Top Tips for Online Whiteboard Collaboration

April 4, 2022 - 10 min read

Kat Boogaard

Your team heads into a meeting room together with sticky notes, dry erase markers, and big ideas to share. Each team member grabs a seat at the conference room table and gets comfortable. Your agenda is full of problems your team needs to solve and what better way to come up with solutions than with a collaborative brainstorm session?

Team members take turns running up to the whiteboard, sketching their ideas, making to-do lists, and noting ideas worth exploring. The room fills up with brightly colored sticky notes that offer suggestions and points of view from each person. At the end of the day, you’re in a solid place with the next steps forward. Your team leaves feeling excited about what’s to come.

Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? Here’s the best part: You can achieve these same results through an online whiteboard session – and you don’t necessarily have to be in the same room.

In a world where work is distributed, online whiteboard sessions can be just as impactful and fun. Let’s dig into the specifics around what online whiteboards are, how you can find a tool that works for your team, and how to implement them into your workflow effectively.

What is an online whiteboard?

An online whiteboard is an app or browser-based virtual whiteboard tool. What does that mean? Picture a physical whiteboard inside a meeting room. Now picture that whiteboard within the frame of your computer screen.

An online whiteboard is a shared visual workspace that allows for real-time or asynchronous collaboration. Regardless of where coworkers are located or what time zone they’re in, groups of people can share and contribute to the conversation in one place simultaneously. Live teamwork is at the heart and center of online whiteboards.

In most cases, they’re used to facilitate brainstorming. Many online whiteboards have similar functionality to physical ones, including sticky notes, drawing and writing capabilities, commenting, and more. Online whiteboards are a nice addition to standard video and audio meetings and can add more opportunities for collaboration to your virtual meeting space.

Are online whiteboards good for collaboration?

According to Gartner, 80% of workers used collaboration tools of some sort in 2021, up from just half of the workers surveyed in 2019. With hybrid workforce models, cloud-based work, and teams spread across time zones, it’s not surprising that collaboration tools are at the forefront of helping teams do their best work together. And online whiteboards are just one of many types of tools that help support effective collaboration.

Online whiteboards are a boost for collaboration for various reasons. Let’s take a look at some of the key benefits of these virtual tools:

They provide an opportunity for interactive learning and engagement: Connecting and collaborating with your teammates can feel nearly impossible in a digital environment, but it doesn’t have to be. Online whiteboards are great for interactive learning and give all attendees an opportunity to engage with content in real time. One article suggests that learning in the workplace is easier for 48% of employees who use collaboration tools, which also has a positive impact on productivity. Say goodbye to virtual meetings filled with distractions and encourage engagement and participation through an interactive learning session via whiteboard.
Setup is simple, inexpensive, and can be done quickly: While in-person whiteboard sessions can be valuable and fun for many teams, they often require some preparation and planning – from ordering supplies to setting up the room before the meeting. One major advantage of online whiteboards is that setup is minimal and can be done more quickly than in-person sessions. In some cases, virtual sessions may even be less expensive than in-person ones depending on the tool you use.
You can use visuals to convey your message and simplify complex ideas: Did you know there are different learning styles in the workplace? Visual learners are most receptive to graphics, maps, and other images, which means they may find online whiteboard collaboration sessions particularly valuable. But these sessions won’t just be for visual learners. Some ideas and conversations are complex and easier to break down using visuals. Whiteboards are great for storyboarding too.
Brainstorming sessions have proven to be rewarding when done correctly: There are a lot of mixed opinions on the effectiveness of brainstorming in the workplace, but when executed correctly, brainstorming often yields incredible results. According to Forbes, grounding your participants in data ahead of the session, leveraging experts, and using thought-starters can contribute to effective collaboration and successful ideation amongst teams. Take your brainstorming beyond sitting in a virtual meeting and conversing by adding a visual and interactive element to the conversation.

Online whiteboards are an excellent tool for collaboration amongst virtual teams and distributed workforces. Now, let’s talk about where you can find these tools.

Can you get free collaborative whiteboards?

If you don’t have a budget set aside or aren’t sure if digital whiteboards are right for you and your team, the good news is that there are tons of free collaborative online whiteboards you can try.

