Today, our article is a bit special, as this time is due to the quarantine. Indeed, most people are unauthorized to go outside, and some work from home. That’s the reason why we have decided to dedicate this article to online ideation tools, so you can continue working efficiently, no matter the situation.
On the internet, you will find anything from good to bad recommendation. Here, we want to share with you some tools that seem pertinent from our point of view, and that you can use with your team when working from remote areas. Even though you can’t manage to do your usual TRIZ, 3 chairs of Disney, or reverse brainstorming sessions, you can still produce valuable results working online.
5 e-tools
Rather than giving you a long and boring explanation, let’s jump straight away to the main topic. Here are 5 online tools that will probably be useful for you and your colleagues.
- Klaxoon : This software can be used as much in a face-to-face meeting as from remote places. To work in team, you will just have to join the same room and enjoy. The interaction methods are well-developed here. You can easily start an ideas creation session, in which everyone can like each other’s ideas. The app will highlight automatically the most appreciated ideas. As well as texts, you can upload pictures and drawings in the room. One of the pros of this app is the ability to classify everything, making analysis much easier. Finally, to keep track of everything, and to ensure that everyone is on the same page, you can make screenshots of the meetings and share with the concerned people, so that everyone knows what to do. If you want to find more details about Klaxoon, you might be interested in their video.
- Mural : If you like drawing and stickers, here is the software for you. This app is basically a blackboard (or nowadays whiteboard). In other words, the use is very simple, as you can write, draw, slip files wherever you want and need. You might have understood, Mural offers a lot of flexibility. Furthermore, you can easily use the software from various devices and work in team, wherever you are. As their website shows, the company seems even quite proud of their ability to offer a solution that can be used in team, no matter where on the globe people are.
- Stormboard : this solution can also be really profitable. If you are a team in the need of a well structured app, you might prefer this alternative. And if you strugle to get well organised, Sormboard provides you with hundreds of model templates that will make your life easier. Another advantage of this software is its capacity to convert your work into PDF, Excel, Word or PowerPoint files. Regarding the pricing, the company offers 3 options, including a free version. For more details, you’d better watch on their webpage straight away.
- Lucidchart : As you might guess by its name, Lucidchart is all about charts. Among other things, this app allows you to upload your data and integrate them into graphical processes. On there website, they even categories the type of fields for which their various solutions are useful, such as engineering, IT, sales and more.
- Miro : As for Mural, this app is mainly a whiteboard, yet more “computerized”. Otherwise speaking, you have a lot of flexibility of maneuver, yet won’t be able to draw straight away on the board. Some of its benefits are the option of overview on all the projects and all that is happenning on the software. In addition to that, Miro is compatible with a number of softwares, such as Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox, Google Image, Slack, and much more. Regarding the choice of contracts, you will find 4 of them. Although each of them are interesting, you can always start by using their free version, and get serious when you feel it answers your needs. You will find more information on their official webpage.
Which Tool to Choose ?
To be honest, that’s a difficult question to answer. It will just depend on your field of expertise, what you want to accomplish, the price you are willing to pay, or any other criterion you might have in mind. Just remember, all those apps offers a period of free trial, which means you can test them and judge by yourself which is the most adapted for you.
Now that you know those great tools, are you ready for home office and shine in team ?