The best, most inclusive plans and decisions come when everyone contributes.  

It can be difficult to come up with new strategy or to change direction, but Microsoft Whiteboard provides a lightweight structure on top of an infinite canvas built for collaboration. Now, everyone can contribute before, during, and even after a planning meeting. 

Key features: 

  • Templates to organize and build strategy, such as cost/benefit analysis, goal setting, and SWOT analysis

  • Colorful sticky note options to organize ideas

  • Smart inking and shapes to help visualize solutions

  • Reactions to allow everyone to contribute and vote

Strategy template in Whiteboard

Prepare the board

  1. Reflect on your key stakeholders and on the outcome that you want to achieve.

  2. Schedule a meeting in Microsoft Teams.

  3. Navigate to the Teams meeting and select Whiteboard from the list at the top of the meeting.  You can also do this by creating a whiteboard and sharing the link in the Whiteboard Windows App or in the browser at whiteboard.office.com.

  4. In the creation panel, select Templates > Strategy, and then choose a template.

  5. Customize the template to fit your goals for the session. You may want to use specific colors or reactions as a legend, for example. 

  6. Share the board if others are helping you prepare.

During the session

  1. Once the meeting has started, share the whiteboard from the Share tray, or send a link to the board from the Whiteboard app or from whiteboard.office.com.

  2. Introduce the goal of the session and give everyone a few minutes to explore the board with you.

  3. Set ground rules with the team on what different colors and reactions mean for this particular session.

  4. Start your planning session, encouraging participation through Teams and directly on the whiteboard.

  5. Use the "Raise Hand" feature in Teams to organize the order in which participants will speak.

  6. Keep an eye on the time to make sure you.ll be able to cover everything.

After the session

  1. Send a message to attendees with the link to the whiteboard so everyone has access, or remind them that the board can be accessed in their own Whiteboard board picker.

  2. Export a PNG image of the board from the Settings menu to share a summary of the findings with anyone outside of the team.

  3. Put your plan into action!

See also

Check out our other Whiteboard guides to learn more! 

    

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