A quick Google search will return a host of results for you to choose from. Before you see what’s available to you, consider what types of features and functionality you need and how many team members. That will help you find a free tool that best suits your needs.

You could also create a list of free collaborative online whiteboards you want to pilot with your team and try out a handful of them. Free trials are a nice way to get a feel for the tools and what they have to offer before splurging on membership costs. Ultimately, what’s most important to know here is that free tools are available for use so you can start collaborating with your team in a virtual whiteboard session right away.

What are the challenges of free online whiteboards?

As with many software tools, free online whiteboards present some challenges, particularly around features and users.

On free plans, you may not be able to take advantage of all of the feature capabilities of a particular tool, which can be restrictive and potentially make your virtual sessions more complicated and cumbersome. Depending on the size of your team, free tools may also be problematic if a tool only allows up to a certain number of users on a free version. Be sure to keep these things in mind when browsing the market for free online whiteboards.

Can you get collaborative whiteboard apps?

Collaborative whiteboard apps are a great option if better collaboration is a key priority for your team.

Collaborative whiteboard apps are nice because you can download many of them directly, and often, you can integrate them with other apps that your team may already be using. Some collaborative whiteboard apps are browser-based, so if you’re looking for a downloadable app, be sure to check out what the tool offers before investing.

When choosing which whiteboard app will work best for you, keep these three things top of mind:

Your must-have features and functionality: Determine what features are non-negotiable, nice-to-haves, and ones you simply don’t need. It’s helpful to have an idea of what you’re looking for.
The learning curve: Try to avoid burdening your team members with a tool that will require too much training. Strive to find a tool that fits the current skill set and workload of your team to make it easier to integrate into your work.
How much budget you have: Know how much you can spend on a tool while keeping the number of users and functionality in mind so you can plan for the future. For example, don’t use up all of your budget and not save enough money to add new users to the tool as you grow your team.

You can browse your favorite app store to see what’s available to you right away today.

Use Wrike when you need more than a collaborative whiteboard

Online whiteboards can be a handy tool for virtual collaboration efforts and brainstorming. But sometimes, your brainstorm sessions may turn into more long-term, complicated projects and initiatives. So how do you ensure that you maintain momentum and follow up on tasks once they’ve been assigned out post-whiteboard session?

A project management solution like Wrike is the perfect way to extend beyond your collaborative whiteboard. You can use Wrike after you finish your virtual whiteboard session to:

Assign follow up tasks to team members
Track workloads in real-time to ensure a healthy balance
Provide feedback to your team members
View data and files in a centralized location

Move from generating great ideas on a whiteboard to executing on them with a free trial of Wrike today.

Kat Boogaard

Kat is a Midwest-based contributing writer. She covers topics related to careers, self-development, and the freelance life. She is also a columnist for Inc., writes for The Muse, is Career Editor for The Everygirl, and a contributor all over the web.

