4 easy to use tools for creative online meetings

With more and more offices clearing out by the day using online tools is not just proving a ‘nice to have’ or a plan b but the only way in which teams can continue to effectively hold meetings and communicate.  

It’s challenging times with many organisations grappling with the pace of change and putting in place new policies and procedures around the COVID-19. Those encouraging or enforcing team members work from home means they are now working with increasingly dispersed teams. We are looking at some quiet offices around town. (Que the tumbleweed).  

The need for dispersed teams to maintain high levels of communication is nothing new. This need has been around long before COVID-19 and let’s face it anyone here in WA has at some time worked for an organisation that is dispersed across our 10,194 km coastline but the need to connect online has never been higher than right now.  

IBM conducted a survey which stated about 60% of CEOs cited creativity as the most important leadership quality yet when we look at our meeting structures there often dedicated to sifting through tasks and tick lists. How much time are you dedicating to improving your team’s creativity to solve problems? Are you using tools to help them be more visual and collaborative. Creativity is a business asset. 

We’ve got to get stuff done, why invest time in creative thought?   

By promoting creativity, you heighten the engagement of your team. More engaged team members deliver better productivity and better outcomes for your customers, resulting in increases in revenue. All of this is supported in Gallup’s article on Fostering Creativity at Work.  

Keep your team connected and collaborating with these online tools. Make your meetings more visual and engaging.

1. IdeaFlip https://ideaflip.com/ 

If you’re just getting started with an online tool Idea Flip has an incredibly simple user interface that allows you to display brainstorming ideas and move them around quickly and easily. You can upload PDF’s and images and if your working on developing a website or making changes to your site you can take screen shots to communicate what you want with your creative team. You can export all your work from the session and there’s an option for feedback. It’s a simple web app but does come with a small subscription cost. 

1. Miro https://miro.com/ 

Has a range of templates to help you with everything from strategic planning to collaborative brainstorming. There’s a huge range of templates in here that you can pick and choose from and you can see your colleagues commenting and adding their notes live. The work is then exportable.  

Some of the templates like the customer journey mapping templates are a little simplistic so you’ll need to explore the templates and see if it meets the requirements of what you’re working on.  

1. Creatlr https://www.creatlr.com/ 

Again, there’s a bunch of templates to search through from empathy mapping, customer journey templates to business model templates and even change management templates. However, for free users you’ll find some templates are locked which requires a subscription.

1. StormBoard https://stormboard.com/ 

Stormboard is free for up to 5 users (with free trials for more users) and available across all devices. There is a range of templates to select from depending on your needs. If you’re an Agile team you’ve got your daily stand up available and a Kanban board. You can also any export of the templates to PDF, PowerPoint or word so you can take a snapshot in time then continue working on your project.  

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Tips for getting started 

1. Select someone from your team with a knack for facilitation and bringing people together. They can get familiar with your new online tool and oversee getting the team set up. Once set up they can then run the meeting and guide everyone through it.  

1. Set up a test run first to ensure when the CEO comes online that you’ve got any nuances worked out. 

1. After the meeting reflect and ask for feedback on what went well and what needs to be improved for next time. These online tools are simply tools that you should look to customise and work in with your organisations systems and process.  

1. Once you’re familiar with one tool or template see where you can trial others.  

Stay calm and stay connected!  

Cheers, Liv