Conducting standard meetings with remote teams is easy thanks to a range of video conferencing tools. But when you need everyone to pitch in for a brainstorming session or collaborate on a creative document, an online whiteboard such as Conceptboard is invaluable. Enabling participants to collaborate using tools such as writing, drawing, sticky notes, shapes, and adding images will result in a more creative brainstorming session that replicates physical whiteboarding.
So if you’re looking to boost your remote teams effectiveness, read about the five ways whiteboarding will give your team collaboration superpowers!
Boost creativity
When you’re working remotely, it’s easy to spend the majority of your time keeping in touch via email, instant chat and phone calls. But if you introduce whiteboarding, you will be engaging another part of people’s brain- their creative side. We know that writing and drawing increase a person’s ability to think creatively, solve problems, and retain knowledge, so by introducing online whiteboarding sessions, you may just find the innovative solutions you’ve been searching for.
Get visual
Break free from those never-ending email chains with attachments that you need to print out, mark up, scan, reattach, send back, and then start all over again! With Conceptboard’s online whiteboard, you can upload an image directly onto the board and mark up edits, track changes, assign roles and share comments, all within the board. It really is the easiest way for creative teams to brainstorm, edit visuals and discuss ideas. Conceptboard works with many file types including Word, Excel, PDF, jpeg and also Google Drive.
Real time
Real time collaboration is the new standard for online tools and if you haven’t experienced how it can supercharge your collaboration, you’re missing out! Conceptboard allows real-time collaboration so your whole team can edit and add to a board simultaneously, and participants can see changes as they occur and by whom thanks to personalized live-pointers. The other big benefit in online whiteboarding is sharing moderation duties. As a board owner you have the ability to make someone else a moderator. This can be useful if you want to encourage different team members to facilitate different sections of the session. Open a free account and try it for yourself now.
Connectivity
It doesn’t matter if your team is in-house, at home, or in some exotic beachside bar, everyone can access the board via their laptop, tablet or smartphone without needing any extra devices, printers or software installation. As long as there’s a WiFi connection, there are no other physical barriers to collaboration, meaning location is no longer such a big deal!
Switch on the cameras
If you really want to supercharge your team’s collaboration, Lisette Sutherland from Collaboration Superpowers says you’ve got to switch on your camera. “Turn on the webcam and see each other – that creates empathy instantly. It’s a lot easier to communicate and create bonds when you see each other.” What you’ll produce is a highly engaging environment where people can hear, see, and visualize each other’s ideas on the online whiteboard. It will also help create that sense of team and camaraderie and improve emotional connection.
Setting up a video conference in Conceptboard is super simple. Simply click the phone icon located on the top right corner of your board and then a conference panel will appear. The panel will show the number of active participants involved in your conference.
If you are ready to introduce whiteboarding to your team, get started with a free Conceptboard account here. Need more info? Read our five tips for running effective whiteboarding sessions or find out more about how remote work can benefit your business.