#Project Management Software #Team Collaboration

Collaboration 10 min read

How to Avoid Poor Communication Skills at Work

Poor communication skills in the workplace often lead to missed project deadlines, unproductive teams, and client complaints. In this article, we’re giving you a cheat sheet you can use to identify and avoid poor communication skills at work. Help both your teams and your stakeholders succeed with these practical solutions to common miscommunications outlined below. Afterward, keep reading to learn more about how Wrike’s project management tool makes staying on top of communication effortless. What is miscommunication? Miscommunication is a type of communication breakdown that occurs when one party can't provide the proper information to another party for any number of reasons. It’s not always obvious when a miscommunication occurs. Sometimes the realization happens in the moment, so the person can correct themselves. But more often than not, one or both parties don’t realize the error until after something has gone wrong. What are the different types of miscommunication? Mistakes: Think typos, incorrect information, or simply forgetting to CC another team member on an important message. Bad writing: Overly verbose messages and complex words or phrases often create more problems than they solve. Time changes: Employees in different time zones need clarity around deadlines and meeting scheduling that other teams normally wouldn’t. Cultural differences: One person’s email may seem professional and direct to someone from one culture, yet cold and rude to someone from another. Language barriers: If you have native speakers and non-native speakers working together, chances are there will be a mistranslation from time to time. Unspoken expectations: Lack of clear vision or communication of everyone’s responsibilities can lead to finger-pointing down the line. Over- or under-managing: Leaving employees to fend for themselves and micromanaging their every move are both counterproductive to healthy communication. Lack of transparency: Giving team members access to big-picture progress reports and related data is important to effective communication in project management. Assumptions: Even small assumptions, such as thinking an employee will definitely be present and on the clock next week, can cause common project management challenges once you find out you’ve planned a major deadline on the same day as their PTO. Workplace customs: For example, in some offices, the longtime employees know that arriving to a meeting five minutes early is expected, while others may be used to more lax timing. What are the common causes of poor communication? From the top down, good communication is key to attracting and keeping good employees. Unfortunately, many leaders are not as good at communicating as they should be. The good news is that managers can easily adjust their actions to better align with their goals by following this simple communication red flag checklist: Ignoring interpersonal conflicts Whether it’s an office romance turned sour or an environment in which employees simply don’t like one another, interpersonal communication plays a large role in project success. Even if your team doesn’t have natural chemistry, it’s leadership's job to help them get along. Not sharing the big picture It's powerful for businesses to have goals and objectives, as they help employees focus on achieving desirable results. The issue is that many organizations fail to provide clear and consistent direction to their employees. Forgetting to give praise and constructive criticism Feedback is often provided by a project manager to help people understand their performance. It provides vital information to make important business decisions in the future. Top performers regularly utilize feedback to improve their work performance. Point out good behaviors to employees too so that those actions become habits for them in the future. Not prioritizing employee morale When employees lose interest in their work, they are often considered demoralized. This can lead to an employee becoming irritable and unproductive, which can affect companywide performance. Restoring employee morale involves reevaluating the culture and thinking about how to create a conducive environment for employees to thrive. Failing to acknowledge differences As more people choose to work in diverse environments, this has raised the potential for communication issues. For instance, one person from a certain background may relay a message differently to another person from a different background. HR training and mediation are key for solving these miscommunications before they get out of hand. What are the consequences of a lack of communication in the workplace? The consequences of a lack of communication in the workplace are challenging to measure because there are lots of direct and indirect ways it will impact teams. Circumstances matter too. But in general, what we know for sure is that poor communication skills at work are never positive. According to USA Today, “28% of employees cite poor communication as the reason for not being able to deliver work on time”. Imagine creating the perfect project plan, avoiding and minimizing roadblocks, only to discover completely preventable issues such as miscommunication have derailed your team. Removing the possibility of poor communication from the equation improves project delivery, but it also makes dealing with those other issues so much simpler. Another study by SHRM pointed out that miscommunication