. Monitor and moderate the brainstorming process if needed. After your brainstorming session is complete, review and refine the ideas by organizing them into categories or priorities. Evaluate them based on criteria such as feasibility or relevance. Select the best or most promising ideas for further development or implementation. Finally, document and summarize your brainstorming results before sharing them with your team and stakeholders.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?