within projects was one of the most costly mistakes a business can make. Their research showed “the average loss per company of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication to and between employees”. There may already be examples in your projects of this happening on a small scale. Issues such as incorrect orders, waiting around for other people to make decisions, and even missing a single client email can cost hundreds of dollars for the smallest of businesses. If there’s an issue with your profits, chances are it can be traced back to poor communication in some form or another. And last but not least, one of the biggest consequences of a lack of communication in the workplace is the destruction of employee morale. A Gallup Journal article pointed out that growth and revenue largely depend on communication between companies and their employees. In fact, “74% of employees have the feeling they’re missing out on company news because the internal communication department is non-existent or doing a poor job.” And when employees feel disconnected from a company’s purpose, they are often disengaged, unproductive, and unmotivated. Examples of poor communication in the workplace Poor communication planning Bad business communication occurs when a company doesn't have a system in place to deal with incoming orders. Without communication with the customers, the company is likely to lose business. One-way streets A one-way street in this context is when a member of the team only contacts their business associates when they need a favor or some ideas. This behavior undermines their communication skills and breeds distrust or resentment among the rest of the group. Cold shoulders A cold shoulder is the equivalent of ghosting someone in the workplace. It typically looks like a person intentionally or unexpectedly declining to respond to calls or emails sent by another team member, manager, client, or stakeholder. Passive-aggressiveness Team members who are passive-aggressive deliberately avoid interacting with their co-workers. This behavior can be caused by intentionally avoiding a co-worker or making off-color remarks that undercut someone else’s efforts. Outright aggression Intimidation tactics can create a toxic work environment. Examples include ultimatums, placing blame on others, and threats to an employee’s financial livelihood. Not only is this unethical, but it also leads to high turnover rates. Placing blame on others A failure to accept responsibility for one's actions shows a lack of responsibility. Believing that others are responsible for their actions shows a lack of compassion and understanding. Neither is productive in the workplace. Poor listening skills Leaders and employees who fail to listen to others are not only disconnected from their conversations but are also engaging in poor communications. In general, these behaviors can have a negative effect on how people feel about their colleagues and team leaders. While many of these scenarios aren’t too difficult to avoid, they can add up over time. Some of these actions may not be considered offensive or aggressive on their own. But letting them pile up can create hostility among collaborators over time. Even if you can’t micromanage every email, text, and call, you can put tools in place that make communication streamlined and transparent. How to avoid miscommunication in project management Agile development is a favorite among modern software-development teams that want to avoid miscommunication altogether while managing multiple projects. Agile tools such as Wrike help groups work together seamlessly and deliver results faster than those that follow other methodologies. One of the ways it does that is through clear project planning. Wrike enables you to structure and manage your work in Agile using visual data representations such as graphs and charts. Tools like ours will help you prioritize your backlog and set up sprints, manage your meetings, and report on progress. This allows individual users to organize their own personal workflows and prioritize their backlog for sprints ahead of time. Wrike also simplifies the process of updating team members. Its activity stream offers a live feed that shows all project updates. Other features such as automated notifications make keeping up with project developments seamless. Want to improve communication between clients and your team? Wrike’s work-intake forms are designed to help teams organize and manage incoming requests. They also help teams plan and collaborate on shared projects, finding opportunities for overlap whenever possible to save on resources. When it comes to getting work done, Wrike makes it possible for teams to stay organized. Individuals can update their workflows and share them with others. Doing this makes it easy for management to keep track of progress across the entire team. It also clears up any confusion around roadblocks, project updates, and the occasional PTO. Wrike also helps teams communicate with stakeholders. For example, users can submit bug reports to external stakeholders who can help solve the problems. Management can adjust settings into project plans so that partners have a peek into progress without seeing any information that is too sensitive. Even if you only use Wrike’s predefined workflows and dashboards that help monitor your progress, it’s a lot easier to avoid poor communication at work when you use our tool. Ready to streamline operations and improve productivity teamwide? Start your free two-week trial of Wrike today.

Collaboration 7 min read

Stakeholder Analysis: Definition, Benefits, and Tools

A stakeholder analysis is a process that helps identify, prioritize, and understand your stakeholders. Understanding your stakeholders can help you develop strategies that will work seamlessly with them as the project develops. It can also help you predict their reactions and actions as they develop, which is critical for getting approvals when needed. Keep reading to learn more about forming strategic partnerships and how to skillfully manage this critical business practice. What is stakeholder analysis? When it comes to a project, all the people and teams affected by its outcome are called its stakeholders. A project stakeholder analysis involves identifying these individuals and groups and how to engage them throughout the project. By approaching key players early in your project, you will be able to leverage their knowledge and expertise to guide the project to a successful conclusion. Your stakeholder analysis will help identify the people involved in the project and communicate your goals and plans. Without a stakeholder analysis, you could be well into a project before realizing how a key person in your organization values your initiative. This person could reject motions or have alternative ideas for how or what should be accomplished. Doing an analysis right at the beginning can improve communication and resolve potential issues later on. Most stakeholder analyses are conducted by different teams or companies. They can also vary depending on the industry and the complexity of the task. There are many types of stakeholder analysis exercises that organizations can do. These include product management, enterprise project management, and organizational development. Why is stakeholder analysis important? By gaining the support of powerful individuals, you can improve your chances of succeeding in projects. And if you’re not already familiar with the way your stakeholders think, then a stakeholder analysis is an absolute must. Not only will conducting a stakeholder analysis make it easier to understand and forecast their needs, but it will also make it easier to communicate with them in a way they prefer throughout the project’s lifetime. This analysis will also help you spot competing interests, navigate potential roadblocks, and make sure that everyone involved is satisfied with the project outcome. How to create a stakeholder matrix and map You can map out your stakeholders' power over your work and their interest using a power-interest grid. The power-interest grid is a conceptual framework that considers the interests of various stakeholder groups. It can be used to identify the potential influence of these groups on the system. Here’s how to create a stakeholder map. List potential stakeholders Brainstorm the people who are most affected by your work. This may include: Clients Senior managers Partners Suppliers Vendors Shareholders Lenders Analysts Press Potential customers Not sure who’s who? Add their name and title to a chart, then note how they may be affected by the project. You may also have a list of individuals and organizations that you are working with that have the power to affect your work. This step works by considering their power, influence, and interests in the project. After you identify your stakeholders, you can create a strategy to win their support. Rank by powerSome stakeholders hold more weight than others. Prioritize individuals or groups by how much they’ve invested in the project or what the project means to them. The position that you assign to a stakeholder shows the actions that you need to take with them in the future. Strategize by interestFor example, a highly ranked stakeholder group may need to be hands-on or receive a daily update. These are often referred to highly informed people. Your goal is to keep them calm. Talk to them about the project and make sure that they are not worried about any issues. On the other hand, if a stakeholder is at the bottom of the ranking, they may just want the highlights of the project once deliverables are drafted. These secondary stakeholders simply need monitoring and to have their questions (if any) answered. Their hands-off approach makes overloading them with communication counterproductive. How to conduct a stakeholder analysis As your work and projects become more important, you will affect more and more people. This process helps identify and win the support of your key stakeholders. Step 1: Research You need to find out how each stakeholder feels about the project. This is where you can start to work out how to engage them. Informational interviews or a simple email works well for this step. You can also ask questions to get a better understanding of your stakeholders. They'll provide valuable insight into how your work is being perceived by them. Step 2: Define After you’ve identified the people and teams that will be key players in your project, it is time to start defining their roles and responsibilities. Stakeholders are often put into one of the following four self-explanatory groups: High power and high interest High power and low interest Low power and high interest Low power and low interest Step 3: Communicate Plan out how you’ll communicate with members of each group. Include what medium you’ll use to reach them, such as weekly check-in calls or email updates. Also, make a note of how frequently you’ll check in. Communication strategies set early on make a big impact on the outcome. Step 4: Influence The goal of this step is to understand what motivates them and how you can win their approval. If they aren't likely to be positive, ask yourself how you will win them over. If they do turn out to be negative, make a plan for how you will manage their objections. Step 5: Organize To summarize your supporters' backing, color-code them. For example, show supporters in green, blockers in red, and neutrals in orange. Stakeholder analysis example There are a few different ways to conduct a stakeholder analysis. But the most popular and streamlined one is with a simple graph. On the X-axis, put Interest going from low to high. On the Y-axis, put Power going from low to high. Then, divide the graph into four quadrants representing the four main sections: Low Low, Low High, High Low, and High High. The graph will determine what level of communication you provide for each person or group based on the stakeholder information. How to use Wrike as your stakeholder analysis tool Wrike is a work management tool that makes it easy to manage relationships. Use Wrike’s graph feature to create your own stakeholder analysis tool. After you have your relationship communication plan in place, give high-power and high-interest stakeholders access to their own personalized and transparent view of the project plan. You can also give approval power and regular updates with custom reporting right within Wrike. Ready to create your own stakeholder management plan? Start your two-week free trial today.

Collaboration 3 min read

4 Team-Building Activities For Your Hybrid Workforce

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Top Tips for Online Whiteboard Collaboration

What is an online whiteboard?

Are online whiteboards good for collaboration?

Can you get free collaborative whiteboards?

What are the challenges of free online whiteboards?

Can you get collaborative whiteboard apps?

Use Wrike when you need more than a collaborative whiteboard

Kat Boogaard

Related articles

How to Avoid Poor Communication Skills at Work

Stakeholder Analysis: Definition, Benefits, and Tools

4 Team-Building Activities For Your Hybrid Workforce

Top Tips for Online Whiteboard Collaboration

What is an online whiteboard?

Are online whiteboards good for collaboration?

Can you get free collaborative whiteboards?

What are the challenges of free online whiteboards?

Can you get collaborative whiteboard apps?

Use Wrike when you need more than a collaborative whiteboard

Kat Boogaard

Related articles

How to Avoid Poor Communication Skills at Work

Stakeholder Analysis: Definition, Benefits, and Tools

4 Team-Building Activities For Your Hybrid Workforce

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